The albert memorial, The royal albert hall & MORE ABOUT The great exhibition and its legacy

A hymn to the glorious achievements of Britain,  a memorial to its subject…who fostered arts and sciences, and was the originator of great undertakings.

An epitome of mid-Victorian taste and sentiment.

A show of overwhelming pomp.

GLINTING IN THE SUNSHINE
A few years ago the final trelliswork of scaffolding was dismantled, the screens were removed and the Albert Memorial was finally displayed in all its renovated glory. It had been hidden from view for years, the monument had been undergoing, under the supervision of English Heritage, a project of restoration as painstaking. as the original effort of building it.

Now, a few years on, the intricate ironwork and the canopy of angels are still glinting in the sunshine in a manner that most Londoners of a previous generation would not be able to enjoy.  The original gilding was stripped from the memorial in 1914 so that it would not attract enemy fire. Now, renewed, the huge bronze statue of the seated Albert, three times larger than life-size and holding a catalogue for the 1851 Great Exhibition - one of his greatest achievements, coated with a double layer of gold leaf, which carefully matches to the original, from a flake found on the statue's instep.

Overseen by the CHIEF MOSAICIST at St Mark's in VENICE, Cavaliere Giovanni CUCCO, each lost fragment of the Venetian mosaics - depicting the allegorical figures of the ARTS (Poetry, Painting, Architecture and Sculpture) in the four GABLES of the monument -were replaced with as much care as was put into choosing the originals.

The life size marble sculptures of the PARNASUS FRIEZE around the base, representing 169 personalities of the ARTS,  cleansed and reshaped. They are architects, artists, painters, sculptors, composers, poets… ALL are MEN, and from ANCIENT EGYPT onwards.

When the Memorial was first unveiled in KENSINGTON GARDENS, overlooking the complex of museums and colleges that make up SOUTH KENSINGTON, on 3 July 1872  - though the statue of Albert was not installed for another three years - it was recognised by the thousands who thronged to it as the remarkable achievement that it was.

 

HIGH PRIEST OF GOTHIC

Designed by GEORGE GILBERT SCOTT, the "high priest" of Gothic architecture, and scrutinised in minute detail by the continually mourning Queen VICTORIA - it had taken 11 years from its original inspiration.

A neo-Gothic spire, ornamented with mosaics, pinnacles and a cross. 175ft. Inlaid with precious stones and marbles. LIKE A GREAT SHRINE.

The central CANOPY of the Memorial, 175 feet tall and standing at the summit of 4 flights of granite steps, was inlaid with MOSAICS, enamels and polished semi-precious stones and seven tiers of STATUARY rose from the base with its grouped marble sculptures of four CONTINENTS  (Australia is the one left out).

The pillars are topped with bronzes of Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology and Geometry.

The honoured man, in the centre of the canopy (holding a catalogue of the GE) represented by a 14ft bronze gilded figure.

CARLO MAROCHETTI was the chosen (by QV) sculptor. He made proposals of standing and equestrian figures. As he died, HENRY FOLEY was chosen as successor. They settled down for…well, you can see!. But, himself fell ill and died before casting took place… And then the owner of the foundry…died!. Finally the statue was put in place 1876.

More statuary pays homage to Agriculture, Commerce, and other aspects of Imperial economics.

 

A PROPOSAL 

The original proposal had come from the then Lord Mayor of (the City of) London, WILLIAM CUBITT, who called a public meeting at the MANSION HOUSE just one month after Prince ALBERT died, in December 1861, to discuss "the propriety of inviting contributions for the purpose of erecting a lasting Memorial to His late Royal Highness the Prince Consort". One of the earliest decisions to be made by the Mansion House COMMITTEE , set up after that meeting and made up of members appointed by Queen Victoria, was the position of the memorial.

Originally it was suggested that it be in HYDE PARK on the SITE of the Great Exhibition, the 1851 success of which was largely due to the tireless efforts of Prince Albert, President of the Royal Commission which brought it into being. The place finally chosen was much more appropriate symbolically: The Memorial sits at the intersection of TWO LINES, one drawn through the length of Joseph PAXTON's GREAT GLASSHOUSE which housed the Exhibition and the other through ALBERTOPOLIS , as it came to be called. For it was he who was responsible for this whole "complex".

 

FROM THE PROFITS OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION TO A NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD 
Albert had suggested that with the profits of the Great Exhibition a site in South Kensington should be bought for museums, colleges, schools and a hall containing libraries, lecture theatre and exhibition rooms.

The intention was to further the aims of the GE  and extent the "influence of SCIENCE and ART upon PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRY".

This was the culmination of his involvement with the landscape of London, which began soon after his marriage to Queen Victoria. His first public post, at the request of Prime Minister Sir Robert PEEL, was as Chairman of the Fine Arts Commission which oversaw the decoration of the PALACE OF WESTMINSTER. The frescoes of ARTHURIAN legend and notable sculptures in the Royal Rooms were the result.

"Albert conceived the new district - now SOUTH KENSINGTON- as a CULTURAL SUBURB, a site which would concentrate cultural and educational organisations and institutions," according to Chris Brookes, Reader in Victorian Culture at Exeter University and Chairman of the Victorian Society, which, a few years ago, initiated the battle to rescue the crumbling Memorial. "No other major city in the world has this grouping of cultural, artistic and educational institutions. It is a great sequence of buildings, quite extraordinary."

At the other extreme, Albert devoted much time to improving the design of workers' housing in conjunction with architect Harry ROBERTS:  the royal estates' purpose-built dwellings for the workers were one of his earliest concerns.
Down in south London there is still in existence a reminder of this: the Prince Consort's MODEL LODGE, it was erected in 1851 on a site adjoining the Great Exhibition, and was later removed to KENNINGTON PARK, where it is now used by a charity.

On a grander scale he indulged his fancy in his redesign of BALMORAL CASTLE ("a feudal fantasy against its dark encompassing hills" - as Chris Brookes described it) and still the Royal Family's summer retreat.

He worked closely too with the builder of OSBORNE HOUSE  on the ISLE OF WIGHT, where Queen Victoria was to spend much of her later years (and which was a location for the film MRS. BROWN, starring Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly). 
His last architectural project before he died, though there is nothing now to be seen of it, was to supervise the planning and construction of the conservatory in the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens.

The contribution that Prince Albert made to public life was all too little acknowledged in his lifetime but there are echoes of his life everywhere - the Albert Bridge, Albert Gate... even Albert Square as featured in the BBC series EastEnders. 

The scrupulous Victorian engineers were taking no chances building a giant monument above a layer of London clay. They dug down until they found gravel, then sunk 17ft of concrete to give all this stability in perpetuity.

Next, they built a series of brick arches — more than 800 of them —and they all look bewilderingly clean and tidy.

The soil excavated helped landscape HP

On top, a base of IRISH SCOTISH GRANITE was cut, by axe, by a team of masons, working days and nights in relays. Polishing came next. And the winter of 66-67 was very severe indeed…

Prince Albert had suggested the building of a hall in 1853, and commissioned plans from a German arch., GOTFRIED SEMPER for a large development of flats, shops, galleries and a performance hall at its centre. HENRY COLE had this idea firmly lodged in his mind, and pursue it until building took place. To lure the masses from “debasing pursuits” to  choral singing (among other types of events), that was the vision of those Victorians. The GE1861 could have been a huge moment … but, again, the idea came to nothing.

This building is another -rather more functional- commemoration of Albert. The original proposal for a memorial "of a monumental and national character" included a "WORK OF UTILITY ", visualised as some kind of cultural institution. In the end, not enough money was raised and the MANSION HOUSE COMMITEE, when accepting Scott's design, finally dropped this element.

A few years later, HENRY COLE, Chairman of the Society of Arts (and who had had the original IDEA for the 1851 Great Exhibition), picked up the proposal. With some flair, he raised the money by selling the 999-year LEASEHOLD of seats. The foundation stone of the HALL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES was laid by Queen VICTORIA, in 1867. She announced that it would be prefixed by "ROYAL ALBERT".

1867. Foundation stone. QV broke through her seclusion. A solemn event, full of of reverence.

Finally completed in 1871 by selling seats on 999-year LEASE, an ownership that persists today. The truth is that the fresh funds that had been raised had been squandered… Around 1,000  seat-holders provided funding for the running charges  as no allowance was made to finance it beyond the completion of the building work

The RAH became the venue for all sorts of exhibitions, bazaars, festivals and concerts - even though the acoustics were terrible, including a terrible echo. It was said to be the place where British composers could be sure of hearing their work twice. Not until the 1960s was this finally sorted out, with "MUSHROOMS" suspended from the roof. Now it is one of the most flexible venues in London, housing events from the PROMS  to Cirque de Soleil.

And round the outside, above the FRIEZE  which illustrates The Triumph of Arts and Sciences, runs the inscription that the hall "was erected for the advancement of arts and sciences and work of industry for all nations, in fulfilment of the intentions of Albert Prince Consort."

6 mil. bricks

Double framed roof supported by a 400 ton iron framework 

15 tanks of water, holding 1400 gal. were placed above the gallery, in case of fire

11.000 gas burners, ignited by electric sparks, to lit the interior

Great organ (10.000 pipes!)

A  red brick, round hall nearly a QUARTER OF A MILE in circumference. 155ft of heigh. It must have appeared monumental from the N, before the building of the large mansion blocks. 

It has large porticoes as entrances.

With a shallow glass and iron DOME. The only decoration is an UPPER FRIEZE of figures illustrating Arts and Sciences (designed by different artists, up to 16 sections).
7000 people at a time can fill the hall.

The CANOPY was added in the 1890s. With the help of English Heritage, on the SOUTH ENTRANCE  a porch and pedestrian access was created from Prince Consort Road, which of course was named for Albert.

Finally, in a modified form,  as a meeting place for minds (in line with Albert’s idea of the district, S.K), rather  as an only music hall, the idea resurfaced.

Not everyone was in agreement: what about the hordes that would descend on the area, and the “human garbage from the purlieus of THE STRAND and HAYMARKET that might be attracted (referring to prostitution)?. That was the future awaiting the area, according to THE TIMES.

The Queen approved though.

 

At the beginning the events conformed strictly to the charter: arts and sciences, exhibitions and demonstrations of technology or scientific innovation. HENRY COLE excused the keeping of a wine cellar (a WINE CLUB was set up ), as wines involve Chemistry, Natural History and the Art of using the grape.

Scott is credited with the foundation of the International Exhibition Co-operative Wine Society Limited, which is more commonly referred to as The Wine Society. The Wine Society was established in 1874 initially to sell excess wine stocks unsold during the Great Exhibition and subsequently, on the basis of Scott's proposal, to set up "a co-operative company" to buy wines to sell to members. He served as The Wine Society's first treasurer until his death in 1883.

Then 1886 a supplemental charter increased the uses.

July 1930. One week after the death of ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, 10.000 people turner up hoping to witness his resurrection. On the stage, an empty chair, with a reservation card carrying his name, between family members. Tributes read, hymns sung, passages from the Bible recited. Nobody saw ACD but the MEDIUM  assured the crowd that his psychic presence had appeared and had sat in the chair.

WINSTON CHURCHILL  wanted to use Hitler’s lost testicle as a propaganda tool during the Second World War, papers released by the Royal Albert Hall have revealed.

General de Gaulle made two speeches in Royal Albert Hall. One on November 15th, 1941 and another one taking place  on June 18th, 1942.

Jane ASHER first met PAUL McCartney here on 18th April, 1963, after the his band had appeared in a broadcast concert called 'Swinging Sound 63”in which they had been second on the bill to Del Shannon. Shortly afterwards, Paul and Jane began their five-year relationship. In 1967, the BEATLES sang about the Hall in 'A Day In The Life', and at Christmas the following year John and Yoko sat in a huge black bag on stage during a show by a theatre group, in 1968… 

 

 

From THE NYT (1974]: “LONDON, Nov. 16 (AP)—Jimmy Connors added another tennis victory. to his year's big haul today by beating Brian Gottfried, 6‐2, 7‐6, in an all‐American men's singles final in an international tournament at Royal Albert Hall.

The volatile, left‐hander from Belleville, Ill., picked up a prize of $12,000. It brought this year's winnings for Connors to $215,000”.