Palace dinosaurs get heritage upgrade

The History of Sydenham from Cippenham to present day. Links to photos especially welcome!
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Thomas
Posts: 632
Joined: 22 Feb 2007 13:08
Location: Upper Sydenham

Palace dinosaurs get heritage upgrade

Post by Thomas »

From the News Shopper
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/local ... pgrade.php

Not quite sure what, if any, the implications are of this but sounds like good news.

Palace dinosaurs get heritage upgrade
By Daniel Knowles
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The 150-year-old sculptures originally stood in Hyde Park
Crystal Palace Park's dinosaurs are to join Buckingham Palace, the Royal Albert Hall and the Whitehall Cenotaph on a list of national treasures.

The 1850s animals sculptures, built in the grounds of the Crystal Palace after it was shifted there from the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, and their surroundings are to be upgraded from Grade II heritage listing to Grade I.

Culture Minister Margaret Hodge said the sculptures would now join the other 2.5 per cent of treasures on the heritage listed in Grade I.

"The prehistoric animal sculptures and associated geological formations provide an insight into the mid-19th Century reconstruction of dinosaur species that had only recently been discovered," Mrs Hodge said.

"They are believed to be unique and are clearly of exceptional historic interest in a national and probably international context.

"I am delighted to upgrade their list entry to reflect their importance."

English Heritage describes the sculptures as "the first attempt to accurately reconstruct the three dinosaur species known to the scientific world in the 1850s within their geological environment".

They were designed by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and were built out of brick and artificial stone on a framework of iron rods.

The lead mine were constructed at the same time by James Campbell an engineer and mineralogist.

Nationally, there are 372,905 entries on the heritage list with 9,137 at Grade I, 21,009 Grade II* and 341,894 Grade II.
Juwlz
Posts: 749
Joined: 26 Oct 2005 20:49
Location: Outer Sydenham

Post by Juwlz »

Just saw the dinosaurs on the BBC London news. As you say, they're now listed as Grade 1 - same as Buckingham Palace and the Royal Albert Hall.
Groovy.
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