Editing Crystal Palace, London (section)

==History==

The ridge and the historic [[oak]] tree known as the Vicar's Oak (at the [[Crossroads (culture)|crossroads]] of the [[A212 road|A212]] Church Road and [[A214 road|A214]] Westow Hill) were used to mark parish boundaries.<ref name="BritHistNorwood">{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=49779 |title=Norwood: Introduction |editor-first=FHW |editor-last=Sheppard |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1956 |work=Survey of London: volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area |access-date=3 July 2013 }}</ref> This has led to the Crystal Palace area straddling the boundaries of five London Boroughs; [[London Borough of Bromley|Bromley]], [[London Borough of Croydon|Croydon]], [[London Borough of Lambeth|Lambeth]],<ref name="croydonAdTriangleThree">{{cite news|last=Hughes|first=Pete|title=Crystal Palace Triangle: How life in the three London boroughs compares.|url=http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Crystal-Palace-Triangle-life-London-boroughs/story-16209156-detail/story.html#axzz2Uh7VwrPj|access-date=29 May 2013|newspaper=Croydon Advertiser|date=28 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127030352/http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Crystal-Palace-Triangle-life-London-boroughs/story-16209156-detail/story.html#axzz2Uh7VwrPj|archive-date=27 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[London Borough of Southwark|Southwark]] and [[London Borough of Lewisham|Lewisham]]. The area also straddles three [[UK postcodes|postcode districts]]: {{postcode|SE|19}}, {{postcode|SE|20}}, and {{postcode|SE|26}}. The ancient boundary between [[Surrey]] and [[Kent]] passes through the area, and until 1889 included parts of both counties. From 1889 to 1965 the area was on the south-eastern boundary of the [[County of London]].<ref name=CroydonUpperNorwoodConsArea>{{cite web |url= http://www.croydon.gov.uk/contents/departments/democracy/pdf/949725/caamps/upper-norwood-triangle.pdf |title=Upper Norwood Triangle Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan |publisher=Croydon Borough Council |access-date=9 September 2013 |page=12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205184738/http://www.croydon.gov.uk/contents/departments/democracy/pdf/949725/caamps/upper-norwood-triangle.pdf |archive-date=5 December 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite map|title=1933 Ordnance Survey Map|year=1933|author=Ordnance Survey|publisher=Ordnance Survey}}</ref>

For centuries the area was covered by the [[Great North Wood]], an extensive area of natural oak forest that formed a wilderness close to the southern edge of the then expanding city of London. The forest was a popular area for Londoners' recreation right up to the 19th century, when it began to be built over.<ref name=BritHistNorwood /> It was also a home of [[Romani people|Gypsies]], with some local street names and pubs recording the link,<ref name=BritHistNorwood /> and the area still retains vestiges of woodland.

A [[pneumatic railway]] was briefly trialled in the area in 1864. Once the railways arrived, Crystal Palace was eventually served by two railway stations, the [[Crystal Palace (High Level) railway station|high level]] and [[Crystal Palace railway station|low level]] stations, built to handle the large volume of passengers visiting the exhibition building. After the Palace was destroyed by fire, and with [[Beeching axe#Background|railway travel declining]], passenger numbers fell and the high level station was closed in 1954 and demolished seven years later. Rail services gradually declined, and for a period in the 1960s and 1970s, there were plans to construct an urban motorway through the area as part of the [[London Ringways]] plan. With rising passenger numbers, additional [[London Overground]] services began stopping at the station and a [[Crystal Palace railway station#Station redevelopment for East London Line|major station redevelopment]] occurred.

===The Crystal Palace===
[[File:Crystal Palace General view from Water Temple.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Image of the Crystal Palace before it was destroyed by fire.|The Crystal Palace]]
{{Main|The Crystal Palace}}

The Crystal Palace, designed by [[Joseph Paxton]], was a remarkable construction of prefabricated parts. It was a [[Cast iron|cast-iron]] and [[glass]] building originally erected in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] to house the [[Great Exhibition]] of 1851. Following the success of the exhibition, the Palace was moved and reconstructed in 1854 in a modified and enlarged form in the grounds of the Penge Place estate at [[Sydenham Hill]]. The buildings housed the [[Crystal Palace School| Crystal Palace School of Art, Science, and Literature and Crystal Palace School of Engineering]]. It attracted visitors for over seven decades.<ref name="ricEduPotter">{{cite web|last=Potter|first=Russell|title=The Crystal Palace|url=http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/cryspal.html|date=29 January 2007|access-date=12 October 2008}}</ref>

Sydenham Hill is one of the [[List of highest points in London|highest locations in London]]; 109&nbsp;metres (357&nbsp;ft) above sea level ([[spot height]] on Ordnance Survey Map); and the size of the Palace and prominence of the site made it easy to identify from much of London. This led to the residential area around the building becoming known as Crystal Palace instead of Sydenham Hill. The Palace was destroyed by fire on 30 November 1936 and the site of the building and its grounds is now known as Crystal Palace Park.
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