Crystal Palace Foundation

The Crystal Palace Foundation is a voluntary organisation established in 1979 and described as a leading authority on the Crystal Palace. It aims to keep alive the memory of the Crystal Palace and its major role in the story and social development of Victorian and Edwardian England. Its website specialises in the 1851 Great Exhibition, the Sydenham Crystal Palace and Crystal Palace Park, and it offers membership, historical articles, a shop, collections and news. It is a UK Registered Charity Number 285563.

The Crystal Palace Foundation is a voluntary organisation established in 1979 and is a leading authority on the Crystal Palace. It aims to keep alive the memory of the Crystal Palace and its major role in the story and social development of Victorian and Edwardian England. According to its About page, it began at a gentlemen's hairdressers owned by Eric Price at 84 Anerley Road, London, SE19 2AH, where Eric displayed photographs of the Crystal Palace. Two regular customers, Alan Watson (later Mason-Watson) and John Greatrex, spoke at length with Eric about the history of Crystal Palace and decided to hold an exhibition on its history. The exhibition was held on 3 March 1979 in the National Sports Centre (NSC) Conference Centre, with 24 visitors paying 10 pence each. Spurred on, the trio decided to hold a bigger exhibition later that year, placing advertisements in local society magazines inviting others to join. New joiners were E. R. Rogers MBE, Geoffrey Chipping, Jan Greatrex, Melvyn Harrison, George West, and an American student Jeff Yentz. The group was known as the Crystal Palace Exhibition Committee (CPEC). The exhibition took place in the now demolished Anmac building in the NSC on 28 May 1979 and during six hours fifteen minutes of opening hosted 960 visitors paying 10 pence each, making a grand profit of £207.56. As a result of the enthusiasm of volunteers and visitors, it was decided that a society should be formed celebrating the history of the Crystal Palace.

A leading authority on the Crystal Palace; a voluntary organisation preserving its history.

1. 1The Crystal Palace Foundation // Preserving the history of the Crystal Palacecrystalpalacefoundation.org.uk
2. 2Crystal Palace History - The Crystal Palace Foundationcrystalpalacefoundation.org.uk
3. 3The Crystal Palace Foundationcrystalpalacefoundation.org.uk