Crystal Palace (1851 - 1936)
Dates
- Existence: 1 May 1851 - 30 November 1936
Biography
The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and glass building designed by Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, London.
Joseph Paxton was a renowned gardener, employed as Head Gardener for the Duke of Devonshire to look after the grounds at Chatsworth House. Before his involvement with The Crystal Palace, Joseph had experimented extensively with glasshouse constructions and developed his own solutions to the building of modular constructions, which inspire his design for The Crystal Palace. The building mirrored an enormous flat roofed glass house with a barrel vaulted roof in the central transept, a rectangular hall, a large open gallery running along the main axis and wings extending down either side.
Joseph Paxton, achieved international acclaim for his design and was knighted by Queen Victoria in recognition of his work. The project was engineered by Sir William Cubitt, the ironwork was provided by Sir Charles Fox, who was also knighted for his contribution, and the glass was provided by the Chance Brothers glassworks in Smethwick.
The Great Exhibition was opened on 1 May 1851 by Queen Victoria and it was the first ever World's Fair exhibitions of culture and industry. The site displayed around 100,000 examples of the latest technological developments of the Industrial Revolution by over 15,000 exhibitors from countries around the world. The exhibition was estimated to have been attended by over six million paying visitors, which generated a surplus after covering the expenses of the construction work. This money was paid for the construction of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum in London.
After the great exhibition, a consortium of eight businessmen formed a holding company to relocate the palace to Penge Place at the top of Sydenham Hill in 1852. The Crystal Palace remained in this location, providing a venue for concerts, events and entertainment until its destruction by fire in November 1936.
During the First World War, it was used as a naval training site, between the 1920s and 1930s it was the home of the Imperial War Museum.
On 30 November 1936 the building was destroyed by fire and any remaining structure was finally removed during WWII. The site had various functions thereafter including, a motor racing circuit, the Crystal Palace transmitting station and an open air concert theatre.
Found in 26 Collections and/or Records:
African Loan Exhibition Handbill, 1895
African White Ants at Crystal Palace. Glass nest of living Ants. Printed by F.M. Evans and Co. Ltd., Crystal Palace, 2pp.
Circus Friends Association Collection
This collection consists of a large library of books and journals, as well as archival material including posters, programmes, photographs, films, handbills, research material, scrapbooks, original artwork and many other items of ephemera relating to British, Irish and European circuses
Coronation Day Handbill, 1855
Orchestral Band of the Company at Crystal Palace. Variety of acts including Balloon Ascents, Comic Ballet and Steam carrousels. Printed by: T.K. Burt and Co., Wine Office Court, Fleet Street.
Correspondence, c1900 - 2008
Items of personal correspondence and correspondence related to the Sanger and Ohmy families.
Crystal Palace and South London Handbills, c1835 - 1899
Handbills for travelling exhibitions and sideshows at Crystal Palace and South London.
Crystal Palace Fireworks Handbill, 6 October 1870
Fireworks Display at Crystal Palace. Firework display including "Blowing up of the Bridge of Kehl". Also, Offenbach's Comic Operettas.
Crystal Palace Programme, 12 December 1896
Black illustrations of musical instruments and a woman holding a small harp and black type on orange background on the front cover, inside details of concerts including lyrics and sheet music with informatioin about the music and listing of performers including, Akimoto's Royal Yedo Japanese Troupe, Mr Snazelle and Mdame Hoyce Maas, also listing of other events including picture galleries, Panoramas and Dioramas and Wulff's Great Continental Circus, 22p.p.
Crystal Palace Programme, 18 March 1893
Black illustrations of musical instruments and a woman holding a small harp and black type on orange background on the front cover, inside details of concerts including lyrics and sheet music with informatioin about the music and listing of performers including, Mr Fleming Norton, Mr Robert Ganthony, Mr R.A. Roberts and The Siege of Paris Panorama, 20p.p.
Cyril Critchlow Collection
Frankie Roberto Collection
Photographs, programmes, plans, trade and advertising material, tickets, badges and other items of ephemera for British theme parks and attractions, including Alton Towers, Pleasure Land, Thorpe Park and Legoland.
Grand Festival Concert Handbill, 25 June 1898
Concert at Crystal Palace Gardens. Pass to North Area Stall.
Handbills, c1786 - 1968
Handbills for travelling shows, fairs, exhibitions and performances in London.
Inauguration of the Opening of the Crystal Palace Handbill, 10 June 1854
Her Most Gracious Majesty at Crystal Palace. Flyer advertising the opening of the Crystal Palace.
International Exhibition 1862 Handbill, 1862
Wotherspoon's Victoria Lozenges at Crystal Palace. Juror’s have awarded Victoria Lozenges a prize medal.
John Bramwell Taylor Collection
Letter from the General Manager of Crystal Palace, 26 November 1930
Letter to Lily Sanger Ohmy from General Manager of Crystal Palace. Typescript.
Microscopical Exhibition Handbill, c1850 - 1899
The Lively Flea at Crystal Palace. Exposition of all things tiny/able to be magnified by microscope. "Opposite the great crystal fountain - south transept". Printed by Bowers Brothers, Steam Printers, 89 Blackfriars Road, London.
Newspaper Cuttings and Scapbooks, 1838 - 2007
A collection of newspaper cuttings on circus, circus proprietors and performers and scrapbooks containing newspaper cuttings, posters, programmes and other items of ephemera, covering mainly British circuses and venues such as Belle Vue and also some international circuses.
Photographs, c1900 - 1999
Photographs and postcards of Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adverntures, Crystal Palace and Thorpe Park, showing sites, rides and other amusements.
Programmes, c1800 - 2019
A collection of mainly British and international circus programmes and some variety and music hall programmes containing circus acts.
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- Archival Object 22
- Collection 4
- Subject
- Acrobats 5
- Aerialists 6
- Amusement parks 3
- Amusement rides 7
- Animal trainers 4
- Animals 11
- Archaeology 2
- Art 4
- Botany 3
- Boxing 1
- Business 2
- Circus 11
- Circus workers 1
- Clowning 4
- Comedians 8
- Conjoined twins 2
- Contortionists 2
- Dance 4
- Diving 1
- Dwarfs (Persons) 4
- Engineering 2
- Equestrians 4
- Escape artists 2
- Exhibitions 10
- Fairground art 1
- Fairs 3
- Fakirs 4
- Family 3
- Fasting 2
- Fat people 1
- Fire eating 2
- Fortune-tellers 2
- Freak shows 6
- Giants 2
- Glass 2
- Gymnasts 4
- Human cannonball 1
- Hypnotists 2
- Jugglers 4
- Knife throwing 1
- Log flume 1
- Magic 5
- Male impersonators 1
- Medicine 2
- Menageries 5
- Mimes 1
- Minstrel shows 4
- Motion pictures 6
- Music 2
- Music-halls 3
- Musical performances 10
- Optical illusions 4
- Pantomime 5
- Performers 12
- Pierrot 1
- Pleasure gardens 4
- Poetry 2
- Puppets 1
- Ringmaster 2
- Roller coasters 1
- Showman 5
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- Sideshows 3
- Singing 4
- Skating 3
- Strong men 4
- Strong women 2
- Stunt performers 2
- Tableaux vivants 2
- Theatre 2
- Transport 1
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- Variety 7
- Ventriloquists 5
- Wall of death 1
- War 3
- Waxworks 2
- Wild west 4
- World War, 1914-1918 2
- World War, 1939-1945 4
- Wrestling 3
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