The legendary London landmark was tragically devastated by fire back in 1936
The Crystal Palace fire of 1936 was described by Winston Churchill as “the end of an age” (Image: Brian White)
If you wander around Crystal Palace park today, there are small reminders all over the place of the landmark that once dominated the skyline in the area. With little more than the stone steps and the foundations it rested upon remaining though, it’s hard for those who never saw the Crystal Palace to remember its incredible scale.
Built 564m long and 39m high at its peak, the Crystal Palace was built as an exhibition space with just under a million square feet of room inside, three times larger than St Paul’s Cathedral. Completed in 1850, this marvel of Victorian engineering got its name from the materials used to build it, with steel and plate glass making up nearly the entire exterior.
After being built in Hyde Park in 1851 for the Great Exhibition, the palace was moved to Sydenham Hill in 1854 and reopened by Queen Victoria, including a new pair of towers on either side that you’ll still find on the Crystal Palace F.C. logo.
Sadly the palace slipped into decline towards the end of the 1800s with insufficient visitors to pay for proper maintenance, and in 1911 the palace was declared bankrupt. After this, a ray of hope appeared and the palace was taken over by a new board of trustees in the 1920s who improved the surrounding gardens and fountains, helping the landmark turn a profit once again.
But on November 30, 1936, tragedy struck. An explosion in the women’s cloakroom started a fire, with 89 fire engines and 400 firemen rushing to help fight the blaze which quickly engulfed the entirety of the enormous palace. Within just hours the entire palace was destroyed, the glow of the fire visible eight counties away.
On the night around a hundred thousand people came down to Sydenham Hill to watch the fire, with Winston Churchill describing the loss as “the end of an age”. All that was left standing after the fire were the two water towers, the south one being pulled down shortly after as it was unsafe, and the north demolished in 1941 for unknown reasons, possibly due to fears it could be used as a landmark by German bombers.
The Crystal Palace under construction in Sydenham in 1854, the man on the left is the building’s designer Joseph Paxton(Image: Brian White)1 of 12
The south transept under construction in 1854(Image: Brian White)2 of 12
The palace and gardens quickly became a draw for visitors from all over the world and a major London landmark(Image: Brian White)
From 1927 motor racing was held at the site as the Crystal Palace enjoyed a resurgence under new management(Image: Brian White)4 of 12
The Egyptian Court section was especially magnificent(Image: Brian White)5 of 12
But in 1936 it was devastated along with the rest of the palace
The charred remains of the Egyptian Court(Image: Brian White)7 of 12
The scene was one of total destruction where the great palace had once stood proudly(Image: Brian White)8 of 12
The wood and timber floors used throughout the building’s structure made it catch fire incredibly quickly, leaving little chance to save the palace
This marvel of Victorian engineering became a smouldering heap of rubble and twisted metal(Image: Brian White)10 of 12
Only the two water towers remained immediately after the fire, the south tower pulled down not long after the fire for safety reasons(Image: Brian White)11 of 12
The demolition of the final water tower in 1941
