PROJECT:CRYSTAL PALACE

Today the history of the Crystal Palace is kept alive in the Crystal Palace Museum which tells the story of the Hyde Park and Sydenham Crystal Palaces with photographs and displays of original

documents and ceramics, housed in the only surviving building constructed by the Crystal Palace Company built circa 1880 as a classroom for the Crystal Palace Company’s School of Practical

Engineering.

CRYSTAL PALACE MUSEUM

CRYSTAL PALACE PARKhttp://www.crystalpalacepark.org

Crystal Palace Park is a historic park located in south east London and has something for everyone.

The Park's 200 acres are home to a diverse range of activities for visitors and locals alike, whether it is enjoying sport in the National Sports Centre (NSC), live music in the concert bowl or simply taking in the Park's landscape whilst walking.

The Crystal Palace Park website aims to highlight the Park's unique history, provide information and news about activities happening in the Park and insight into the London Development Agency's (LDA's) revitalisation plans for the Park in the future.

CP Park - The New Vision

The London Development Agency (LDA) has created a Crystal Palace Park Masterplan to bring the Park back to its former glory, by interpreting it's past to turn it into a functional and sustainable Park for the future.

The Masterplan application was granted permission by the Planning Committee at Bromley Council in December 2008. On Wednesday 28 January 2009 the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Hazel Blears, published her decision to call in the Master Plan application for the Park and the National Sports Centre (NSC). The Inquiry will be later this year.

The Outline Planning Application for the Masterplan was submitted to the London Borough of Bromley on 1 November 2007. The application also contained the necessary Conservation Area Consent application for the Park and a Listed Building Consent application for the National Sports Centre.

CP Park – Planning ApplicationsMasterplan Planning ApplicationIntroductionCrystal Palace Park is one of the most important parks in the country, and is of strategic significance. Created in 1853-5 by Sir Joseph Paxton, it was to be the permanent home for his 'Crystal Palace' that housed the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park. Overall, it was to be a celebration of past, present and future, a peoples' Versailles, a showcase from the prehistoric to the most up to date thinking on park design and use. Crystal Palace Park today has significant remains from Paxton's design, although the Palace itself burned down in 1936. Changing use and status over the years have taken their toll, and the Park has lost the coherent vision of its designer.

The London Development Agency's (LDA) vision is to rejuvenate Crystal Palace Park as a metropolitan park, heritage asset, cultural, leisure, educational and recreational resource to meet the needs of the local people, sports people whether elite or amateur, and the public at large. It is anticipated that the regeneration and rejuvenation of the Park should act as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of the area.

The LDA’s MasterPlanThe LDA's Masterplan

The aim of the Masterplan is to create a 21st century Park which reflects Paxton's original ideas while responding to today's concerns and opportunities. It would respect and build on the history of Crystal Palace Park while addressing the need for a site-wide reinterpretation and redevelopment of a large park suffering from decades of incoherent development, management and neglect. The Masterplan aims to establish a park that is:

innovativeinspirationaltrend-settingrecreational, fun and educational for allan exemplar of a modern sustainable park.

The vision responds to heritage, current condition and future needs, with an overall aim of re-establishing the Park's local, regional, national and international significance.

Planning Policy BackgroundThe site lies entirely within the London Borough of Bromley, although adjacent borough boundaries at the north and eastern sides of the Park include LB Croydon, LB Lambeth, LB Southwark and LB Lewisham. For the purposes of determining these applications, the development plan is the London Borough of Bromley Unitary Development Plan (UDP) 2006, and at a regional level, the London Plan 2004 (and Early Alterations 2006) and with less weight but still relevant) the 2006 Draft Further Alterations to the London Plan. National planning policy in the form of Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs) and more recent Planning Policy Statements (PPSs) are also material planning considerations. LB Bromley include as a strategic aim in the UDP:

"To maintain and enhance the role of Crystal Palace Park as a principal strategic park for south-east London and to recognise its value as open parkland and as an important cultural, recreational and sporting asset."The planning submission consists of three applications as follows:Masterplan Outline Planning Application (OA)Listed Building Consent Application (LBC)Conservation Area Consent Application (CAC)

Planning Applications

Listed Building Consent Application

National Sports Centre - Design and Access statementHistorical Assessment of the National Sports Centre

This area of the website is intended to provide you with a background to why the LDA is involved in regenerating Crystal Palace Park and the process that led to the masterplan being developed. Quick links can be found on the right hand side of this page.

In 2003, Sport England decided to close the NSC because it could no longer maintain the increasing subsidy necessary to keep the facility open. The London Development Agency (LDA), the Mayor’s agency for economic development, recognised the value of the NSC as an asset for London and for sport. It also recognised the importance and vulnerability of the Park as a whole. The NSC and Park we given even more importance after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics.

Following negotiations between the LDA, the London Borough of Bromley (LBB) and Sport England, the LDA took over the lease of the NSC in March 2006 and has an option to take over the rest of Crystal Palace Park by 2009.

What is the Masterplan?

The Masterplan Vision

The publication of the Draft Crystal Palace Park Planning Framework in October 2005, defined a vision and strategy for the rejuvenation of the Park. Following an extensive consultation exercise, the LDA further developed the ideas for the Park in the context of the feedback received from the public and stakeholders, and by continuing to work with the dialogue groups. An Addendum to the Planning Framework was published in February 2007. The Addendum provides an overview of the proposed changes to the framework proposals largely arising out of the consultation process. It effectively drew to a close this preliminary stage of the process, allowing the landscape-led masterplanners Latz und Partner to produce a more detailed masterplan for the Park. The Masterplan represents the next stage in this process, articulating and developing the concepts and outline proposals set out in the Draft Planning Framework and Planning Framework Addendum. The masterplan is formed of three planning applications which were submitted to the London Borough of Bromley on 1 November 2007. The documentation for the three masterplan planning applications can be found here.

CRYSTAL PALACE MUSEUMOne of the few buildings left after the fire

The Crystal Palace Museum traces the history of the Crystal Palace from its inception at Hyde Park, the move to Sydenham and its life spanning 82 years until its total destruction by fire in 1936. The Museum is situated in the former Crystal Palace School of Engineering established in 1872 and was one of the few buildings left after the fire of 1936. Next to the museum stands the base of Brunel's South Water Tower and on the Museum terrace you can see an original cast iron column from the Great Exhibition of 1851.

The Crystal Palace Museum is a registered charity and is independently run solely by volunteers. Opening times: 11am to 16.30pm on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays. Admission for normal opening hours is free. There is a charge for weekday visits to the museum.You can find the contact details for the Museum below for further details.

Event informationMuseum staff are available for talks to private and school visits. The Museum is open for visits during the weekdays by appointment only. Please leave a message on the answerphone or email if you have any queries. Guided tours of the Park take place on the first Sunday of each month. Make sure you check for details using the telephone number, ring the on the preceding Saturday of each week to find out about guided tours.

Weekday school visits are welcomeThe Museum can accommodate up to 35 children per visit. Visits last up to one hour and consist of an illustrated talk. Pupils will have the opportunity to ask questions and this can be followed by time for individual study of the Museum's collection. With prior notice the format of the visit can be adjusted to a teacher’s requirements, please get in touch. More informationThe Crystal Palace MuseumAnerley HillSE19 2BA Telephone / fax: 020 8676 0700

Education and Learning"Every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances."Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto produced by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DFES) in 2006. One of Paxton's visions for Crystal Palace Park was an educational resource where visitors could learn through fun and exploration. This vision is still very much a central principle of the Park today. The Park Rangers, part of the London Borough of Bromley, offer a variety of activities and experiences to engage a wide range of ages and abilities in both formal and informal learning.

The Park's central themes include:• history, particularly of the Victorian era,• wildlife habitats, nature and ecology,• prehistoric monsters, dinosaurs and evolution,• geology and natural history.

Educational visits can contain a number of different experiences:• guided tours• activity trails• time in the Museum• explorations• workshop activities and presentations.

The programmes have been developed to complement the National Curriculum and Curriculum Authority targets. Every visit is tailored to the group's needs, requirements and length of stay. There is also the opportunity for us to bring the education to you through outreach visits. Specialist guided tours and talks are also available upon request.

Guided tour themes include:Joseph Paxton and his vision for the Crystal Palace,Isambard Kingdom Brunel's water system,the vibrant history of sport in the parkMore informationContact the park rangers for details about guided tours: Tel: 020 8778 9496Email: adam.jenkins(at)bromley.gov.uk

Information about the Crystal Palace MuseumFor educational visits and opportunities connected to the Museum please contact Ken Kiss.http://www.crystalpalacepark.org/education_and_learning.html

FutureOver the years a number of proposals for the former site of the Palace have failed to come to fruition. Currently, there are two rival plans. The London Development Agency wants to spend £67.5 million on developments to the park, including new houses and a regional sports centre. Recently, a private consortium has announced plans to rebuild Crystal Palace and use it to house galleries, a snow slope, music auditorium, leisure facilities and a hotel.

http://www.newcrystalpalace.org/links.htm

Fire in Upper Norwood 1936:http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-6284583715070831292&ei=Fbd8S_OzLdak-Aa-mrniBw&q=crystal+palace&hl=en#

VIDEOs :The New Crystal Palace:http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=482758890980509356&ei=7SGES5DzAon1-AaAxK2DAQ&q=the+new+crystal+palace&hl=en#

Crystal Palace in Flameshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdKjlmG44GY

GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851 CRYSTAL PALACE:

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-6284583715070831292&ei=Fbd8S_OzLdak-Aa-mrniBw&q=crystal+palace&hl=en#docid=8376714363617469269

Crystal Palace 70th Anniversary Fireworks:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9pAV0ICNfc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nMqq8TSkT0

Crystal Palace, Norwood/Sydenham/Penge, London - rare B&W and colour footage!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nMqq8TSkT0

Great Exhibition of 1851 [English]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWk56u2tcTA

Crystal Palace Design:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W_MRYJDueU&feature=related