48-540: The Great Victorian Way was an unbuilt infrastructure project, plans for which were presented to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Metropolitan Communications by its designer Joseph Paxton in June 1855. It would have consisted of a ten-mile covered loop around much of central and west London, integrating a glass-roofed street, railways, shops and houses. Three river crossings – two on the main loop and one on
96-514: A branch – would have continued the arcade, creating inhabited bridges. The structure was closely modelled on Paxton's own Crystal Palace . The proposal was sympathetically received by the committee, and also endorsed by Prince Albert prior to the passing of an act of Parliament authorising its construction, but ultimately abandoned on grounds of cost when the Great Stink of 1858 caused all London's infrastructure attention and funds to be devoted to
144-509: A hunting ground. Beginning under Queen Anne , it was designed by Henry Wise and Charles Bridgeman in order to form a landscape garden, with fashionable features including the Round Pond , formal avenues and a sunken Dutch garden . It was separated from the remainder of Hyde Park in 1728 at the request of Queen Caroline . Bridgeman created the Serpentine between 1726 and 1731 by damming
192-489: A much larger house, the Victoria Regia House. Inspired by the waterlily's huge leaves – 'a natural feat of engineering' – he found the structure for his conservatory which he tested by floating his daughter Annie on a leaf. The secret was in the rigidity provided by the radiating ribs connecting with flexible cross-ribs. Constant experimentation over a number of years led him to devise the glasshouse design that inspired
240-530: A result of misinformation he provided in his teens, which enabled him to enrol at Chiswick Gardens. He became a garden boy at the age of fifteen for Sir Gregory Osborne Page-Turner at Battlesden Park , near Woburn . After several moves, he obtained a position in 1823 at the Horticultural Society's Chiswick Gardens. The Horticultural Society's gardens were close to the gardens of William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire , at Chiswick House . The duke met
288-673: A roadway, an atmospheric railway , housing and shops. Although he remained the Head Gardener at Chatsworth until 1858, Paxton was also able to undertake outside work such as the Crystal Palace and his directorship of the Midland Railway. He worked on public parks in Liverpool , Birkenhead , Glasgow , Halifax (the People's Park ) and the grounds of The Spa, Scarborough . In October 1845 he
336-503: Is also home to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground and a seven-mile Memorial Walk . A statue of Queen Victoria sculpted by her daughter, Princess Louise, to celebrate 50 years of her mother's rule stands outside Kensington Palace. The park also contains the Elfin Oak , an elaborately carved 900-year-old tree stump. In his 1722 poem Kensington Garden , Thomas Tickell depicted
384-522: The Victoria regia lily which had been sent to Kew from the Amazon in 1836. Although they had germinated and grown they had not flowered and in 1849 a seedling was given to Paxton to try out at Chatsworth. He entrusted it to Eduard Ortgies , a young gardener and within two months the leaves were 4.5 ft (1.4 m) in diameter, and a month later it flowered. It continued growing and it became necessary to build
432-733: The Albert Memorial (at the south-east corner of Kensington Gardens, opposite the Royal Albert Hall ), Queen Caroline's Temple, the Serpentine Gallery , and Speke 's monument. Queen Victoria had commissioned the Italian Gardens and the Albert Memorial during a series of improvements. Another feature is the bronze statue of Peter Pan by George Frampton standing on a pedestal covered with climbing squirrels, rabbits and mice. It
480-594: The Magazine of Botany in 1834, the Pocket Botanical Dictionary in 1840, Paxton's Flower Garden (vols. I & II) in 1850 and the Calendar of Gardening Operations . In addition to these titles he also, in 1841, co-founded perhaps the most famous horticultural periodical, The Gardeners' Chronicle along with John Lindley , Charles Wentworth Dilke and William Bradbury , and later became its editor. Paxton
528-472: The Crystal Palace. With a cheap and light wooden frame, the conservatory design had a ridge-and-furrow roof to let in more light and drained rainwater away. He used hollow pillars doubling as drain pipes and designed a special rafter that acted as an internal and external gutter. All the elements were pre-fabricated and, like modular buildings , could be produced in vast numbers and assembled into buildings of varied design. In 1836, Paxton began construction of
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#1733085782463576-477: The Great Conservatory, or Stove, a huge glasshouse 227 ft (69 m) long and 123 ft (37 m) wide that was designed by the 6th Duke's architect Decimus Burton . The columns and beams were made of cast iron , and the arched elements of laminated wood. At the time, the conservatory was the largest glass building in the world. The largest sheet glass available at that time, made by Robert Chance,
624-681: The Thames again south of the Houses of Parliament. It passed near Victoria Street and through Sloane Square, Brompton and Kensington Gardens to the Great Western terminus at Paddington . Then, cutting through Marylebone, it took a path eastwards midway between Oxford Street and Regent's Park , to the termini of the London and North Western Railway at Euston and the Great Northern at King's Cross , completing
672-615: The area as inhabited by fairies. The park is the setting of J. M. Barrie 's book Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens , a prelude to the character's famous adventures in Neverland . Both the book and the character are honoured with the Peter Pan statue by George Frampton located in the park. Rodrigo Fresán 's novel Kensington Gardens concerns in part the life of J. M. Barrie and of his creation Peter Pan , and their relationship with
720-575: The boundary between Paddington and St George Hanover Square parishes, on the exact centre of the Westbourne river. Kensington Gardens were opened to the public in 1841. The land surrounding Kensington Gardens was predominantly rural and remained largely undeveloped until the Great Exhibition in 1851. Many of the original features survive along with the Palace, and there are other public buildings such as
768-535: The circle by returning to Cheapside via south Islington and Aldersgate. An inward branch from The Cut went in front of the South Western Railway's Waterloo station and then across the Thames midway between the Hungerford railway bridge and Waterloo bridge, reaching a terminus at Piccadilly Circus. The "girdle" would have been about ten miles long, and the branch one mile. Paxton told the select committee there
816-458: The creation of a functioning sewer network system designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette . The later, less ambitious Circle line roughly followed the route of The Great Victorian Way and produced some of its transport benefits. Paxton pointed out that it took longer to travel by road between the mainline railway termini at Paddington and London Bridge than it did to travel by train between London Bridge and Brighton . His solution to this, and
864-581: The eastern outflow of the River Westbourne from Hyde Park. The part of the Serpentine that lies within Kensington Gardens is known as "The Long Water". At its north-western end (originally the inflow of the River Westbourne), in an area known as "The Italian Garden", there are four fountains and a number of classical sculptures. At the foot of the Italian Gardens is a parish boundary marker, delineating
912-504: The gardens after scaling the kitchen garden wall, set the staff to work, eaten breakfast with the housekeeper and met his future wife, Sarah Bown, the housekeeper's niece, completing his first morning's work before nine o'clock. He married Bown in 1827, and she proved capable of managing his affairs, leaving him free to pursue his ideas. He enjoyed a friendly relationship with his employer who recognised his diverse talents and facilitated his rise to prominence. One of Paxton's first projects
960-553: The heart of London . Kensington Gardens are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens . Kensington Gardens are generally regarded as being the western extent of the neighbouring Hyde Park from which they were originally taken, with West Carriage Drive (The Ring) and the Serpentine Bridge forming the boundary between them. The Gardens are fenced and more formal than Hyde Park. Kensington Gardens are open only during
1008-485: The hours of daylight, whereas Hyde Park is open from 5 am until midnight all year round. Kensington Gardens has been long regarded as "smart" because of its more private character around Kensington Palace. However, in the late 19th century, Hyde Park was considered more "fashionable", because of its location nearer to Park Lane and Knightsbridge . Kensington Gardens was originally the western section of Hyde Park , which had been created by Henry VIII in 1536 to use as
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#17330857824631056-583: The manufacture of both glass and cast iron, and financially possible by the dropping of a tax on glass. In 1850 the Royal Commission appointed to organise the Great Exhibition were in a quandary. An international competition to design a building to house the Exhibition had produced 245 designs, of which only two were remotely suitable, and all would take too long to build and would be too permanent. There
1104-406: The morning, to allow for delivery of coal and merchandise, but only to omnibuses and passenger carriages after that time, At night the railway would carry goods between the various mainline railway termini. They would, however, have no direct link to any existing track. Paxton estimated the total cost at £34,000,000. Income would have been generated from the rental from the shops and houses, and from
1152-474: The parts across land creating inhabited bridges – Victorian equivalents of Old London Bridge. The walls of the arcade would be faced in ceramic tiles. Its glass roof would keep out the polluted atmosphere of London, and promote a healthy circulation of air. In the section across Kensington Gardens there would be no shops or houses, and the arcade would provide a place to exercise in bad weather. The road would have been open to all kinds of vehicles until nine in
1200-683: The private gardens of Kensington Palace , are among the Royal Parks of London . The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde Park , in western central London known as the West End . The gardens cover an area of 107 hectares (265 acres). The open spaces of Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park , and St. James's Park together form an almost continuous "green lung" in
1248-531: The problems of travelling between the City and the West End, was to build a "boulevard or railway girdle", linking the termini, most of which had been built outside the central area of London. Paxton's suggested route went through the City from Cheapside to Mansion House and across Cannon Street, crossing the river between Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge . It then ran through to The Cut and Lambeth before crossing
1296-651: The railway industry. He retired from Chatsworth when the Duke died in 1858 but carried on working at various projects such as the Thames Graving Dock. Paxton died at his home at Rockhills, Sydenham, in 1865 and was buried on the Chatsworth Estate in St Peter's Churchyard, Edensor . His wife Sarah remained at their house on the Chatsworth Estate until her death in 1871. Kensington Gardens Kensington Gardens , once
1344-704: The railway, with no tolls being charged for pedestrians or vehicle passengers. He estimated that the railway would carry about 105,000 passengers each day. Report from the Select Committee on Metropolitan Communications, together with the proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence and Appendix . London. 1855. pp. 77–96. {{ cite book }} : CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link ) 51°30′36″N 0°08′02″W / 51.510°N 0.134°W / 51.510; -0.134 Joseph Paxton Sir Joseph Paxton (3 August 1803 – 8 June 1865)
1392-410: The shops and residences, there would be two levels of narrow-gauge atmospheric railway tracks on each side, one for fast trains and one for slow trains. Atmospheric railways had failed in the past, but Robert Stephenson , usually sceptical about the system, had assured Paxton that they would be practical in these more controlled conditions. A double wall would insulate the residences from the noise of
1440-612: The size". Both buildings still stand today. Paxton also designed another country house, a smaller version of Mentmore, at Battlesden near Woburn in Bedfordshire. This house was bought by the Duke of Bedford thirty years after its completion, and demolished, because the Duke wanted no other mansion close to Woburn Abbey . In 1860, Paxton also designed Fairlawn, 89 Wimbledon Park Side, for Sir Edwin Saunders, Queen Victoria 's dentist. Paxton
1488-408: The time the use of glass houses was in its infancy and those at Chatsworth were dilapidated. After experimentation, he designed a glass house with a ridge and furrow roof that would be at right angles to the morning and evening sun and an ingenious frame design that would admit maximum light: the forerunner of the modern greenhouse. The next great building at Chatsworth was built for the first seeds of
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1536-418: The trains. Existing streets would cross the roadway on the level, with the railways running uninterrupted above." People, I find", Paxton said "will never go much above the ground, and they will never go under ground". The structure would be dry, well-ventilated and easy to maintain—being under cover the road would never become muddy. The same basic cross-section would have been used for the river crossings as for
1584-542: The young gardener as he strolled in his gardens and became impressed with his skill and enthusiasm. He offered the 20-year-old Paxton the position of head gardener at Chatsworth , which was considered one of the finest landscaped gardens of the time. Although the duke was in Russia, Paxton set off for Chatsworth on the Chesterfield coach arriving at Chatsworth at half past four in the morning. By his own account he had explored
1632-427: Was 1,848 ft (563 m) long, 408 ft (124 m) wide and 108 ft (33 m) high. It required 4,500 tons of iron, 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m ) of timber and needed over 293,000 panes of glass. Yet it took 2,000 men just eight months to build, and cost just £79,800. Quite unlike any other building, it was itself a demonstration of British technology in iron and glass. In its construction, Paxton
1680-542: Was 3 ft (0.91 m) long. Chance produced 4 ft (1.2 m) sheets for Paxton's benefit. The structure was heated by eight boilers using seven miles (11 km) of iron pipe and cost more than £30,000. It had a central carriageway and when the Queen was driven through, it was lit with twelve thousand lamps. It was prohibitively expensive to maintain, and was not heated during the First World War. The plants died and it
1728-538: Was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Coventry from 1854 until his death in 1865. In June 1855 he presented a scheme he called the Great Victorian Way to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Metropolitan Communications in which he envisaged the construction of an arcade, based on the structure of the Crystal Palace, in a ten-mile loop around the centre of London. It would have incorporated
1776-561: Was an English gardener , architect, engineer and Member of Parliament, best known for designing the Crystal Palace and for cultivating the Cavendish banana , the most consumed banana in the Western world. Paxton was born in 1803, the seventh son of a farming family, in Milton Bryan , Bedfordshire. Some references, incorrectly, list his birth year as 1801. This is, as he admitted in later life,
1824-515: Was an outcry by the public and in Parliament against the desecration of Hyde Park . Paxton was visiting London in his capacity as a director of the Midland Railway to meet the chairman John Ellis who was also a member of parliament. He happened to mention an idea he had for the hall, and Ellis promptly encouraged to produce some plans, provided they could be ready in nine days. Unfortunately he
1872-531: Was assisted by Charles Fox , also of Derby for the iron framework, and William Cubitt , Chairman of the Building Committee. All three were knighted . After the exhibition they were employed by the Crystal Palace Company to move it to Sydenham where it remained until it was destroyed by fire in 1936. In 1831, Paxton published a monthly magazine, The Horticultural Register . This was followed by
1920-452: Was built in 1844; it was twice the height of Nelson's Column and required the creation of a feeder lake on the hill above the gardens necessitating the excavation of 100,000 cu yd (76,000 m ) of earth. In 1832, Paxton developed an interest in greenhouses at Chatsworth where he designed a series of buildings with "forcing frames" for espalier trees and for the cultivation of exotic plants such as highly prized pineapples. At
1968-516: Was commissioned by Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild to design Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire. This became one of the greatest country houses built during the Victorian Era . Following the completion of Mentmore, James Mayer de Rothschild , one of Baron de Rothschild's French cousins, commissioned Château de Ferrières at Ferrières-en-Brie near Paris to be "Another Mentmore, but twice
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2016-574: Was committed for the next few days, but at a board meeting of the railway in Derby, it is said he appeared to be spending much of his time doodling on a sheet of blotting paper . At the end of the meeting he held up his first sketch of the Crystal Palace, inspired by the Victoria Regia House. The sketch is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum . He completed the plans and presented them to the Commission, but there
2064-517: Was demolished in the 1920s. In 1848 Paxton created the Conservative Wall , a glass house 331 ft (101 m) long by 7 ft (2.1 m) wide. The Great Conservatory was the test-bed for the prefabricated glass and iron structural techniques which Paxton pioneered and would employ for his masterpiece: The Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition of 1851. These techniques were made physically possible by recent technological advances in
2112-561: Was honoured by being a member of the Kew Commission, which was to suggest improvements for Royal Botanic Gardens , and by being considered for the post of Head Gardener at Windsor Castle . On 17 March 1860, during the enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement , Paxton raised and commanded the 11th (Matlock) Derbyshire Rifle Volunteer Corps . Paxton became affluent, not so much through his Chatsworth employment, but by successful speculation in
2160-538: Was invited to lay out one of the country's first municipal burial grounds in Coventry . This became the London Road Cemetery , where a memorial to Paxton by Joseph Goddard was erected in 1868. Between 1835 and 1839, he organised plant-hunting expeditions, one of which ended in tragedy when two gardeners from Chatsworth sent to California drowned. Tragedy also struck at home when his eldest son died. In 1850, Paxton
2208-495: Was no need to take the route further east as "towards Whitechapel there are people who do not go about so much." The structure was modelled on Paxton's own Crystal Palace . A glass-roofed arcade 72 feet wide and 108 feet high would cover a central roadway. Between the City and Regent's Street the roadway would have been lined with shops, while in Brompton and other areas of west London there would have been private residences. Behind
2256-482: Was opposition from some members, since another design was well into its planning stage. Paxton decided to by-pass the Commission and published the design in the Illustrated London News to universal acclaim. Its novelty was its revolutionary modular, prefabricated design, and use of glass. Glazing was carried out from special trolleys, and was fast: one man managed to fix 108 panes in a single day. The Palace
2304-509: Was to redesign the garden around the new north wing of the house and expand Chatsworth's collection of conifers into a 40-acre (160,000 m ) arboretum which still exists. He became skilled at moving mature trees. The largest, weighing about eight tons, was moved from Kedleston Road in Derby. Among several other large projects at Chatsworth were the rock garden , the Emperor Fountain , and rebuilding Edensor village. The Emperor Fountain
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