THE ALEXANDRA PALACE.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 319, 21 June 1875, Page 3

THE ALEXANDRA PALACE.

{Daily News .)

The new palace of pleasure, some may fancy, does not possess so elegant an exterior as its predecessor, but it will much better answer the purposes for which it has been built. The brief experience of 1873 led the designers to sacrifice somewhat of effect for practical improvements, by which visitors would be gainers, and for alterations in the general arrangements which would better protect their property against any future danger from fire. But the Alexandra Palace still stands to challenge the admiration of all who see it from the level country over which it is so conspicuous a landmark, and to beautify the best natural position that could have been selected for such a use within many miles of London, It may not, with its more solid masonry and square frontages, at first captivate the eye, as did the former light and airy structure, but its tall corner towers, bold central dome, and consistent architectural details grow upon you as you approach nearer. And after all it matters little what the outside of such a building is. The architects could very well afford to leave a monopoly in this respect entirely in the hands of nature, which lavishly environs the Palace with a surprising expanse of prospect, cbmbining grass land, water, wood, hill and vale, suburban life, and rural surroundings, and all within five miles of the busy metropolis. The fire could not interfere with the delightful slopes, nor reaeh to the hollow where the level racecourse lies; it left untouched also the hedgerows and trees, and dealt gently with the pleasant landscape gardening upon which Mr Mackenzie had expended much time and art. The months which have been spent in building the Palace have been indeed devoted to extensive additions and improvements to those outdoor features of the estate which from the first promised to be not the least element of the success of the project as a whole; it may safely be said that it is not so much as a winter garden (though it will strongly recommend itself in that capacity) as a summer resort that the Alexandra Palace appeals to the city-pent public. Here we have a park of more than 220 acres in extent, crowning a range of heights that have been well described as the natural limitations in a northerly direction of the ever-growing metropolis; magnificent drives for horsemen or carriage folks winding around and upwards to the Palace steps; provisions for outdoor recreations such as no other grounds in the kingdom can offer; and peculiar facilities for the comfort of parties who wish to spend a day in the open. Since 1873 the level ground at the foot of the' southward slope has been utilised to the utmost, and the novelty to London of a trotting ring on the American principle has been added to the racecourse. This ring has a grand stand and paddock of its own, and during the present season the directors will promote contests that may possibly produce a revival of those trotting matches which were once held to be of great value in the encouragement of sound horse breeding. There is a cricketground, two acres larger than Lord’s, with a couple of fine pavilions, and other conveniences for cricketers and their friends. A large swimming lake, with baths, is being formed. There are gymnasiums, a skating rink, boats on the lake, swings, and merry-go-rounds for the children, and a permanent circus, larger and more liberally appointed than any yet established. Shrubberies and flower beds must be taken as a matter of course. West of the Palace, and at no great distance from one of the main entrances, from which it is separated by a prettily laidout valley, a Japanese village covers the hill side. This strange and interesting little colony will be doubtless remembered by visitors to the Vienna Exhibition. It has been lately erected at Muswell hill by Japanese workmen, and comprises a residence, temple, and bazaar. The village is part, and at present the chief illustration, of a scheme to represent in the palace and grounds the architecture, gardening, manners, customs, and costumes of foreign countries. In furtherance of the plan there are elsewhere full-sized models of houses, accurately representing the peculiarities of modern Moorish and Egyptian residences, especially from an ethnological point of view. In the northern grounds, as the chief ornament of one of many artificial lakes, there is a picturesque water village built upon piles. But best of all the out-door attractions of the Alexandra Palace is the Grove, to which the public will be admitted three days in every week. It is a grove for lovers, poets, and antiquarians, for wanderers seeking shelter from the noon-day heat, and for ramblers who love to see how art can be made to assist, without stamping out nature; for singing birds that delight in laurel hedges, towering oaks, fragrant Scotch firs, and thickset holly; for children not averse to hide and seek around the gnarled trunks of forest trees, and over turf soft as velvet pile. This is the grove where Johnson visited Thrale, and where Tom Moore, who lived in a cottage hard by, doubtless often took his “walks abroad,” while “Lallaßookh” was going through the press. In every respect the Alexandra Palace interior is an improvement upon the former building. The works are in such a forward state that on Saturday a military band was able to make its first experiment, and satisfy such of the directors as were present, that the acoustic capabilities of the great hall, or central transept, are all satisfying. The directors have a right, undoubtedly, to describe this hall as one of the most perfect structures of the kind extant for musical and social gatherings, for it will seat in comfort 12,000. persons—l7oo more than the Albert hall. Its northern end is reached by an entrance direct from the high-level railway; its orchestra will hold 2000 performers, and has a grand organ built by Mr Willis, under Sir Michael Costa’s superintendence. In place of the former dome there is a semi-circular roof, supported on four rows of ornamental columns —a change which gives a clear space of 386 ft long by 184 ft wide. In this central hall Sir Edward Lee has carried out, as a design of his own, entrusted to Mr Spackman, the fine arts superintendent, an historical representation of our English Sovereigns, from William the Norman to Queen Victoria, including the uncrowned

King Cromwell, and illustrating in the coloring and apparellinsr of the statuary the regal costume of the d iff rent periods, with occasionally some notable., venl in the lifeof the subject. The entire build:eg is in shape a parallelogram, and covers seven and a half acres of ground. On each side of the great hall is a large court, one the exhibition or bazaar department, the other an open Italian garden, and in connection with the courts are corridors for picture galleries, sculpture, climbing plants and flowers, and two fine conservatories surmounted by glass domes. Beyond the central hall there is a beautifully fitted up concert room which will hold 3500 persons, and in a corresponding position on the other side we have a theatre about the same size as Drury lane, with accommodation for more than 3000 persons. Amongst the things worth seeing which will be included in the Palace bill of fare next May day should be included the Londesborough collection of arms, armour, antiquities, and works of art (the finest in existence smcet ie dispersion of the famous Meyrick collection exhibited some years since at South Kensington), and the Museum of Natural History, which Dr Whitfield, of St Thomas’s Hospital, has consented to remove to Muswell hill. In the Londesborough collection there are specimens of offensive weapons embodying a complete history of the science of gunnery, and in other parts of the building will be found a number of pieces of artillery, chiefly highly finished brass guns, lent to the company by Lord Gough, whose father, the celebrated field marshal of that name, captured them from the Sikhs. It may be humiliating to reflect that at a place like the Alexandra Palace, quite as important as the questions of classical music, oratorio, science and art, intellectual culture, and so forth, is the question of eating and drinking. Holiday and hunger never yet agreed together, and the directors, if not in theory, certainly in practice, have recognised the great truth. The blot upon most of our large places of public amusement is that famine prices are charged for meat and drink, with the difficulty of obtaining modest and frugal fare. It is gratifying, therefore, to learn that in giving their contract to Messrs Bertram and Roberts, the directors have offered them special facilities for satisfying all classes of visitors. The handsome old English banqueting hall, it will be remembered, was untouched by the fire, and its dining and tea rooms are now ready for use. The largest dining room will comfortably seat at table 1000 diners; in addition to this there are private rooms for parties of from six to sixty persons, with an open colonnade for the post prandial coffee and cigar. Refreshment chalets are distributed over the grounds, and the entire south front of the Palace, high and low, is handed over to Messrs Bertram and Roberts. For mental feasters there is an admirably-placed and furnished readingroom.