The Great Exhibition

It was Prince Albert's idea to hold a festival of arts and science in London, and he played an important part in the planning. On 1 May 1851, the Great Exhibition was opened by Queen Victoria. It took place in the Crystal Palace, a huge structure of iron girders and glass plates, built for this one event in Kensington Gardens. The 'palace' was 550 metres long, and more than 40 metres high.

The first aim of Prince Albert and the planners was to display the arts and industry of all nations. Out of this came their second aim, to show that Britain's industry was the best. This, they hoped, would prove the value of free trade. And free trade, as Richard Cobden said, brought world peace. Lastly, it would be a great show to entertain and inform the public.

Entries came from all over the world. Visitors liked the chinaware from France and the lace from Spain. But it was British industry that impressed them most. Never had there been such a show of human skill. British workers, it was said, were the 'working bees of the world's hive'.

The exhibition was open for five months. In that time, 6,000,000 visitors saw it. Thousands came up to London on special trains. A trip to the Crystal Palace was everyone's idea of a day out in 1851. Queen Victoria was so thrilled that she came back 30 times.

Walter Robson: Britain 1750 – 1900; Oxford University Press, 1993/2002, page 57 f.