The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs are a series of sculptures of dinosaurs and other extinct animals, inaccurate by modern standards, in the London borough of Bromley's Crystal Palace Park. Commissioned in 1852 to accompany the Crystal Palace after its move from the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, they were unveiled in 1854 as the first dinosaur sculptures in the world. The models were designed and sculpted by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins under the scientific direction of Sir Richard Owen, representing the latest scientific knowledge at the time. The models, also known as the Geological Court or Dinosaur Court, were classed as Grade II listed buildings from 1973, extensively restored in 2002, and upgraded to Grade I listed in 2007.
Iguanodon sculptures in Crystal Palace Park.
The dinosaur models under construction at Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins' studio in Sydenham, c. 1853
The famous banquet in the mould of the Crystal Palace Iguanodon, New Year's Eve, 1853
Iguanodon models in 1995, before restoration, showing previous countershaded paint scheme with white undersides
Crystal Palace Park is a large park in south-east London, Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. It was laid out in the 1850s as a pleasure ground, centred around the re-location of The Crystal Palace -- the largest glass building of the time -- from central London to this area on the border of Kent and Surrey; the suburb that grew around the park is known by the same name.
Crystal Palace Park
An 1857 plan of the ground of Crystal Palace and park
Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins's Iguanodon statues.
The 1901 FA Cup final at Crystal Palace between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United