Event    From 1/5/1851  To 15/10/1851

Great Exhibition

From the V&A website:
"The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations was held in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. It was the first international exhibition of manufactured products and was enormously influential on the development of many aspects of society including art and design education, international trade and relations, and even tourism. The Exhibition also set the precedent for the many international exhibitions which followed during the next hundred years."

Six million people came to visit the exhibition in the Crystal Palace designed by Joseph Paxton.

The Great Exhibition memorial behind the Albert Hall gives the following:
"Opened by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, May 1st 1851.
Closed October 15th 1851
Number of visitors: 6,039,195
Total Receipts: £522,179
Total Expenditure: £335,742
Number of exhibitors: 13,937
viz. British - 7381, Foreign - 6556
Size of building: 1848 feet by 456 feet
Architect - Sir Joseph Paxton
Contractors - Fox and Henderson"

The Great Exhibition was not only the first such event but it was also the only one to make a profit.

The Exhibition drew large numbers of sightseers to the area. This prompted the equestrian performer, William Batty, to erect an open-air amphitheatre, known as the Grand National Hippodrome, or Batty's Hippodrome, on an undeveloped site nearby, now occupied by De Vere Gardens, shown on this map. This closed when the Exhibition closed.

If you wish to see a remnant of the Great Exhibition go to Floris in Jermyn Street, which is lined with lovely wood and glass cabinets salvaged from the Exhibition. There is also a little Floris perfume museum at the back, and the staff won't mind you looking without buying. And, on a different scale, you can see the Coalbrookdale Gates at the entrance to South Carriage Drive from West Carriage Drive. Created for the Great Exhibition they were moved here when the Albert Memorial was constructed.

2023: Building London drew our attention to another item (a 30-foot Ionic column) exhibited at the Great Exhibition that is now on display elsewhere, in this case in Stroud.  

2024: Londonist Time Machine reported on a number of items that remain from the exhibition, as well as those mentioned above. The ones still in London include: a blade tree at the Worshipful Company of Cutlers; a Book case at the V&A Museum; Cigar cabinets at James J. Fox, St James’s Street; the clock on the clocktower at King's Cross Station; the Koh-i-Noor diamond at the Tower of London; a Safe at the London Silver Vaults.

2024: Keith Wood of Hooked Wit Films has, amazingly, recreated the Great Exhibition of 1851 in VR and there's a Facebook group. This is the first release; work will continue to add further exhibits to the simulation. Primarily intended for use with VR, if you don't have a headset it will enter a fall-back mode using monitor / keyboard / mouse.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Great Exhibition

Commemorated ati

Buck Hill bastion

This is really an information board rather than a plaque and has a number of ...

Read More

Cromwell Buildings

The Prince Regent (later King George IV) had died more than twenty years befo...

Read More

Great Exhibition and Prince Albert

Designed by Joseph Durham with modifications by Sydney Smirke. Inaugurated by...

Read More

Great Exhibition - Coalbrookdale Gates

From Royal Parks: "The gates were designed by Charles Crookes. Each of the ca...

Read More

Great Exhibition - Hyde Park - entrance

Building designed by: Joseph Paxton First large scale prefabricated glass and...

Read More

Show all 13

Other Subjects

Brixton Challenge

Brixton Challenge

An urban regeneration scheme. The aim was to develop the arts and shopping areas to generate income from people visiting the area, but locals argued money is not going to the people that need it. R...

Group, Commerce, Community / Clubs

1 memorial
Sir Francis Baring

Sir Francis Baring

Merchant and merchant banker. Born at Larkbear, Exeter. He founded the bank that bore his name with his brother John. Director of the East India company from 1779. Grandfather of Thomas and of Evel...

Person, Commerce

1 memorial
Stakis PLC

Stakis PLC

Hotel group founded in the 1960s by Reo Stakis. They bought Caxton Hall in 1986, intending to develop it as offices and flats, but by the time they were given approval, the property market had cras...

Group, Commerce

1 memorial
Freemasons' Tavern

Freemasons' Tavern

The first, 1775, building (in the picture) was replaced by a four storey building in 1803. It was rebuilt again in 1864 by the Freemasons who, in 1909, renovated it and changed its name to the Conn...

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink

2 memorials
Westminster penny post

Westminster penny post

Westminster office of the penny post and then the two-penny post. The first office of the penny post in London that ran in a dedicated building rather than within a stationer or other business. T...

Building, Commerce

1 memorial