The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in its 990,000 square feet (92,000 m2) exhibition space to display examples of technology developed in the Industrial Revolution. Designed by Joseph Paxton, the Great Exhibition building was 1,851 feet (564 m) long, with an interior height of 128 feet (39 m), and was three times the size of St Paul's Cathedral.
The Crystal Palace at Sydenham (1854)
The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park for the Grand International Exhibition of 1851
Joseph Paxton's first sketch for the Great Exhibition Building, c. 1850, using pen and ink on blotting paper; Victoria and Albert Museum
An 1864 Statue of Albert, Prince Consort, holding a plan of the Crystal Palace
Hyde Park is a 350 acres (140 ha), historic Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park, past Buckingham Palace to St James's Park. Hyde Park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water lakes.
Hyde Park, with Kensington Gardens in foreground
The Hamilton–Mohun Duel of 1712. Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun, fighting James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, in Hyde Park; both lost their lives.
Hyde Park, 1890, by Camille Pissarro, showing the footpath along the southern bank of the Serpentine
The Winter Wonderland festival has been a popular Christmas event in Hyde Park since 2007.
