Crystal Palace Park, Sydenham, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest:   

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

After the success of the Great Exhibition of 1851, there was great public pressure to retain Sir Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace, the magnificent glass and steel structure which housed the exhibition in Hyde Park. The Crystal Palace Company was formed, purchased the building for £70,000, and re-erected it in Penge Place, south London. Situated on the top of Sydenham Hill, the site was then rural in aspect and offered magnificent panoramic views over the Capital and the Kent countryside. In August 1852, work began on moving the huge structure to its new location. Paxton (1803-1865), assisted by his protégé Edward Milner (1819-1884), created a new landscape as a setting for the Palace, one that suited the increased scale of the rebuilt exhibition centre. The design, published in The Builder of 1856, was probably influenced by Paxton's visit in 1834 to Versailles (Chadwick 1961). Areas of formal and informal landscape were created around a great central axis which ran the length of the park from the exhibition building in the west to the Penge gate in the south-east corner. The heart of the park, set below two immense terraces, themselves decorated with gardens and fountains, was the water display comprising almost 12,000 individual jets. The display focused on the great circular fountain which occupied the central position below the Terraces, the main jet attaining a height of about 45 metres. The water from the basin was channelled into two water temples, down long stepped cascades, and into the north and south basins, each with their own grand fountains. The water was pumped from reservoirs designed as informal lakes to two tall towers situated at either end of the Upper Terrace.

The park was not completed in time for the opening of the Palace by Queen Victoria in 1854 and she returned the following year to witness the fountains' inaugural display.

In spite of the immense popularity of the Palace and the park, the Crystal Palace Company twice went bankrupt (1887 and 1901). By 1871 the fringes of the park had been sold to offset debts and parts along Thicket Road and Crystal Palace Park Road were developed for housing. By 1874 the cascades and the North Basin were no longer in use and by 1880 the latter had been converted to a cycle track. The South Basin had been filled in and used for football and polo by 1890 and the first Cup Final was played there in 1895. The cricket ground, which was in place by 1857, flourished and in the early decades of the 20th century, cycling, motorcycling and motor-car racing became popular in the park. Other large-scale events were held on a regular basis: the Lower Terrace (identified in 1910 as the Firework Terrace) was home for 'Brocks' fireworks displays which took place there for over seventy years. The Crystal Palace Company's School of Practical Engineering and their School of Art, Science and Literature were housed in buildings on the south-west boundary.

The fire that destroyed the Crystal Palace in 1936 was the biggest peace-time fire of 20th centuryondon. The park became neglected and the public were not admitted for safety reasons. The surviving water tower was demolished in 1941 as it was thought to be too prominent a landmark for enemy aircraft. In 1952 the park and Palace lands were transferred to the London County Council (LCC) and the lowest part of the site was reopened as a public park. Between 1956 and 1964, the National Sports Centre was developed on the site of the former football ground and cycle track. Opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1964, it was awarded a Civic Trust design award in the same year.

The Greater London Council (GLC) succeeded the LCC as managing authority for the estate in 1965 and under their management some of the peripheral areas of the site, which had been sold in 1871, were incorporated once more as public open space. These included the 2.5 hectare site of Rockhills, Paxton's own house. With the break-up of the GLC in 1986, management of the park was taken over by the London Borough of Bromley who developed a management plan which identified key areas for restoration and enhancement within the park. Following this, an application for grant aid was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund. In addition proposals were drawn up to redevelop the site of the Crystal Palace. These plans are, in 1999, awaiting implementation.