Palace of Industry, View from the Cascade

This lithographic print shows the building which housed the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, held from 1 May to 15 October 1851. The structure, initially called the Palace of Industry, rapidly became known as the Crystal Palace. Covering about 19 acres of Hyde Park, the huge glass and steel building measured 1,848 feet by 408 feet, with an extension on the north side of 936 feet by 48 feet. The height of the ‘transept’ measured 108 feet, so that several trees in the park could easily be accommodated within the glass walls. The Exhibition Committee, headed by Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert, intended that the exhibition should promote contemporary industry and culture from around the world, with the aim of encouraging British Arts and manufacturing. Crystal Palace housed 13,937 exhibitors, who together showed over 100,000 exhibits, and the exhibition welcomed more than six million visitors.