Articles
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations of 1851. Although exhibitions of this kind had been held in the UK since 1819, the Great Exhibition was significant for its scale and success. Six million visitors were inspired and entertained by an amazing collection of more than 100,000 exhibits from all over the world.
The Great Exhibition was the brainchild of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert. He had a vision of a self-financing exhibition that would showcase the very latest in technology, industry and manufacturing, encouraging a spirit of international co-operation and peace. He convinced the government to set up the Royal Commission for the Great Exhibition, which met for the first time in January 1850.
The exhibition is particularly famous for its venue, Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. But this iconic building very nearly wasn’t built. A competition was held but none of the 250 designs submitted was deemed suitable.
The building committee had already drawn up a design and began tendering for it, despite complaints by architects who had entered the competition, and from the public who thought it very ugly. The cost was staggering: £150,000 for materials alone, compared to an anticipated total cost of £120,000.
Paxton had several friends on the Royal Commission, and they found a loophole which enabled him to submit a revolutionary design. Influenced by his experience of building huge greenhouses for the Duke of Devonshire, Paxton’s design was based on components that could be mass-produced and partially assembled off-site.
Amazingly, he submitted plans just nine days after first sketching his ideas during a meeting of the Midland Railway Company. This building was much cheaper and quicker to erect, and it could be dismantled and relocated after the exhibition. Paxton leaked his designs to the Illustrated London News and the public loved them.
Once the Royal Commission approved the design, the building was constructed in just nine months. It covered 19 acres and, at 108ft, was tall enough to accommodate some very large trees.
The IMechE had strong links with the Crystal Palace. The roof was designed by Edward A Cowper, who became the institution’s president in 1880. And detailed plans were drawn up by Fox Henderson and Co – Fox and Henderson were founding members of the IMechE.
The exhibition was opened by Queen Victoria on 1 May 1851. She later described the day as “the greatest day in our history, the most beautiful and imposing and touching spectacle ever seen... It was the happiest, proudest day in my life.” She is said to have made more than 40 visits!
The exhibits on show ranged from railway locomotives to works of art and jewellery... “every conceivable invention,” in the words of Victoria. The manufacturing exhibits included La Rue’s envelope machine which could fold and gum 2,700 envelopes an hour. The end results, as well as the processes of manufacture, were also exhibited: china, furniture, cutlery and much more was all on display. A number of IMechE members exhibited, including William Fairbairn and James Nasmyth, but by far the most popular, attracting vast crowds with his display of more than 23 inventions, was Joseph Whitworth.
One-shilling tickets were available for the working classes, and 4.5 million of these were sold. Factory owners sent their workers on day-trips, special trains were run, and some people even walked: one woman trekked all the way from Penzance in Cornwall.
The exhibition made a profit of £186,000, roughly equivalent to £16 million today. Much of the money was used to found the Victoria & Albert, Science and Natural History Museums.
In 1891 the rest of the money was used to establish an educational trust which continues to distribute £2 million every year to support the development of science and technology, and its exploitation by British industry.