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This is one of the earliest film records of London's famous Crystal Palace, then approaching its first half-century (it was originally constructed in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851, then relocated to Sydenham in south-west London). Effectively, it was Britain's first large-scale theme park, offering a wide range of entertainment and educational pursuits for a nominal admission fee (including, from 1868, public Zoetrope shows, the most direct precursor of the cinema). For much of the early part of its life it averaged two million visitors per year. This film shows an example of the kind of entertainment that was laid on for visitors: a large-scale choreographed dance routine that appears to be celebrating different sporting events as performed by various nations. The Crystal Palace continued to operate until well into the twentieth century, defying occasionally severe financial problems dating back to the 1850s, until a devastating fire on 30 November 1936 destroyed the building. Michael Brooke
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Complete film (2:03)
