Crystal Palace Park, London, UK
One of my favourite places in London is the Crystal Palace Park, with its fleeting memories of The Crystal Palace.
Originally erected in Hyde Park, London, in 1851, The Crystal Palace housed the Great Exhibition of 1851. Designed by Joseph Paxton, the exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in the Industrial Revolution.
The building was moved to a new park in Penge Common after the Exhibition, and stood in the area from 1854 to 1936 - when it was destroyed by fire. Walking along the promenades, you get the sense of its grandeur. It must have been amazing to visit in its day, and did attract huge crowds.
Not much is left of The Crystal Palace in the park, but what is left is a ghostly, and crumbling, reminder of what was there. What catches my eye is the promenades, with the stairs leading up to both, and the last remaining statues and sphinxes.
The remaining statues have a life and stories of their own. They seem to be surveying the park, keeping watch over the hustle and bustle in the modern day park. I often wonder what they would say if they could talk.
Originally erected in Hyde Park, London, in 1851, The Crystal Palace housed the Great Exhibition of 1851. Designed by Joseph Paxton, the exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in the Industrial Revolution.
The building was moved to a new park in Penge Common after the Exhibition, and stood in the area from 1854 to 1936 - when it was destroyed by fire. Walking along the promenades, you get the sense of its grandeur. It must have been amazing to visit in its day, and did attract huge crowds.
Not much is left of The Crystal Palace in the park, but what is left is a ghostly, and crumbling, reminder of what was there. What catches my eye is the promenades, with the stairs leading up to both, and the last remaining statues and sphinxes.
The remaining statues have a life and stories of their own. They seem to be surveying the park, keeping watch over the hustle and bustle in the modern day park. I often wonder what they would say if they could talk.
Crystal Palace Park, London, UK
It’s a shame that many of them are no longer around, or have been damaged.
Crystal Palace Park, London, UK
But they do give a sense of a bygone age.
The stairs up to the promenades, and the crumbling stone work around them, give a sense of the decadence of the place, but also of its fragility. One does get a sense that nothing lasts forever, no matter how spectacular it is.
The stairs up to the promenades, and the crumbling stone work around them, give a sense of the decadence of the place, but also of its fragility. One does get a sense that nothing lasts forever, no matter how spectacular it is.
Crystal Palace Park, London, UK
Recounting my steps back down the stairs, I found it interesting how, even in the modern day, people continue to use, and enjoy, the space where The Crystal Palace once stood.
I would have enjoyed to see The Crystal Palace in all its glory when it was build. However, I do enjoy the hints of it in its decaying decline. It will be a place where I will return again and again with my camera to capture its fleeting memories.
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