Crystal Palace Park: Victorian Subway

Crystal Palace Park is a fascinating place with over 170 years of history, since it was selected as the new home for the building that housed the Great Exhibition of 1851. I have plans for a series of blog posts about this site because there's so much to cover and I have a huge number of photos. While the park sits in the London Borough of Bromley, it's right on the boundary of Croydon, Lambeth, Bromley, Southwark and Lewisham. 

To cut a long story very short, Crystal Palace Park opened in 1854, and the Crystal Palace itself sadly burned down in 1936. The park still has a variety of attractions, including lifesize models of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, an outdoor concert venue, several lakes, a maze and a large sports centre. Last year park management was handed over to the Crystal Palace Park Trust, a charity with big ambitions for the site. They are securing funding to restore parts of the park, including the dinosaurs.

Current Crystal Palace train station

Currently, there is a station called Crystal Palace, on the edge of the park, which opened in 1854 and sits between central London and Croydon. From 1865 to 1954, there was an additional station called Crystal Palace High Level. It was the terminus of a branch line from Peckham Rye, constructed to rival the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway's station, then known as Crystal Palace Low Level. 

As part of the station construction, a subway was built under Crystal Palace Parade, leading directly into the Crystal Palace building. This was much more ornate than what passes for a pedestrian subway these days, with Byzantine-inspired brick columns and tiles. The subway survived the fire and closure of the station and was used as an air raid shelter during World War II, however it was subsequently neglected for many years. 

I took this photo of the entrance to the subway in 2011

The subway was opened periodically to the public from 1979. It has now been carefully restored and a new roof has been constructed over the East Courtyard. I had the privilege of visiting the site this morning.

Ceiling close up

Brick on the wall of the entrance steps

Steps up to ground level

I assume this is some kind of drainage channel

Leaves on the stone floor

The wide angle photo below gives a sense of the scale and feel of the subway.

A wide angle photo taken on my phone, with lens distortion

There are plans to hold events in the space, including movie showings in the run up to Christmas. Read more about the subway and opportunities to visit it here on the Crystal Palace Park Trust site.

I hope to write more about Crystal Park soon, covering its history and attractions.