| Crystal Palace Park | |
|---|---|
 Crystal Palace Park | |
  Location of the park shown within content of Greater London | |
| Type | Public park |
| Location | Crystal Palace London, SE19 United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°25′15″N 0°04′12″W / 51.42083°N 0.07000°W |
| Area | 200 acres (81 ha) |
| Created | 1854 |
| Operated by | London Borough of Bromley |
| Status | Open all year |
| Public transit access |   Crystal Palace |
| Website | crystalpalacepark |
Crystal Palace Park is a large park in south-east London, Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[1] It was laid out in the 1850s as a pleasure ground, centred around the re-location of The Crystal Palace -- the largest glass building of the time -- from central London to this area on the border of Kent and Surrey; the suburb that grew around the park is known by the same name.
The Palace had been relocated from Hyde Park after the 1851 Great Exhibition and rebuilt with some modifications and enlargements to form the centrepiece of the park, before being destroyed by fire in 1936. The park features full-scale models of dinosaurs in a landscape, a maze, lakes, and a concert bowl.[2]
This site contains the National Sports Centre, previously a football stadium that hosted the FA Cup Final from 1895 to 1914 as well as Crystal Palace F.C.'s matches from their formation in 1905 until the club was forced to relocate during the First World War. The London County Cricket Club also played matches at Crystal Palace Park Cricket Ground from 1900 to 1908, when they folded, and the cricket ground staged a number of other first-class cricket matches and had first been used by Kent County Cricket Club as a first-class venue in 1864.
The park is situated halfway along the Norwood Ridge at one of its highest points. This ridge offers views northward to central London, eastward to the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and Greenwich, and southward to Croydon and the North Downs. The park remains a major London public park; maintained by the LCC and then the GLC, but with the abolition of the GLC in 1986 the park and its management were moved into the London Borough of Bromley. The park has one of the largest weekly outdoor Farmers' Markets in London. In recent years the park has also played host to organised music events such as Wireless Festival and the South Facing Festival.
- ^ Historic England, "Crystal Palace Park (1000373)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 19 November 2017
- ^ "Map of Crystal Palace Park". Crystal Palace Park, Penge, South London. Cadillac Owners Club of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2013.