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Crystal Palace History
The Co-op
The Crystal Palace Foundation is proud to be supported by the Co-op supermarket in Sydenham Road, South London.
From 1888 to 1910 the Crystal Palace was famous for the Co-operators Festivals. From the 1890's the Festivals were held over a five day period and attended by many...
Raising the first Pillar at Sydenham, 1852
The Times 6 August 1852 Page 5 Col. AAt Half-past 2 o’clock the visitors, guided by a programme which had been delivered to them, assembled round the spot where the first pillar of the palace was to be planted; and shortly afterwards a procession advanced, proceeded and marshalled by Mr...
Open again, 1854
It was intended to open the building on 1st May 1854 but because of constructional and financial problems it opened over a month late on 10th June. Another significant problem that contributed to the late opening was the fact that dozens of male statues throughout the building had to have their...
Map of Crystal Palace Park 1911
When the Knight Frank & Rutley Sales Catalogue was sold originally it came with a large (40"x50") colour map of Crystal Palace Park in a brown envelope.The story behind the catalogue and map.
When the Crystal Palace Company was declared bankrupt in 1911 the famous auctioneers Knight Frank...
Change of ownership, 1951
On the 1st August 1951 the Crystal Palace Trust was dissolved and responsibility for Crystal Palace Park passed into the hands of the London County Council and eventually to the Greater London Council. Much work was done by LCC/GLC staff in the Park to maintain the terraces, subway, and...Raffaele Monti sculpture archive
Raffaele Monti (1818-1881) created many of the sculptures that graced the Crystal Palace and its Park, at Sydenham, and a talent for which he is especially renowned is his ability to convey the illusion of transparency in veiled marble figures.Above: a stereo photograph from the International...
Leaving Hyde Park, 1851
When the doors of the Great Exhibition closed in October 1851, it had already been agreed that Hyde Park had to be returned to its original state. From that arose the controversial question posed by Sir Joseph Paxton: 'What is to become of the Crystal Palace?' The building had become so popular...
The rebuilding at Sydenham, 1852-1854
The Hyde Park Crystal Palace building was purchased by the Crystal Palace Company for £70,000 (over £3.5 million today) from Fox & Henderson and on 5th August 1852 rebuilding began. During a time of high unemployment the project provided jobs for over 7,000 workmen. On Monday 15th August...
Bankruptcy, 1909
Disaster and misfortune were always associated with the Palace. The first major disaster was in 1861 when the building was badly damaged in a gale. The first major fire was on 30th December 1866 when the north transept containing among other areas the Alhambra, Assyrian, Byzantine Courts, and...
Disaster strikes, 1936
In 1914 a charitable trust under the control of the Ministry of Education was formed and the trustees hired Henry James Buckland (lately Manager of Harrogate Spa) as the Manager of the Crystal Palace. He was a firm but fair man who had a great love for the Crystal Palace - so much so that he...
Crystal Palace Timeline 1937 - 2005
28 September 1937Horace Parnacott, FRIBA submitted a plan to the Crystal Palace Trustees for a 25,000 seater covered sports stadium, ice rink, exhibition centre, and 300 ft x 160 ft swimming pool. There would also be a 3,000-seat theatre, 8,000-10,000-seat concert hall/conference centre. He...
Crystal Palace (Low-Level) Railway Station
This postcard is available from our shop.
In October 1851, Sir Joseph Paxton’s Great Exhibition of Art and Industry of All Nations concluded a triumphantly successful six-month exhibition attracting more than six million visitors. The building that housed the Exhibition was satirically...