The Crystal Palace
Joseph Paxton stood in Hyde Park on the 11th of June 1850 and sketched a solution on pink blotting paper. The rough drawing incorporated all basic features of the finished building within two weeks. This design utilized a modular ridge-and-furrow roof system that had first appeared at Chatsworth House in 1836. Paxton scaled this concept to create a structure covering 990,000 square feet with an interior height of 128 feet. The building required 293,000 panes of glass manufactured by Chance Brothers of Smethwick. These panes measured 49 inches wide by 10 inches long and formed the entire outer surface without needing trimming. A grid of cast iron beams supported three roof units side-by-side horizontally. Each module was self-supporting and could be stacked vertically to add an upper floor. The construction took only thirty-nine weeks to complete from July 1850 to May 1851. More than 5,000 navvies worked on the site during the peak phase. Up to 2,000 workers were present on any given day. The project used nuts and bolts made to what later became known as the British Standard Whitworth standard for the first time. This innovation allowed parts to be interchangeable and sped up assembly significantly. Fox Henderson and Co served as the civil engineering contractor for the build.
Queen Victoria opened the Great Exhibition on the 1st of May 1851 inside the new Crystal Palace. Over 14,000 exhibitors gathered to display technology developed during the Industrial Revolution. The event featured some 100,000 objects displayed along more than ten miles of gallery space. Britain occupied half the display area with exhibits from the home country and empire. France emerged as the largest foreign contributor among the international participants. Visitors paid £1 in the first week before prices dropped to five shillings for three weeks. Working class access began on the 26th of May when weekday prices fell to one shilling. Over six million admissions passed through the toll-gates by the closing date of the 15th of October 1851. The exhibition generated a surplus of £186,000 which funded future museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum. Sanitary engineer George Jennings installed public toilets called Retiring Rooms within the building. More than 827,280 visitors used these facilities paying one penny each. The Koh-i-Noor diamond and Sèvres porcelain were among the most famous items on display. A massive hydraulic press and a fire engine also drew crowds. The Crystal Fountain stood 27 feet tall in the center of the hall.
A consortium of eight businessmen formed a holding company to move the structure after the exhibition closed. Samuel Laing and Leo Schuster led the group that proposed relocating the building to Penge Place. Reconstruction work began on Sydenham Hill in 1852 at the top of the hill next to Sydenham. The new design incorporated most constructional parts from Hyde Park but changed the form significantly. The main gallery was redesigned with a barrel-vaulted roof while the central transept grew even higher. Two large transepts were added at either end of the main gallery extending beyond the original boundary. Queen Victoria reopened the rebuilt palace on the 10th of June 1854 before 40,000 guests. The total cost reached £1,300,000 which burdened the company with debt it never repaid. The site spanned across Surrey and Kent boundaries until 1899 when the county line moved. Most of the grounds remained in Surrey while the eastern portion fell into Beckenham. Two railway stations opened to serve the permanent location including Crystal Palace High Level developed by Edward Middleton Barry. The Low Level station remains in use today as part of the modern transport network.
Dozens of experts created courts illustrating Egyptian Roman Renaissance Pompeian and Grecian art within the halls. Augustus Pugin designed the Mediaeval Court while Owen Jones curated other historical displays. A 4,000-piece Grand Orchestra sat around the 4,500-pipe Great Organ for concerts. August Manns led the Crystal Palace Concerts from 1855 until 1901. Charles Blondin performed tightrope walking acts over the central transept during early years. Giuseppe Garibaldi received a special festival on Saturday the 16th of April 1864. The Shah of Persia attended a grand fête on the 6th of July 1889. The world's first aeronautical exhibition took place inside in 1868. Harrison Weir organized the first cat show there in 1871. Dog shows pigeon shows honey shows and flower shows followed. The match dubbed the world's first bandy match occurred at the palace in 1875. Charles Spurgeon delivered a sermon without amplification to a crowd of 23,654 people on the 7th of October 1857. Robert Baden-Powell noticed girls attending Boy Scout meetings here in 1909 which later inspired Girl Guides. The FA Cup Final was held at the site between 1895 and 1914.
The facility served as a naval training establishment named HMS Victory VI during World War I. More than 125,000 men trained for war within its walls including Royal Naval Division members. The RNAS established HMS President II at Crystal Palace from late 1917 until March 1918. On the 1st of April 1918 the site transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force as RAF Crystal Palace. Both RAF and British Army Dispersal Centers opened on the 14th of January 1919 to handle returning troops. The Imperial War Museum re-opened at the location toward the end of the First World War. A program called Imperial War Museum and Great Victory Exhibition launched fully in 1920. The museum moved to South Kensington in 1924 before relocating again in 1936. John Logie Baird conducted mechanical television experiments using the south tower and lower levels. His work was destroyed when the building burned down in November 1936. The grounds became a manufacturing base for aircraft radar screens after the fire during the Second World War.
Sir Henry Buckland walked his dog near the palace with his daughter Crystal on the evening of the 30th of November 1936. They noticed a red glow inside the structure which turned out to be an office fire started by an explosion. Eighty-nine fire engines and over 400 firemen arrived but could not extinguish the blaze. High winds spread the fire quickly through dry old timber flooring and flammable materials. The glow remained visible across eight counties within hours. Winston Churchill watched the destruction stating this marked the end of an age. One hundred thousand people gathered on Sydenham Hill to witness the event. The last singer to perform there before the flames consumed the roof was Essie Ackland. The building lacked adequate insurance covering at least £2 million needed for rebuilding. All that remained standing were two water towers and a section of the north end. The south tower was taken down shortly after due to structural damage threatening nearby houses. Thos W Ward Ltd dismantled the entire remaining structure. The north tower was demolished with explosives in 1941 possibly to remove a landmark for German aircraft navigation.
The site now contains Crystal Palace Park surrounding the location where the original building stood. Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins created 33 lifesized models of dinosaurs and extinct animals in 1854. Edward Milner designed Italian Gardens fountains and the Great Maze during the park development phase. Two mighty water towers constructed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel still stand today as historic landmarks. The Crystal Palace Bowl serves as a natural amphitheater hosting open-air summer concerts since the 1960s. Pink Floyd Bob Marley Elton John Eric Clapton and The Beach Boys performed at the venue during its peak years. A permanent stage designed by Ian Ritchie replaced the old structure in 1997. Work on regeneration including Italian Terraces began in May 2025 and is expected to finish by late summer 2026. Plans to rebuild the palace were discussed with Chinese company ZhongRong Holdings in 2013 but expired in February 2015. The base and foundation of the south tower received historic status in 2020 near the Crystal Palace Museum. The grounds hosted the motor racing circuit between 1927 and 1972 before noise complaints ended operations.
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Common questions
Who designed the Crystal Palace for the 1851 Great Exhibition?
Joseph Paxton designed the Crystal Palace using a modular ridge-and-furrow roof system first seen at Chatsworth House in 1836. Fox Henderson and Co served as the civil engineering contractor for the build.
When did Queen Victoria open the Crystal Palace during the Great Exhibition?
Queen Victoria opened the Great Exhibition inside the new Crystal Palace on the 1st of May 1851. The event closed on the 15th of October 1851 after generating a surplus of £186,000.
Where was the Crystal Palace relocated to after the exhibition ended?
A consortium led by Samuel Laing and Leo Schuster moved the structure to Penge Place on Sydenham Hill starting in 1852. The site spanned across Surrey and Kent boundaries until 1899 when the county line moved.
What happened to the Crystal Palace building in November 1936?
The building burned down on the evening of the 30th of November 1936 due to an office fire started by an explosion. Eighty-nine fire engines and over 400 firemen could not extinguish the blaze before it consumed the roof.
Who created the dinosaur models at Crystal Palace Park in 1854?
Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins created 33 lifesized models of dinosaurs and extinct animals in 1854. Edward Milner designed Italian Gardens fountains and the Great Maze during the park development phase.