the Crystal Palace Foundation

Reg. Charity no: 285563


	Crystal Palace history Selling up Click image to see at larger size 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 the Indian and Naval Galleries were destroyed along with the whole of the tropical department. Many animals in the zoo were also killed. It took two years to rebuild the north nave but because of the lack of money, the transept was never rebuilt. Because of the destruction, the Crystal Palace Company introduced the North Tower Gardens as a way of maintaining income without expenditure on the transept. The entertainments comprised various water sports in a large reservoir. They also built a 400ft-long Marine Aquarium in 1872. Parts of both still exist today. The Crystal Palace Company also introduced educational institutions into buildings in the grounds. Art, sculpture, needlework, and engineering schools abounded. The Palace's popularity continued until the end of the Nineteenth Century when, sadly, it began to wane as it looked as if the directors had run out of ideas. They had tried very hard for over 45 years but habits changed and different and more modern facilities and entertainments became available. The financial problems of the Palace came to a head in 1911, the year of George V's Coronation and the year of the biggest show the Palace ever had - The Festival of Empire. The Festival brought dozens of high street brand names to the Palace such as Oxo, Maynards, Bewlay Pipes and many more. All countries of the British Empire displayed their produce in miniature examples of famous buildings from their country. To enable visitors to view the buildings easily a railway was constructed known as the All Red Route Railway with many stations en route. The Festival included pageants and displays, the main being the Pageant of London consisting of dozens of tableaux reflecting the history of London and the British Empire from the earliest times to the present day. Despite hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world, it still did not produce enough revenue to resolve nearly sixty years of financial problems. The building was declared bankrupt and it was announced in The Times on 11th September that Messrs Knight, Frank & Rutley, auctioneers, would conduct the sale on 28th November. In the weeks leading up to the sale much correspondence appeared in the press and many meetings were held, including several by the then Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Strong. On the 9th November The Times, under the headline 'THE CRYSTAL PALACE SAVED', announced that thanks to the 1st Earl of Plymouth: Robert Windsor-Clive [1857-1923] Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan and Mayor of Cardiff and The Times newspaper the building and grounds were purchased for the nation He had put down a Ł20,000 deposit on the building. Nine days later, having got the approval of the Court in Chancery, he signed the contract to pay the balance of the sale - some Ł210,000. The Lord Mayor of London set up a fund to raise the money to relieve Lord Plymouth of his financial responsibility and finally, in 1913, the Palace became the property of the nation. By that time the building, starved for so long of proper care and attention, was in a very poor state. Copyright Crystal Palace Foundation 2009 Compiled By Melvyn Harrison, Chairman
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