After its opening on 24th May 1873 Alexandra Palace, or Ally Pally as it is affectionately known, proved incredibly popular. In the first two weeks alone 120,000 people visited the site. They knew that the original idea for this People’s Palace had been influenced by the much-loved Crystal Palace, the edifice created by Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition of 1851.
The structure gazes sphinx-like over London from its hilltop at Muswell Hill. Visitors ascend the steep hill to be delighted not only by the magnificent building but the spectacular views of London that greet them from the summit.
Alexandra Palace Destroyed by Fire
The present-day Palace is not the original building. On 9th July 1873, just sixteen days after opening, like the Crystal Palace before it, Alexandra Palace was consumed by fire.
The second Palace opened two years later in 1875. A crowd of 21,000 people came to the opening. Recreational facilities included painting and sculpture displays, a museum, lecture hall, library, banqueting room and theatre. The central feature was the Great Hall, capable of seating 12,000 people. The gigantic Willis Organ, driven by two steam engines thundered out anthems.
Yet in 1980 fire struck again and the Great Hall was completely engulfed.
A Monthly Historical Tour of Alexandra Palace will include:
- The Great Hall, fully restored. Its massive unpillared space, steel and glass latticed roof and stunning stained-glass rose window makes it an ideal exhibition and concert space. The restored Willis Organ once again takes centre stage.
- At the East Tower, there is a huge television mast. It is possible to visit the old television studios. It was from here in 1936 that the BBC transmitted the first high-definition public tv service. The television mast is the same one, with small modifications, that used to herald the BBC news on our black and white televisions.
- An old Victorian theatre is being restored.
- There are murals and rooms not open to the general public
Other Activities At Alexandra Palace
There is also an ice rink at Alexandra Palace, or perhaps the visitor would prefer a row on the boating lake. A stroll round the shoreline will find pathways originally constructed by some of the 2,200 prisoners of war interned here in 1916. Before that, the Palace was a refuge for hundreds of Belgian refugees, who returned again during the Second World War.
Other attractions include the seasonal funfair or circus, pitch and putt golf or the deer enclosure.
Try a nature walk. Begin at the west end of Alexandra Park (which was once the old railway line from Alexandra Palace to Finsbury Park) and stroll along the area that used to be a highly popular racetrack.
The whole of Alexandra Park is designated an Ecologically Valuable Site of Borough Importance, and the Conservation Area has been ranked Grade 1.
There's also the Farmer's Market for fresh produce including, bread, fish, vegetables, fruit, cheeses. Check the website for dates.
Time to Relax at Alexandra Palace
Feeling peckish? Bring a picnic or have refreshments at the aptly named Phoenix Bar. From its terrace reflect on a day of varied activity. It’s a bit like a typically English day out at the seaside, but without the sea. Instead, the vast ocean of London ebbs and flows below. To the right, on the horizon, the towers of Canary Wharf glint like distant ships, birds glide and dip over islands of trees, waves of suburban houses and industrial estates, whilst to the left a massive gas cylinder looms up like an end-of-pier pavilion.
Alexandra Palace is a fine example of that distinctive Victorian individualism and confidence. At the end of the day visitors won’t have to ask what the Victorians did for us. At Alexandra Palace it is very obvious.
Sources:
- Palace on the Hill: A History of Alexandra Palace and Park (Hornsey Historical Society, 2005)
- Notes taken whilst on Historical Tour
