One of the single largest traditional conservatories in history no longer exists, and its sudden fiery destruction is to this day amongst the most controversial and total disasters in the history of heritage, survived primarily by a football team that bears its name.
The great Crystal Palace was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton and was itself an evolution of his previous work with Decimus Burton on The Great Conservatory of Chatsworth House.
Completed in 1851, the original purpose of Crystal Palace was to serve as the site of the Great Exhibition, a grand World’s Fair that displayed industrial wonders from around the world.
Whilst the 100,000 exhibits were either works of great invention, grand beauty or both, the greatest and most beautiful sight was the Palace itself, which was three times bigger than St Paul’s Cathedral and was so clear that during the day it did not need interior lighting.
After the year-long exhibition, it was relocated from its original location at Hyde Park to Sydenham Hill in an area now known as Crystal Palace, where it remains a prominent events location.
However, during its existence, it was constantly running at a loss due to the immense debt incurred by moving it from Hyde Park, and it took until the 1920s for it to become profitable, although age had weakened it and dried the wooden panelling used on the floor.
On 30th November 1936, a small fire, believed to have been caused by a gas leak had ignited, and security guards tried in vain to snuff it out before it invariably spread. By the time the Fire Brigade arrived the entire building was awash in flames.
The glass shattered, causing the iron structure to collapse and one of Victorian London’s greatest monuments for 85 years burned completely to the ground in just a few hours in an inferno so intense it could be seen from Brighton.
The cause of the fire has never been ascertained but John Logie Baird, a television pioneer, had been running broadcasting experiments in Crystal Palace and claimed it was potentially a sabotage.