In a lake in a park in south London, there are dinosaurs. Not real ones — but the world's first ever attempt to build life-sized dinosaur models, sculpted in 1854 when scientists were still figuring out what dinosaurs actually looked like. They got almost everything wrong, and that's exactly what makes them wonderful.
The 30 sculptures were commissioned by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and overseen by Sir Richard Owen — the man who coined the word 'dinosaur.' Working from fragmentary fossils and a lot of imagination, they built an Iguanodon that looks like a rhinoceros, a Megalosaurus that resembles a giant dog, and marine reptiles that could be sea monsters from a medieval bestiary. On New Year's Eve 1853, a dinner was held inside the mould of the Iguanodon for 21 scientists — they sat at a table inside the belly of a half-built dinosaur and toasted the future of palaeontology.
The models have been Grade I listed since 1973, meaning they're considered as historically significant as Buckingham Palace. They sit on islands in a landscaped lake that was designed to show them in their 'natural habitats' — geological eras re-created in Victorian garden form. The park itself, built on the site where the Crystal Palace was re-erected after the Great Exhibition and then spectacularly burned down in 1936, is a gorgeous sprawl of terraces, lakes, and overgrown Victorian grandeur. The dinosaurs are free to visit and best appreciated with children or a sense of humour about the history of science.
Verified Facts
The Crystal Palace dinosaurs were created in 1854 by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins
A dinner for 21 scientists was held inside the mould of the Iguanodon on New Year's Eve 1853
The dinosaur sculptures have been Grade I listed since 1973
The Crystal Palace itself burned down in 1936
Sir Richard Owen, who coined the word 'dinosaur', supervised the scientific accuracy
Get walking directions
Crystal Palace Park, Thicket Road, London SE20 8DT
