The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton
16. Labyrinthodon Pachygnathus.]
2845 words | Chapter 9
Proceeding round the Rosary to the right, we quit the mound at the
second outlet, and journey along a path, on either side of which are
flower-beds and groups of Rhododendrons and Azaleas. Bearing to the
right we reach the basin of a fountain. Choosing the left-hand side of
this basin, we turn into the broad walk which leads us by means of a
flight of steps to the second terrace, crossing which we make our way by
the steps to the upper terrace.
At this point the visitor can either re-enter the Palace under the
Central Transept, or by proceeding to the left-hand down the terrace,
enter the south wing and pass down the colonnade to the Railway Station.
THE CRYSTAL TOWERS.
The high towers, of which there are two, one at each end of the
building, have been erected for the purpose of raising the tanks from
which the high jets of the great fountains in the lower basins are
played, and are, with the exception of the tank and stays, constructed
of cast iron.
The foundation upon which this enormous mass of material rests, is
necessarily very strong, and consists, in the first place, of a ring of
concrete, sixty feet in external diameter, and three feet deep; upon
this is built a circular wall of brick-work, laid in cement, fifty-six
feet in diameter, and eighteen feet deep. This forms the bed on which
rests the base pieces of the columns.
The columns, 1 foot in diameter, and 24 in number, are placed in pairs,
4 feet apart, and are connected together by solid vertical girders or
filling-in frames, each pair thus forming one continuous broad column,
extending from the base to the bottom of the tank by which the tower is
surmounted; the whole rising to a height of 202 feet. The space between
each pair of columns (8 feet) is filled in with glazed sashes and
face-work, corresponding with those in the building, and completing the
shell of the tower. Behind these sashes, and spanning these spaces,
extending from floor to floor, are series of round wrought-iron diagonal
bracing, continued from the bottom to the top of the tower; and, under
each of the ten landing-floors, is a strong horizontal bracing-plate,
termed a diaphragm, forming, with the diagonal bracing above referred
to, a system of vertical and horizontal trussing.
Up the centre of each tower is carried a perpendicular brick shaft (the
internal diameter of which is 7 ft. 9 in.), resting upon a separate
foundation, and serving the double purpose of carrying off the smoke
from the heating apparatus, from the boilers connected with the
Machinery Department, the upper engine-house, and kitchen, and forming
the core or spiral staircase by which the various floors, and gallery at
the top of the tower, are reached. These floors arise at intervals of
twenty feet from the level of the floor of the main building. The tank
noticed above is of boiler-plate, and is formed of an inner and outer
wall, the former of which encircles the chimney-shaft; the bottom, which
is dome-shaped, is carried upon wrought-iron girders radiating from the
chimney, and is secured to the tops of the external columns. This
description will be more readily understood when the depths of the tank
at its outer and inner walls are given. The former, or that resting upon
the external columns, being 38 feet, while the latter, next the
chimney-shaft, is about 26 feet. These tanks are calculated to hold,
when filled, a body of water of the enormous weight of 1,576 tons, or a
bulk of 57,228 cubic feet, equal to 357,675 gallons.
The supply is forced from the upper reservoir by the same engines that
raise the water to the lower water-tanks and the building; and the same
pipes form also the means of conveying the water to the fountains. They
are arranged within the outer columns, forming an interior circle,
apparently of columns, but rendering in reality no assistance towards
the stability of the structure.
On a level with the base of the tank, projecting from the exterior of
the tower, and carried on strong and elegant cast-iron brackets, is the
gallery six feet in width, from the outer edge of which, on light iron
columns, is carried the many-gabled conical Paxton roof which covers the
tower. The total height of these stupendous edifices, from the ground
line to the top ornaments on the roof, is 284 feet. From the same ground
line to the floor of the projecting gallery is 214 feet, involving to
the persevering visitor an ascent of no fewer than 400 steps, with only
ten landings or rests on the floors previously mentioned. The reward in
the prospect afforded will, however, amply repay the toil incurred,
embracing as it does an horizon including part of six counties--viz.,
Middlesex, Kent, Essex, Bedfordshire, and Bucks--and including a
panorama possessing, amongst other objects of interest, the Towers of
London and Windsor, the woodlands of Essex, and the Downs of Epsom. The
vision of the visitor from this height is also lifted over the grand
plateau, or ridge, which separates the great lake with its antediluvian
animals from the rest of the garden.
These magnificent towers, each of which contains 800 tons of iron, were
designed by Mr. Brunel.
From the above simple statement it will be seen, that the arrangements
for supplying the fountains with water are at once simple, complete, and
based upon the most economical principles. The engine power employed is
that of three hundred and twenty horses; the water itself is conveyed to
and from the reservoirs in pipes varying from three feet to one inch in
diameter; and the total weight of piping may be set down at 4000 tons,
its length, roughly estimated, at ten miles.
THE ARTESIAN WELL, AND THE WATER SUPPLY.
In July, 1852, the supply of water for the fountains and other great
works in connexion with the Crystal Palace, first seriously engaged the
attention of the Directors. Various proposals were made, and suggestions
offered: some were at once rejected; others, although not free from
difficulties, were taken into consideration. The most feasible of these
was that which involved the extension to Sydenham of the pipes of one of
the nearest London water-work companies,--a measure that would at once
secure a sufficient supply of tolerably good water. Against the
proposition for sinking a well on the grounds, it was urged that the
neighbourhood is almost destitute of water; that wells already excavated
to the depth of two hundred feet had yielded but a small supply; and
that even if a sufficient supply could be secured by digging, the water
obtained could never be raised to the top of the hill.
Acting, however, upon sound advice, and after due consideration, the
company commenced the sinking of an artesian well at the foot of the
hill on which the Palace stands, and after proceeding to a depth of 250
feet, their efforts were rewarded.
In the present case, the water which appears in the well comes from a
reservoir lying between the London clay and the greensand as its upper
and lower envelopes. This reservoir is supplied by rain-water, which,
percolating the London clay, sand, and chalk, and finding an impediment
to its downward progress on reaching the greensand, flows into the space
between the hard clay and greensand, as into a cistern. The process by
which the reservoir is supplied is continuous, the water finding its way
down to it as if by a series of small tubes, and pressing against the
lower surface of the clay with a force which, if unresisted, would raise
it to the level from which it descended. When the clay is pierced by the
augur it is evident that this force is free to act, the resistance of
the clay at the point where it is pierced being removed, and accordingly
the water rises in the bore to the level from which it is supplied, and
will continue to do so as long as the percolation lasts. The chief
difficulty to be overcome was the great thickness of the substratum of
chalk, which extends, probably, to a depth of about 1000 feet. The well,
now completed, is a brick shaft 8¹⁄₂ feet in diameter, 247 feet deep,
from whence an Artesian bore descends 328 feet, making the entire depth
575 feet. It is situated at the bottom of the Garden, near the Cricket
Ground.
An abundant supply of water having been brought to the foot of the hill
from the well, and the supplies of a neighbouring water-company, it was
necessary not only to raise it to the top, on a level with the building,
but also to elevate it to a sufficient height for obtaining the
requisite pressure for fountains to throw up water to heights varying
from 5 to 280 feet. The following is a brief outline of the arrangements
by which these objects are effected:--
Three reservoirs have been formed at different levels in the grounds,
the lowest one being on the same level as the largest basins placed
nearly at the base of the hill; the second or intermediate reservoir is
higher up, and in a line with the basin in the central walk; whilst the
third or upper reservoir stands on the top of the hill immediately
adjoining the north end of the building. Next to the Artesian Well, an
engine is placed which raises the water required to be permanently
maintained in the reservoirs and in the basins of the fountains, and
which supply or keep up the water that is lost by waste and evaporation.
The reservoir on the summit of the hill contains the water required for
the use of the building, and for the fountains throughout the grounds.
Close to this reservoir is an engine-house, containing the steam-engines
that raise part of the water into two large tanks erected on columns at
the north end of the building close to the junction of the Sydenham and
Dulwich roads. The columns, twenty-four in number, are of hollowed
cast-iron, one foot in diameter. The central column, which is two feet
in diameter, supporting a portion of the superincumbent weight, and
making up the number, twenty-five, is the water-pipe, by which the tank
is fed, and which forms also the conduit to the fountains in the
building, and on the terraces. These two distinct actions of filling the
tank and working the fountains proceed simultaneously through the same
pipe. On the top of these columns are massive girders which support the
plates, forming the bottom of the tank. The height from the stone curb
of the reservoir to the bottom of the tank is 65 feet; the tanks are
each 47 feet square by 15 feet deep, and capable of containing 207,000
gallons or about 900 tons of water. They supply also the water required
in the building for the plants and kitchens, and charge the pipes
provided against casualties from fire. The vast residue of the water in
the great upper reservoir, in consequence of the sloping character of
the ground, does not need any help from the engines, but flows direct to
fountains on a lower level, and plays smaller jets. Through the same
convenience, the waste water from the upper fountains is used a second
time in the lower fountains.
The central or intermediate reservoir collects the waste water from the
displays which take place on ordinary days, and which include all the
fountains, save the two largest, and the cascades. Attached to this
reservoir are also engines which pump the water back to the upper
reservoir. The lowest reservoir collects similarly the waste water from
the displays which take place in the two largest fountains on the days
of great exhibition, and its engines return the water at once to the top
level.
THE FOUNTAINS.
The great system of fountains in the grounds of the Crystal Palace,
though the most stupendous that the world has ever seen, is designed
with an unity which greatly enhances, or rather fully displays, its
unrivalled magnificence. The whole system is divided into two series,
the upper and the lower. The upper series, which consists of the six
basins adorning the long extent of the second terrace, with the great
circular fountain in the centre, and the smaller ones on either side of
it, in all, nine fountains, constitutes the display on ordinary
occasions. Beyond these, as we advance down the central path, are the
iron Water Temples, from which the water rushes down a series of twelve
cascades, extending for a distance of 600 feet, till it falls over the
stone arcade in the great fountain basins, forming a glittering cataract
120 feet broad, with a fall of thirty feet. The Water Temples with their
cascades and falls, and the two great fountains into the basins of which
they discharge, constitute the lower series, which is played only on
grand occasions; but all are part of one design, and each one ministers
to its completeness.
Unlike most similar works, sculpture has not been used to enhance or
obtain the effect desired. Under any circumstances, water, when thrown
high into the air, assumes a graceful and beautiful appearance; no
ungentle curves or distortions of form mar its expression of a natural
beauty, which, though it may be the roaring grandeur of a mighty stream,
or the gentle grace of the smallest jet, bears with it an unspeakable
charm. In the Crystal Palace Fountains the designs are carried out by
the water alone, and the sculptural ornamentation is confined to the
margins of the basins, and, down the sides of the cascades, to some
small ornamental bronze fountains of secondary importance.
The first six fountains of the upper series which ornament the Italian
Garden on the second terrace throw their highest jets to the height of
90 feet, the lower jets form graceful designs round the bases of these
columns of water, and in other parts of the basins. It is so arranged
that the waste water from these basins is again used for the lowest jets
of the fountains which lie between these and the Water Temples, a rapid
descent in the ground giving sufficient pressure for this purpose; the
same is the case with the water flowing from these again, as it is once
more used for the lower water designs in the great basins.
The great circular fountain, which occupies the central position below
the terraces, is the principal one of the upper series. Its highest
columns, which rise in an imposing mass from a gigantic cradle formed by
the water, attain the altitude of 150 feet. Rising from the surface
around this, are single upright streams which beautifully fill in the
design, throwing their spray to almost an equal height. The whole is
surrounded by a delicate trellis of water, in which the jets appear to
interlace with one another. On the right and left of this, but in lower
positions, are two smaller circular fountains of great beauty, which,
with those already described, complete the upper series. The largest
circular basin is 196 feet in diameter.
We now approach the two Water Temples which head the cascades on either
side of the broad central walk. These Temples are octagonal in shape,
with dome-shaped roofs, and are constructed of ornamental ironwork,
gaily coloured and gilded. On the apex of each is a bronze figure, from
beneath which the water, which is forced up the hollow columns, bursts
in a glittering film till it falls over the roof and down the sides. The
Temples are about 60 feet in height. The head or basin which surrounds
each one, and from which the water flows down the cascades, is a
parallelogram of 72 feet, with semicircular extensions in the two sides
of 18 feet radius. Bronze fountains ornament each side of the cascades.
The great fountains are the crowning effect of the whole system, and are
the largest in the world. The basins, which are designed with a
graceful and diversified outline, are 784 feet each in length, having a
diameter in the semicircular centre portion of 468 feet. A great central
column rises in each, streaming upward to the height of 280 feet when
undisturbed by wind. These columns are each composed of 50 two-inch
jets, which burst forth under a pressure on the mouth of the pipes of
262 lb. to the square inch. The design is carried out by an infinite
variety of water display. The effect is gained by the water alone, which
assumes many forms, from the giant and stately column, to the most
delicate crystal tracery. When the whole system of fountains is
displayed, no less than 11,788 jets are in operation, throwing 120,000
gallons per minute. A grand display usually consumes 6,000,000 gallons
of water.
These stupendous and magnificent works were designed by Sir Joseph
Paxton, the engineering operations being executed by Mr. W. Shields, the
resident engineer of the Company.
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