Crystal Palace Road - why is it named so ?

[KidKruger]

Someone told me that it was because a lot of the materials for building the Crystal Palace were carried down this road (presumably after it was dismantled in Hyde park or wherever the Great Exhibition was), but I don't think so as it only covers about a mile of the journey.

Any other (and more convincing) reasons known ?

Feel free to chip-in with the usal witty (subjective), inaccurate and sarcastic contributions.

[Keef]

I'd always thought it was simply because it was the main road towards the new crystal palace. They were flogging the name everywhere, before that, crystal palace itself was just part of penge wasn't it?

[jim_the_chin]

Sarcastic seems to be flavour of the month around here - but nice to see an old-style thread about local interest

In my head I always thought it pre-dated barry road and followed an old main through route to the palace - although that would have made it upper norwood road I suppose. I imagine stage-coaches would have had trouble getting over those speed-bumps too.

More accurately, Landells road next door is named after one of the founders of Punch magazine

[Penguin68]

Keef wrote:

crystal palace itself was just part of penge wasn't it?

This may be part of the huge irony attack which seems to have rushed through the posts in the last 48 hours, but if it isn't then I think what is now 'Crystal Palace' used to be treated as Sydenham rather than Penge.

[DaveR]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Barry Road is part of the old boundary between the manors of Friern and Dulwich, and has been a right of way for a very very long time - certainly before the crystal palace arrived in south london

[flapjackdavey]

Penguin68 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Keef wrote:

>

> crystal palace itself was just part of penge

> wasn't it?

>

> This may be part of the huge irony attack which

> seems to have rushed through the posts in the last

> 48 hours, but if it isn't then I think what is now

> 'Crystal Palace' used to be treated as Sydenham

I always thought the area was technically it was Upper Norwood

> rather than Penge.

[matthew123]

The Cystal Palace was situated on the 'ancient boundary' between Kent and Surrey.. is it possible the old border runs on what is now Crystal Palace Road hence it's name?

[Penguin68]

From WikiP

After the exhibition, the building was moved to a new park in a high, healthy and wealthy area of London called Sydenham Hill, an area not much changed today from the well-heeled suburb full of large Victorian villas that it was during its Victorian heyday. The Crystal Palace was enlarged and stood from 1854 until 1936, when it was destroyed by fire. It attracted many thousands of visitors from all levels of society. The name Crystal Palace (coined by the satirical magazine Punch)[2] was later used to denote this area of south London and the park that surrounds the site, home of the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

[Penguin68]

The naming of the road is early - this quote from an article on OS maps -

The 1868 map is still quite open, although Lordship Lane and Crystal Palace Road are shown laid out ready for building.

So it was not more than 15 years after Crystal Palace was moved before the road was named - I suspect because by then it was a 'popular' local name and would encourage potential buyers to think they were closer to 'attractive' Sydenham Hill than they were - so an early version of esatate agent's spin.

[Brendan]

Oh come on people it was obviously named after the CPT not some conservatory in Sydenham.

[Andystar]

i heard that the road used to be inside crystal palace & they moved the road to dulwich because there were too many roads in crystal palace. moving roads was easier back then, alas, the technology is lost now..

[KidKruger]

Well guys there's some varied input here !

There may still be an argument for it having been named after the haulage to the CP of materials to build it, since it looks like (compared to Barry and Lordship) an easier gradient for haulage which in those days I guess was horse and cart.

Penguin68 - good points.

How can we have so many streets and know not where/why the name originates ?

There must be a categoric and coherent answer out there, anymore suggestions ?

Andystar - interesting point.....

[Brendan]

Well it?s obvious they would have used Crystal Palace Road because Lordship Lane was where the local Lord kept his ship and as we all know Barry Road was only opened on Saturday by Station Manager Barry Jones and is named after Barry the Barry Barry Bear.

And, perhaps a little less plausibly, there used to be a canal somewhere around that they probably used to transport materials.

[KidKruger]

I think the canal went as far as Camberwell.

However the other points you raised carry weight and are indisputable !

[Brendan]

Wasn't there another canal that come up from the South and ended up around Sydenham somewhere?

[macroban]

East Dulwich, Crystal Palace Low Level, and Crystal Palace High Level railway stations all had goods yards.

The Forest Hill station railway line was built on the bed of the Croydon Canal.

[Muley]

Crystal Palace Road was so named because it used to look like this-

www.flickr.com/photos/35143215@N00/2646516901/in/photostream/

'Course, I remember when it was all just fields...

[KidKruger]

Brendan I think I read somewhere that Crystal Palace was rebuilt after being taken down from somewhere like Hyde Park therefore I'm minded to believe the route taken to carry the materials (if by canal) was from the North. So if a canal was used it would possibly have been down to Camberwell...

Muley - thanks for your contribution, that is beautiful !!

[Brendan]

Yeah you're right it was in Hyde Park first. That was a definite flaw in my otherwise Holmes-like skills of deduction.

[Reg Smeeton]

It's been mentioned on here before, but the famous Morecambe & Wise stripper sketch opens with the line "and here's a request from Mr M. Allison of Crystal Palace Road". Doesn't help to explain the origin though...

[Only me!]

Was it as simple as the re-located Palace being visible from the Road?

[KidKruger]

Reg - I think you are correct, this may not explain the origins of the name of the road !

OnlyMe - could be but I think there were several building up already between here and Sydenham and if not buildings then trees would have blocked the view.

[Only me!]

True KidKruger but I'm not sure that any of the buildings would have been of any great size.

But you are probably right about the trees....

Maybe the full title was originally "Only in Winter Crystal Palace Road" but it's been shortened over the years.

The Palace was a sizable Building though.

Many stories high. With large, very high, water towers at each end of the Parade. Feeding all the fountains.

So not impossible that it would have been as prominent in it's day as Dawson's Heights is today.

[Brendan]

Now there's progress for you 'ey.

[woofmarkthedog]

The Crystal palace was in Sydenham (upper) it stood along side Crystal palace parade......

Don't you know