Places - Lost in Time: The Crystal Palace (Reworked)

Join this channel to get early access to new videos a week ahead of their public release:
/ @rorymacve
This is a reworked and reuploaded version of the original video.
Hello! :D
Once one of London's most recognisable landmarks, and a centre for the many cultures that fell under the rule of the British Empire, the Crystal Palace comprised two buildings that were built in 1851 and 1854, the first being to house the Great Exhibition, the first World's Fair in history, that drew under its glass roof hundreds of thousands of objects and items from across the globe.
However, while the exhibition was a triumph of Britain's culture, the glass-enclosed Crystal Palace was such a magnificent mixture of simple but sturdy design, that it would become an attraction in and of itself, thus seeing its move to a new location in south London, to form part of a permanent exhibition space that was instantly recognisable the world over.
Unfortunately, fate would conspire against the Crystal Palace, as after years of neglect, and its bankruptcy in 1911, the structure was on the cusp of seeing a return to marvellous form during the 1930s, when it was suddenly destroyed as a result of fire during November 1936, bringing an end to one of Britain's most iconic engineering marvels, and perhaps acting as a wider metaphor for the ever-decreasing influence of the British Empire on the global stage.
Chapter:
0:00 - Preamble
1:05 - Ornate but Temporary
3:29 - Paxton Steps in
5:57 - Creating a Masterpiece
8:58 - Simple Solutions
11:25 - The Great Exhibition
13:37 - A New Home
17:02 - Britain's Cultural Heart
20:48 - A Tragic End
24:28 - Conclusion
Also, I've bought myself a new condenser microphone, hence the change in audio quality. Please let me know what you think. :)
All video content and images in this production have been provided with permission wherever possible. While I endeavour to ensure that all accreditations properly name the original creator, some of my sources do not list them as they are usually provided by other, unrelated KZbinrs. Therefore, if I have mistakenly put the accreditation of 'Unknown', and you are aware of the original creator, please send me a personal message at my Gmail (this is more effective than comments as I am often unable to read all of them): [e-mail]
The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.
If you enjoyed this video, why not leave a like, and consider subscribing for more great content coming soon.
Press the Join button to get access to new videos a week ahead of schedule by becoming a channel member for just £2.99 a month!
Paypal: paypal.me/rorymacve?country.x...
Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/rorymacve
Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! :D
References:
- British Library (and their respective references)
- Victoria and Albert Museum (and their respective references)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)

[@Daytona2]

What a genius Paxton was. Not bad for a gardener. Thanks for the comprehensive history, Ruairidh

[@crimsontiger6]

My father in law was one of the thousands of Londoners that witnessed the Crystal Palace burn down. He was also evacuated from London during the Blitz.

[@DaveSCameron]

Respect.

[@pianoman1396]

My Grandad went to school in Tonbridge in Kent at the time; he said you could see the glow of the fire from there.

[@crimsontiger6]

@pianoman1396 how far away is that? I've never been to the UK (my father in law emigrated to Australia). I'm an Australian.

[@pianoman1396]

@@crimsontiger6 It’s about 25 miles south-east of Crystal Palace park.

[@crimsontiger6]

@@pianoman1396 That's amazing. He must have been able to see the glow of the fires during the blitz too. He was right under the battle of Britain's main combat areas. I wonder if he saw any dogfights.

[@DavidJones-hd1jj]

Fascinating video with superb archive footage. I learnt a lot. Thank you.

[@DavidJones-hd1jj]

Joseph Paxton was an inspired genius and your video makes that clear. Much of his design work appears to have been abandoned in the second building, something I was not aware of before.

[@davidpeters6536]

So it was a giant Meccano set with plate glass windows which was quite different when it was constructed the second time, amazing. By far the best documentary I have ever seen on Chrystal Palace, Thanks.

[@SmudgeThomas]

One of my grandfather's early memories was watching the Crystal Palace burn down, from a hill in North London. At the time the city's biggest fire since 1666. We buried him a few months ago, he was one of the generation who lived to see all the Victorians did wither due to their lesser successors

[@jamesgilbart2672]

Great video. The scale of the structure at Sydenham must have been truly awe-inspiring. At the site site today it's difficult to imagine such a building ever existed there. To me, the most similar thing that survives is Alexandra Palace but despite being positioned on top of a hill is probably not as imposing as the Crystal Palace once was.

[@stefanvladescu7353]

Hello, as usual the video is lovely, i really appreciate the details included in the story and the accompanying images and schematics. The audio quality is really an immense upgrade :3

[@Phaaschh]

Superb video, doing full justice to the magnificence, and magnificent demise of this irreplaceable building. "A blazing arch of lucid glass Leaps like a fountain from the grass"

[@NotExactlyQuiet]

The new mic is absolutely stellar Ruairidh, fair play. Loving all the extra content lately, keep up the great work.

[@davidchant5550]

Another excellent documentary - many thanks. One of the Egyptian obelisks at the entrance to the original great Exhibition was procured, some how, by the Marling family of Stroud and sits in the middle of a field on the side of the lower slops of Selsley hill. It has no public access and is often surrounded by the farmer's cows. Must try and get to it for a picture. The costs of such a structure was high, but not as high as the Millennium Dome of £790 Million, which is also a temporary tent type structure. As you say, it served its purpose of demonstrating the grandiose of the Victorian era and the notorious Empire. All this is long gone.

[@deanedge5988]

Most excellent. Just the kind of thing the BBC should be doing. Thank you.

[@rogerking7258]

One of your best videos yet! In a little over a year they went from the idea for the Great Exhibition to the grand opening. Can you imagine that happening today? The farcical saga of the Millennium Dome provides a stark contrast; they hadn't even decided what to do with it almost until it (eventually) opened. These two show the different outcomes when first you let engineers (yes, Paxton was most definitely an engineer) and latterly bureaucrats, run a major project. I can only doff my (metaphorical) cap in appreciation of everyone involved in the Crystal Palace. And I appreciate the interesting, and new to me, mention that the second structure was not identical to the first; I also wonder if either iteration had solid foundations, was piled into the ground, or had some other solution.

[@owenmccarthy2521]

Love these videos! Could you possibly do one on the Edward M. Cotter? It's the oldest active duty fire boat in the world. Keep up the great work!

[@DaveSCameron]

This is absolutely fantastic Great British History and superb work as always.

[@spongebot64]

If they had a labyrinth inside the building, could have they called it The Crystal Maze?

[@alexfrance500]

To the Crystal Dome!

[@flyingbeep]

You can notice the new audio quality! Great stuff 👍

[@xr6lad]

Yea sounds like a robot.

[@BobAbc0815]

Pasive Air Conditioning might actualy get a Comeback.

[@crimsontiger6]

When I was a boy in outback Australia houses often had an outdoor area like a pergola that had chicken wire walls stuffed with dried spinifex grass. At the top of the wall there was a drip irrigation system. When the breeze blew through the wet spinifex it cooled the people sitting inside. It was usually open on one side. It worked best in low humidity areas like NW Australia where I grew up

[@englishrob8245]

built on time, within budget! Rare, at that or in this.

[@DaveSCameron]

Cheers fo confirming the Birkenhead Park/ Central Park history.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿📚👍

[@peterfinucane8122]

Really enjoy your work and appreciate the effort involved.

[@mikeuk4130]

Cubitt is pronounced “Kewbit”, not “cubbitt”, just so you know. Brilliant video as always, of course.

[@gbentley8176]

Ancestor of H.M.The Queen I believe.

[@nigelhorsley7395]

Sorry but am I the only one on here that is hearing what sounds like a synthesised voice in the narration? It sounds odd for some reason. Everyone is going on how the new audio is so good. But I'm finding the narration a bit jarring on what is a good subject.

[@DaveSCameron]

Indeed ‘he’ does pronounce incorrectly and oddly often especially with his Eireann spelling of his name but his work and truth is outstanding.

[@nigelhorsley7395]

@@DaveSCameron I've watched quite a few of his videos in the past and they didn't sound in the narration like it sounds on this most recent piece.

[@stephengraham5099]

The stretching of some words at the end of a sentence is very irritating.

[@xr6lad]

100%. I thought it was a robot.

[@sandorrabe5745]

Mate you are spot on I made it almost to the eighth minute mark but cannot stand listening to this AI drone voice any longer. To bad because I like this type of architecture so much.

[@johncamp2567]

A fascinating documentary of considerable content! Excellent documentation and presentation!!

[@normanm5979]

Very enjoyable video but just a point about Baird Television - they tried the Farnsworth electronic camera but couldn't get it work and this was destroyed in the fire. The electronic system of Marconi/EMI was adopted after Baird's system was discontinued at Alexandra Palace, not Farnsworth. Also, by 1936 John Logie Baird himself was not directly involved with Baird Television Limited which was then owned by Gaumont British..

[@conradharcourt8263]

I'm sure that most people would agree that it's fair to say that JL Baird's mechanical television system would have failed anyway🙂

[@iansmith7929]

Nice documentary, Ruairidh.

[@kjflynn3379]

excellent - thanks for making this!

[@jacobnathanielzpayag3885]

Whoah this is a huge leap in audio quality. Congrats on the new setup

[@gregorylenton8200]

Great info thanks

[@TheStobb50]

Thank you very interesting

[@duncancurtis5108]

David Dimblebys father Richard reported on the 1936 fire.

[@declanjoyce8640]

Excellent...

[@Phaaschh]

23:05 "Smile, sir Henry!" as he assists in pulling down the remains of the Palace. What must have been going through his heart?

[@HazyFelix]

Love the new audio quality, although I believe you should smoothen your tone because the new mic makes your tonal stresses sound somewhat "jagged". Great video still!

[@igormac88]

I found very odd the scale of these old constructions, like these huge all glass palaces, or the WW II airship hangars.. I know we have now big constructions, but imagining that for that time.. i've seen a picture of an old wooden barn with dozen meters high... (also burned down rs)

[@pianoman1396]

My Grandad said he could see the glow of the fire from Tonbridge in Kent.

[@TheHylianBatman]

I would love to see the Crystal Palace, were it still standing.

[@bookie5667]

I believe there's a discrepancy in this video. At 05:22 you say the budget to build the palace in 1951 was £85,800. You go on to say at 05:58 that the structure was completed on time and on budget. However, at 18:56 you say that the original palace cost £150,000 in 1851. That means it cost DOUBLE the original estimate.

[@gardenogauge]

Can hear the difference with the new mic!

[@oli24yt]

Wow, you can really notice the new microphone!

[@xr6lad]

Yea he sounds like a robot.

[@DaveSCameron]

Beautiful 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿📚⚽️🇬🇧🫡

[@rjspires]

Audio sounds good, but does sounds like you linger at the end of most of the sentences now. I don't know if this is from the new set up.

[@xr6lad]

Good? It sounds like a robot.

[@stephengraham5099]

Great footage, A pity about the AI narrator. He said haitch for H, it is aitch and many words at the end of sentences were drawn out.

[@AtheistOrphan]

It’s not AI, and Ruairidh has always mispronounced the letter H for years.

[@stephengraham5099]

@@AtheistOrphan Thanks for correcting me.

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@stephengraham5099 - Well to be fair his voice does sound a little different to what it used to be in his older videos, I’m guessing it’s gone through some sort of ‘processing’.

[@johntyjp]

I think it might ve gone in the Blitz, as the glass reflection would've shone the light ?!🧐

[@cmdrflake]

This facility lives on thanks to Crystal Palace FC.

[@drstevenrey]

Classic British cock up. Cheap and cheerful. It will crash and burn as all such items ever have. Titanic, Comet and the entire manufacturing industry sends it's condolences. Even if it seems half a miracle that they manage to burn down a building of glass and steel. Amazing really.

[@duncancurtis5108]

The scrap metal industry's done superbly well out of great British flops.

[@chazzyb8660]

Seems a bit mean spirited given a temporary exhibition building designed to last perhaps a year actually lasted nearer 80? No pleasing some folk I guess?

[@conradharcourt8263]

@drstevenrey ,,,and your great achievement and contribution to society has been what exactly?

[@drstevenrey]

@@conradharcourt8263 You will never know and you also will never be able to afford it either. Besides, contribution to society, Crystal Palace, more like a self frankincenseing, self embalming navel show for the super-entitled jumped up aristocracy.

[@conradharcourt8263]

@@drstevenrey ROFL

[@greenthomasproductions]

Sorry Ruairidh, unsubbing.

[@fredflintstoner596]

Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam ." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window ? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?