 Alexandra Palace (2021) | |
 Interactive map of Alexandra Palace | |
| Location | Alexandra Park, London,N22 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°35′39″N00°07′51″W / 51.59417°N 0.13083°W /51.59417; -0.13083 |
| Public transit |  Alexandra Palace Wood Green |
| Operator | Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust |
| Capacity | 800 (Panorama Room) 1,750 (East Hall/Ice Rink) 2,000 (Palm Court) 2,500 (West Hall) 10,250 (Great Hall) 900 (seated)/1,300 (seated/standing) (Theatre) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | September 1865 |
| Opened | 1 May 1875; 150 years ago (1875-05-01) |
| Renovated | 1873–75, 1980–88, 2016–17 |
| Construction cost | £417,000 (£50.4 million in 2023 pounds[1]) |
| Architect | Owen Jones,John Johnson andAlfred Meeson |
| Builder | Kelk and Lucas |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Building details | |
 Interactive map of Alexandra Palace | |
| General information | |
| Inaugurated | 24 May 1873 (1873-05-24) |
Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in north London, situated betweenWood Green andMuswell Hill in theLondon Borough of Haringey. AGrade II listed building,[2] it is built on the site ofTottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm.[3] It was designed byJohn Johnson andAlfred Meeson. It opened in 1873 but following a fire two weeks after its opening, was rebuilt by Johnson. It was intended as "the People's Palace" and it is often referred to by the nickname "Ally Pally".
At first a private venture, in 1900 the owners planned to sell it andAlexandra Park for development. A group of neighbouring local authorities managed to acquire it. AnAct of Parliament created the Alexandra Palace and Park Trust. The Act required the trustees to maintain the building and the park, and make them available for the free use and recreation of the public forever. The present trustee is the London Borough of Haringey,whose coat of arms shows lightning bolts depicting Alexandra Palace's pioneering role in the development of television.
In 1935 the trustees leased part of the Palace to theBBC for use as theproduction and transmission centre for their newtelevision service. Thus, in 1936, it became thehome of the world's first regular public(then) "high-definition" television service. The broadcasting system was 405-linemonochromeanalogue television – the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. Although other facilities soon superseded it after theSecond World War, Alexandra Palace continued to be used by the BBC for many years, and its radio and television mast is still in use.
The original Studios A and B still survive in the southeast wing with their producers' galleries, and are used for exhibiting original historical television equipment. The original VictorianAlexandra Palace Theatre with itsstage machinery also survives and, as of 2019, is back in use. The theatre and the stage structure are onEnglish Heritage's Buildings at Risk register. Alexandra Palace became a listed building in 1996,[2] at the instigation of the Hornsey Historical Society. A planned commercial development of the building into a mixed leisure complex, including a hotel, a replacement ice-skating rink, a cinema, a ten-pin bowling alley and an exhibition centre, encountered opposition from public groups and was blocked by theHigh Court in 2007.
The Great Hall and the West Hall are typically used for exhibitions, concerts and conferences. They are operated by the trading arm of thecharitable trust that owns the building and the park on behalf of the public. There are also a pub, anice rink, apalm court and a panoramic view of London.
In 2013 Alexandra Park was declared alocal nature reserve. It is also aSite of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1.[4][5][6]
The nearest railway stations areAlexandra Palace, withGreat Northern services fromMoorgate, and theLondon Underground stationWood Green on thePiccadilly line. Alexandra Palace is also served byLondon Buses route W3.
The "Palace of the People" was conceived byOwen Jones in 1859. The Great Northern Palace Company had been established by 1860, but was initially unable to raise financing for the construction of the Palace. Construction materials were acquired and recycled from the large1862 International Exhibition building inSouth Kensington after it was demolished: the government had declined to take it over. In 1863 Alexandra Park Co. Ltd. acquired the land of Tottenham Wood Farm for conversion to a park and to build the People's Palace,[7] on a site that stands on a ridge more than 300 ft (91 m) high, part ofMuswell Hill.[8]Alexandra Park was opened to the public on 23 July 1863.
The planned building was originally named "The Palace of the People"; it and its park were renamed to honour the popular new Princess of Wales,Alexandra of Denmark, who had marriedPrince Albert Edward on 10 March 1863. The Palace of the People, or the People's Palace, remained as alternative names. In September 1865 construction commenced but to a design byJohn Johnson andAlfred Meeson rather than the glass structure initially proposed by Jones.[9]
In 1871 work started on theEdgware, Highgate and London Railway to connect the site toHighgate station. Work on both the railway and the Palace was completed in 1873 and, on 24 May of that year, Alexandra Palace and Park were opened. The structure covers some 7.5 acres (3.0 ha). The Palace was built byKelk and Lucas, who also built theRoyal Albert Hall in South Kensington at around the same time.[10]Sims Reeves sang on the opening day before an audience of 102,000.[11] Only 16 days later, Alexandra Palace was destroyed by a fire which also killed three members of staff. Only the outer walls survived; a loan exhibition of a collection of English pottery and porcelain, comprising some 4,700 items of historic and intrinsic value, was also destroyed.[12]
The Palace was quickly rebuilt and reopened on 1 May 1875. The new Alexandra Palace contained a concert hall, art galleries, a museum, a lecture hall, a library, a banqueting room and a large theatre. The stage of the theatre incorporated machinery that enabled special effects for the pantomimes and melodramas that were then popular: performers could disappear, reappear and be propelled into the air. The theatre was also used for political meetings. An open-air swimming pool was constructed at the base of the hill in the surrounding park; it is long since closed and little trace remains except some reeds.
The grounds included a horseracing course with a grandstand, named theAlexandra Park Racecourse but nicknamed the "Frying Pan" or the "Pan Handle" because of its layout. It was London's only racecourse from 1868 until its closure in 1970. There were also a Japanese village, a switchback ride, a boating lake and a nine-hole pitch-and-puttgolf course. Alexandra Parkcricket and football clubs have also played within the grounds, in the middle of the old racecourse. since 1888. AHenry Willis organ was installed in 1875, vandalised in 1918, and restored and reopened in 1929. In its restored form Willis's masterpiece was declared byMarcel Dupré to be the finest concert organ in Europe.[13]
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| Alexandra Park and Palace (Public Purposes) Act 1900 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to constitute a body of Trustees for the purpose of acquiring the Alexandra Park Palace and other lands in the county of Middlesex and to empower them to hold and manage the same as a place of public resort and recreation and for other public purposes and to make all provisions necessary or proper in that behalf. |
| Citation | 63 & 64 Vict. c. cclix |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 6 August 1900 |
In 1900 the owners of Alexandra Palace and Park were threatening to sell them for redevelopment, but a consortium headed by Henry BurtJP, a member of the Middlesex County Council and of Hornsey District Council, embraced the opportunity of securing the Palace and the grounds for the people of London. A committee was formed by Burt and the consortium managed to raise enough money to purchase them just in time. By theAlexandra Park and Palace (Public Purposes) Act 1900 (63 & 64 Vict. c. cclix), a charitable trust was created; representatives of the purchasing local authorities became the trustees with the duty to keep both building and park "available for the free use and recreation of the public forever".[14]
In 1921 a plaque was erected at the entrance of the south terrace in honour of Burt.[15] The Palace passed into the hands of theGreater London Council in 1967, with the proviso that it should be used entirely for charitable purpose. The trusteeship was transferred to Haringey council in 1980.
During theFirst World War the park was closed; the Palace and its grounds were first used as a refugee camp for displaced Belgians,[16] and then later from 1915 to 1919 as an internment camp[17] for German and Austrian civilians.[18][19] The camp commandant was Lt. Col.R. S. F. Walker until his death in May 1917.[20]
The theatre was greatly altered in the early 1920s, when the general manager,W. J. MacQueen-Pope, spent war reparation money on refurbishing the auditorium. He abandoned the understage machinery that had produced the effects necessary in Victorian melodrama; some of the machinery is preserved, and there is a project to restore some of it to working order. After these changes the theatre was leased byArchie Pitt, then husband ofGracie Fields, who appeared in the theatre. Fields also drew an audience of 5,000 people to the hall for a charity event.
In 1935 the trustees leased part of the Palace to theBBC for use as the production and transmission centre for their newBBC Television service. The antenna was designed byCharles Samuel Franklin of theMarconi Company. The world'sfirst public broadcasts of(then) "high-definition" television were made from Alexandra Palace in November 1936,[21] an event which is alluded to by the rays in the moderncoat of arms of the London Borough of Haringey.[22] Two competing systems, Marconi-EMI's 405-line system andJohn Logie Baird's 240-line system, were installed, each with its own broadcast studio and were transmitted on alternate weeks until the 405-line system was chosen in January 1937.[21] After the BBC leased the eastern part of the Palace the theatre was only used for props storage space.
The Palace continued as the BBC's main transmitting centre for London until 1956, interrupted only by theSecond World War, when the transmitter found an alternative usejamming German bombers' navigation systems.[23][24] In 1944, a Germandoodlebug exploded just outside the organ end of the Great Hall and the Rose Window was blown in, leaving the organ exposed to the elements.[25] In 1947 some of the pieces of the shattered rose window were incorporated in a new design by architectE.T. Spashett during renovation of bomb-damaged public buildings by theMinistry of Works.[26][27] During the 1940s and 1950s the Palace also housed a public roller-skating rink and theAlexandra Palace Roller Skating Club.
In the early 1960s an outside broadcast was made from the top of the tower, in which the first passage of a satellite across the London sky was watched and described. It continued to be used forBBC News broadcasts until 1969, and for theOpen University until 1981.[2] The antenna mast still stands and is used for local terrestrial television transmission, local commercial radio andDigital Audio Broadcasting. The main London television transmitter is now atCrystal Palace in South London.[citation needed]
In 1977 the Greater London Council (GLC) considered a £20 million proposal to redevelop Alexandra Park into a multi-sport complex constructed around ashared football ground for two North London clubs,Arsenal andTottenham Hotspur. The 75,000-seat stadium would have required a new transit connection, either amonorail line or a branch of thePiccadilly line, and private funding. The proposal was rejected by the GLC after local opposition cited the potential forhooliganism in the area.[28][29]
Early in 1980 Haringey Council took over the trusteeship of Alexandra Palace from the GLC, insuring it for £31 million,[30] intending to refurbish the building but just six months later, duringCapital Radio's Jazz Festival, a fire started under the organ and quickly spread. It destroyed half the building. Again the outer walls survived and the eastern parts, including the theatre and the BBC Television studios and aerial mast, were saved. Parts of the famous organ were destroyed, though it had been dismantled for repairs so some parts, including nearly all the pipework, were away from the building in store. Some of the damage to the Palace was repaired immediately, but Haringey Council overspent on the restoration, creating a £30 million deficit. The Palace was reopened to the public in 1988 under a new management team headed by Louis Bizat. Later the council was heavily criticised for the overspend in a report by Project Management International.[31] In 1991 the Attorney General stated that the overspending by the council as trustee was unlawful, and so could not be charged to the charity.[32] The council for some years did not accept this finding and instead maintained that the charity "owed" the council £30 million, charged compound interest on what it termed a "debt", which eventually rose to a claim of some £60 million, and to recoup it tried to offer the whole palace for sale.[33][34]
An ice rink was installed at Alexandra Palace in 1990. Primarily intended for public skating, it has also housedice hockey teams including theHarringay Racers, theHaringey Greyhounds, theLondon Racers and now theHaringey Huskies,[35] as well as afigure skating club, the Alexandra Palace Amateur Ice Skating Club.
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The first performances for about 70 years took place in the theatre, first in its foyer in June 2004, then, in July, in the theatre itself. Although conditions were far from ideal, the audience was able to see the potential of this very large space. Originally seating 3,000, it could not be licensed for more than a couple of hundred. It was intended that the theatre would reopen, but costly restoration would be required first. It will never again reach a seating capacity of 3,000, not least because one balcony was removed in the early part of the 20th century as a fire precaution when films started to be shown there. A major season of the theatre companyComplicité was planned for 2005, but the project, which would have included some repair and access work, was cancelled due to higher-than-anticipated costs.[36]
Plans by the current trustees, Haringey Council, to replace all the charitable uses by commercial ones through a lease of the entire building, including a casino, encountered considerable public and legal opposition, and on 5 October 2007, in the High Court, Mr Justice Sullivan granted an application by Jacob O'Callaghan, a London resident, to quash the Charity Commission's order authorising a 125-year lease of the entire building to Firoka Ltd.[37]
In September 2009 the main hall at Alexandra Palace was allowed 2,000 more occupation, up to 10,250 ("still saddled by a £37 million debt it owes its guardian, Haringey Council").[38]
A masterplan for the future of the site was drawn up in 2012, comprising six "big ideas" to restore and redevelop the Palace.[39] The first of these to be implemented aimed to transform the derelict eastern end of the Palace, making the Victorian theatre and the historic BBC Studios accessible. In 2013 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a Round 1 pass to develop the proposals, creating a new entrance in the restored East Court, re-establishing the theatre as a flexible performance space and reopening the BBC Studios as a visitor attraction. There was controversy regarding plans to demolish the brick infills in the colonnade on the southeastern face of the building, which the BBC constructed after 1936 to form their television studios within.[40] Following a public consultation and advice from English Heritage, Planning and Listed Building Consent was given for the proposals, and in March 2015 HLF awarded Round 2 major grant funding.[41]
In 2018 Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios made a £27 million refurbishment of the long-abandonedAlexandra Palace theatre and east wing.[42][43][44][45]
In 2018 it was announced that the Theatre would open for aBBC Proms performance on 1 September[46] before officially reopening to the public on 1 December 2018 following the completion of the East Wing Restoration Project by the contractorWillmott Dixon.[47] The opening programme included performances fromDylan Moran,Horrible Histories,Gilbert & George,Gareth Malone and an evening of jazz presented byRonnie Scott's.[48]
During thecoronavirus pandemic Alexandra Palace was used by Edible London as a food distribution hub for local residents.[49]
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Alexandra Palace has hosted a number of significant events. Recurring events held there include theGreat British Beer Festival (1977–1980),[50] theBrit Awards (1993–1995), thePDC World Darts Championship (2008–present) and theMasterssnooker tournament (2012–2020 and 2022–2025).
In November every year a large fireworks display is scheduled there as part of London'sBonfire Night celebrations.
The Observer's Wildlife Exhibition held here in 1963 was an important early event in highlighting awareness of worldwide endangered species, and it gained a large attendance (46,000).[51]
TheNews of the World Darts Championship final stage was held at Alexandra Palace from 1963 to 1977.[52]
In April 1967 a benefit event took place at the Palace.The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, organised by theInternational Times, demonstrated the importance of the quickly developingUnderground scene. Although venues such as theUFO Club were hosting counter-cultural bands, this was certainly the largest indoor event at the time. Performers included headlining actPink Floyd as well as thePretty Things,Savoy Brown,the Crazy World of Arthur Brown,Soft Machine,The Purple Gang,The Move andSam Gopal's Dream (featuring Sam Gopal, Mick Hutchinson andPete Sears).John Lennon attended, andYoko Ono (who was soon to become Lennon's new romantic partner) presented her performance work "Cut Piece".[53]
In 1970 an Italian director,Lucio Fulci, filmed a segment of hisgiallo filmA Lizard in a Woman's Skin here. Alexandra Palace posed as a disused church.[54] The rock bandLed Zeppelin played at Alexandra Palace's Grand Hall in two sell out performances on the evenings of the 22/23 December 1972.[55] Their concert tickets were priced at £1 each for the two-hour-long gig and were uniquely made available from specific Harlequin Record Shops within Central London.[56][55]
In 1973 theDivine Light Mission held a "Festival of Love" there.[57] Also in 1973, British rock bandWishbone Ash played a Christmas concert at the Palace, billed as "Christmas at the Palace".
The American bandGrateful Dead played a series of three shows there between 9 and 11 September 1974;a recording of portions of all three shows was released as part of theDick's Picks series in March 1997.
TheCampaign for Real Ale held theGreat British Beer Festival there from 1977 to 1980[50] (the 1980 edition taking place in tents outside the fire-damaged Alexandra Palace[58]). On the afternoon of 10 July 1980 (an accidental) fire destroyed the Great Hall, Banqueting Suite, Dressing Rooms and Ice Rink during contractors routine repairs and maintenance.[59]
From 27 July to 5 August 1973 The London Music Festival '73 was held here.[citation needed]
After the fire the burnt-out shell of the great hall of Alexandra Palace was used as Victory Square inMichael Radford's1984 film adaptation ofGeorge Orwell's novelNineteen Eighty-Four.[60]
TheSinclair C5 battery electric vehicle was launched at the Palace in January 1985, one week after the closure of the 405-line television system that was inaugurated there 49 years earlier.
In November 1989the Stone Roses performed a concert at Alexandra Palace.[citation needed]
Hugh Cornwell played his last performance withthe Stranglers at Alexandra Palace in August 1990. This was documented by theSaturday Night, Sunday Morning album and video.
Blur performed a major concert at the venue in October 1994 to promote their albumParklife. The recording of the concert was released on video in February 1995 with the titleShowtime and used as the basis for the video for the band's song "End of a Century".
From 1993 to 1995 theBrit Awards were hosted at Alexandra Palace. In November 1996 it was the venue for the annualMTV Europe Music Awards.
In 1996 the Palace hosted the inaugural London Model Engineering Exhibition which continued each year until 2021 when it was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[61]
In April 2000 the funeral service of the Labour MPBernie Grant took place at the Palace. An estimated 3,000 people attended.[62]
The fourthMind Sports Olympiad was held at Alexandra Palace in August 2000, with more than 4,000 competitors from around the world taking part in mind sports.[63]
In December 2002 theMiss World 2002 pageant was staged at the venue.[citation needed]
In June 2007 a Hackday event was hosted at Alexandra Palace by theBBC andYahoo! During the event the building was struck by lightning, causing the fire vents to open (and then get stuck open), and it rained inside the building.[64]
Since December 2007 Alexandra Palace has hosted thePDC World Darts Championship,[65] following 14 years from December 1993 to January 2007 of the tournament being held at theCircus Tavern inPurfleet, Essex. The Palace was previously home to theNews of the World Darts Championship between 1963 and 1977.
April 2008 saw the relaunch of the regular antiques fairs,[66] now held four times a year, organised by International Antiques & Collectors Fairs (IACF).
The bandPortishead hosted one of twoAll Tomorrow's Parties festivals titledI'll Be Your Mirror in July 2011 at Alexandra Palace.[67] The 50th anniversary programme ofSongs of Praise was recorded there in September 2011 and broadcast the following month.[68]
Since 2012 the Palace has been the venue for theMasters snooker tournament, held every January.[69] The only subsequent year it has not been held there was 2021, as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic.
During the2012 Summer Olympics the Palace served asthe official hospitality venue for theDutch Olympic team.[70]
In November 2012 it was the venue for the annualWarped Tour, a music and extreme sports festival.
The bandSuede appeared in March 2013, playing one of the first dates in support ofBloodsports, their first new album in more than a decade. In September 2013Björk performed one of the final concerts of herBiophilia tour. The show was the last concert to be held "in the round", a format that characterised the tour, and the first to be performed in this way at Alexandra Palace.[71][72] The eclectic programming has included in 2015,Florence and the Machine playing 4 dates of theirHow Big, How Blue, How Beautiful Tour in the Palace as well as in 2016 alone, heavy metal bandSlipknot, Drum & Bass DJAndy C andthe Last Shadow Puppets; with sell out shows byTwenty One Pilots[73] andPanic at the Disco.[74]
The bootcamp stage forseries 13 ofThe X Factor was filmed at the Alexandra Palace from 6 to 8 July 2016.[75]
In June 2020,Nick Cave recorded the live album and concert filmIdiot Prayer in the West Hall. On the record, he performs songs from throughout his career solo on the piano.[76]
On 18 April 2021London Grammar performed their third album,Californian Soil, live at Alexandra Palace.[77]
TheDuke andDuchess of Cambridge presented the inauguralEarthshot Prizes, with many celebrity guests, at Alexandra Palace on 17 October 2021.[78]
Fontaines D.C. performed the last show of their 2021 UK tour at Alexandra Palace on 27 October 2021.[79]
On 11 November 2021Bethesda Softworks hosted a special concert to celebrate the 10th anniversary release ofThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The performance by theLondon Symphony Orchestra and London Voices was livestreamed during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[80]
Boxxer Promotions used the Palace for a Sunday special card which was headlined by rising prospectAdam Azim. The event took place on 27 November 2022 and aired live onSky Sports.[81]
The company had announced plans for a £500,000 refurbishment of the 19th century building last year, more than 65 years after the venue went dark and planned to occupy the space for 12-weeks in the spring. However, Complicite has been forced to abandon its proposals after the cost of essential safety work on the 2,500-seat auditorium shot up from £160,000 to £310,000.
Firoz Kassam, the former chairman of Oxford United Football Club, wants to refurbish the building's exhibition halls, add a 150-bedroom hotel, casino, bars and restaurants and provide public leisure facilities on the site. But on Friday the judge quashed a Charity Commission order which permitted palace trustees to enter into a 125-year lease with Mr Kassam's development company, Firoka Group. Mr Justice Sullivan said lease details were not given in time for public consultation, so the whole consultation process must be reopened.
| Preceded by | Miss World venue 2002 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
| People | |
| Other | |
