Unknown London - Crystal Palace Park
by Tris
There is one place in London that, for me, is more
magical
and
mysterious
than anywhere else - Crystal Palace park. The reason for its
allure
is not what you can see, but what you can’t see!
The history of Crystal Palace Park is a fascinating story which takes us right across London and involves Princes, dinosaurs, art and science, fire, and much more.
In the mid-19th century it was decided that London would hold an enormous exhibition of culture and industry from countries across the world. It was called The Great Exhibition, and it lasted for 6 months in 1851. Over 6 million people attended, making it a massive success, and generating a tremendous profit. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, decided that the profit would be used to buy land in South Kensington and begin a project to create many artistic, scientific and cultural buildings. You can enjoy the results of his idea today by going to South Kensington and visiting The Natural History Museum, The Science Museum, The Victoria & Albert Museum (notice the names!), The Albert Memorial (name!), The Royal Albert Hall (name!!!), and many other sites of culture and learning. The picture below is the statue of Prince Albert which stands in Kensington Gardens. He holds the catalogue of the Great Exhibition in his hand. Queen Victoria loved him very much, and she erected this statue in memory of him.
The history of Crystal Palace Park is a fascinating story which takes us right across London and involves Princes, dinosaurs, art and science, fire, and much more.
In the mid-19th century it was decided that London would hold an enormous exhibition of culture and industry from countries across the world. It was called The Great Exhibition, and it lasted for 6 months in 1851. Over 6 million people attended, making it a massive success, and generating a tremendous profit. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, decided that the profit would be used to buy land in South Kensington and begin a project to create many artistic, scientific and cultural buildings. You can enjoy the results of his idea today by going to South Kensington and visiting The Natural History Museum, The Science Museum, The Victoria & Albert Museum (notice the names!), The Albert Memorial (name!), The Royal Albert Hall (name!!!), and many other sites of culture and learning. The picture below is the statue of Prince Albert which stands in Kensington Gardens. He holds the catalogue of the Great Exhibition in his hand. Queen Victoria loved him very much, and she erected this statue in memory of him.
A
gigantic
glass and metal building was constructed in Hyde Park for The Great Exhibition and then, after the exhibition finished, it was pulled down and rebuilt in South London. The picture at the top of the page shows the building when it was in South London. It looked like a palace made from glass, so it was named The Crystal Palace, and the area surrounding it is now known by the same name.
The Crystal Palace was used as a home of science, art, culture and performance. It was an extremely popular place for day-trips in the second half of the 19th century. However, as it got old, it became less popular and then, in 1936, a terrible fire burnt it to the ground.
If you go to Crystal Palace Park now, you will see very little evidence of the gigantic palace that used to be there. All that remains now are some stone steps going up to a large empty area, some decorative walls, and, strangely enough, some sphinxes !
If you go to Crystal Palace Park now, you will see very little evidence of the gigantic palace that used to be there. All that remains now are some stone steps going up to a large empty area, some decorative walls, and, strangely enough, some sphinxes !
There is a museum on the site now, so if you are interested, you can find out more there. It is only open on weekends, and the times are 11am until 4pm in the summer time. See their website for more details.
If you look at the map below, you will see that the palace was not the only thing in the park. In fact, there are some fascinating things that are still there now, over 100 years later.
If you look at the map below, you will see that the palace was not the only thing in the park. In fact, there are some fascinating things that are still there now, over 100 years later.
First of all, there were the dinosaur models. These were created in 1854 in and around the park’s lake. You can see some of them in the picture below. Their creation was overseen by Richard Owen - the same man who is responsible for the collection of dinosaur
fossils
at the Natural History Museum.
However, there are some inaccuracies . The horn on the nose of the Iguanodon (shown below) is actually from the bone in its thumb! Owen mistakenly thought it was a horn! There are many other inaccuracies in these 160 year old models, but that is part of the experience - you are seeing them through the eyes of someone living in Victorian Britain. Imagine that you had never read about dinosaurs in your school text book and that you had never seen them on television. Imagine how awesome it would be to see these unknown monsters for the first time. You could get lost in a world of your imagination!
However, there are some inaccuracies . The horn on the nose of the Iguanodon (shown below) is actually from the bone in its thumb! Owen mistakenly thought it was a horn! There are many other inaccuracies in these 160 year old models, but that is part of the experience - you are seeing them through the eyes of someone living in Victorian Britain. Imagine that you had never read about dinosaurs in your school text book and that you had never seen them on television. Imagine how awesome it would be to see these unknown monsters for the first time. You could get lost in a world of your imagination!
I recommend that before you go to see the dinosaurs, you check out the Wikipedia page about Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, because it gives details about all the inaccuracies in the models.
The next area of interest is the maze. Admittedly , it's not the most difficult maze , but it is still fun. I like to think of the Victorian children who came to see the dinosaurs and then went into the maze imagining those dinosaurs hiding around the corners or chasing them down the pathways.
The maze was built in 1870, but fell out of use around the time of the war. However, in 2009 it was restored by the Girl Guides and some new features were added to be discovered by any people who enter.
This summer, why not visit this less known but wonderful park, but be sure to take your imagination with you when you go.
The next area of interest is the maze. Admittedly , it's not the most difficult maze , but it is still fun. I like to think of the Victorian children who came to see the dinosaurs and then went into the maze imagining those dinosaurs hiding around the corners or chasing them down the pathways.
The maze was built in 1870, but fell out of use around the time of the war. However, in 2009 it was restored by the Girl Guides and some new features were added to be discovered by any people who enter.
This summer, why not visit this less known but wonderful park, but be sure to take your imagination with you when you go.
