Why was the Crystal Palace built

Q. Whose idea

A. The Great Exhibition of Works of Industry of all Nations - to give it its grand title - was launched in October, 1849, with Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, in charge. A public appeal raised 67,399 3s 10d towards building it on the south side of Hyde Park. Joseph Paxton designed the building, which became known as the Crystal Palace because it was made of iron and glass.

Q. A palace, eh Big, was it

A. Oh yes. I expect you'll want these vital statistics. The exhibition was opened by Victoria and remained open to the public until 11 October, and then was dismantled (more of that, and an eyewitness account, later). The structure occupied 21 acres, and was composed entirely of large sheets of glass set in a framework of iron, with boards at the foot. It was 1,851ft long (to correspond with the year); and 456ft wide. There were three tiers of elevation.

Q. And made mainly from glass

A. Yes - 896,000 feet of glass weighing 400 tons; 550 tons of wrought iron; 3,500 tons of cast iron; 600,000 cubic feet of wood; nearly 2,300 cast iron girders, and 30 miles of gutters.

Q. And how many exhibitors were there

A. About 17,000. The greatest number of visitors was in the last week - 478,773. Total entrance fees were 424,418 15s.

Q. Bet you don't know how much entrance was, though

A. You'd lose your wager. A season ticket was one guinea (1.05). Day tickets were a shilling each, but half a crown (12.5p) on a Saturday.

Q. But what could visitors see there

A. Something and everything. Among British exhibits, for example, were hydraulic presses, steam engines, pumps, and automated cotton spinning machines. American displays included false teeth, artificial legs, a repeating pistol, rubber goods, chewing tobacco, and agricultural machinery.

Q. And then, like the Millennium Dome, it closed

A. Yes. But unlike the dome, it had made a profit. It was then dismantled and shipped out to Sydenham, in south London, where it was rebuilt on an estate of 290 acres, known as Penge Place. The Crystal Palace became the place for shows, exhibitions, concerts, football matches, and other entertainments.

Q. And then

A. On the night of 30 November, 1936, it was virtually destroyed by fire. Here is an account, exclusive for The Answerbank, written by John Frederick Bishop Wood in his private memoirs: 'We were listening to the 9pm news on the wireless and heard that the palace was on fire. Rushing to the windows, we saw the dramatic glow in the sky and set off on foot to get nearer. We walked to a high viewpoint in Streatham where, across the Norwood Valley, we could see the whole skyline on fire. The flames, hundreds of feet high, rose even higher as the great organ crashed from the top of the auditorium. We were out till the early hours, sadly watching, as my mother put it, the death of a dear friend. We heard next day that most fire engines in London had been mobilised, many being stuck in rivers of liquid glass flowing down the steep hill of the Sydenham ridge. There were, later, ridiculous legends that the palace had been officially destroyed because its presence was a navigation aid to hostile aircraft. Intelligence after the war discovered that German aircraft flying into Croydon Airport had photographed every inch of the route - and most other strategic targets, too, elsewhere in the country.'

The towers that survived were demolished in 1941 - probably because they were too conspicuous to Luftwaffe bombers.

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By Steve Cunningham