The Crystal Palace started out as a mega pavilion of glass and iron at the Hyde Park ‘Great Exhibition’ in 1851. The structure was painstakingly taken down piece by piece and reassembled on top of Norwood Heights, and named the Crystal Palace by 1854. It was served by the now disused Higher Level train station and had extensive landscaped grounds studded with ornamental fountains, powered by two tall water towers – each having a smoke stack in the middle - which stood at either end of the Palace, north and south. Under mysterious or perhaps inevitable circumstances (there had been a previous conflagration) the Crystal Palace caught fire in 1936 and was burnt to ground and entirely destroyed in the space of just one evening. The landscaped grounds mostly escaped the destruction but were reduced to a glimmering ghost of former days due to municipal neglect, the redevelopment of the park as a formula racing track, leisure and sports centre, and casual vandalism which continues to this day. The twin water towers were demolished after the fire and the High Level station was closed in 1954. The platforms have since been developed into housing but the original subway connecting the Crystal Palace with the station, underneath the Crystal Palace Parade (road) is still there. The internet is teeming with historical photos and articles devoted to the Crystal Palace. The still vacant site is also now home to the gigantic Crystal Palace aerial, a landmark for many kilometres and miles around.
1. ruined steps at south end of Crystal Palace [below]
2. broken statue
3. detail of ‘2’
4. reverse view of ‘2’
5. statue facing SE towards Sydenham, Penge and Anerley
6. flight of steps at centre and leading up to Crystal Palace site
7. Victorian sphinx at south end of esplanade
8. aquarium feature (remains) at north end, facing east
9. aquarium signs
10. aquarium
continues...