The Building Stones in the Landscapes of the Crystal Palace Geological Court (with a few Dinosaur diversions)

The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs (1854) are famously the first-ever, full-size reconstructions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric, extinct animals, set in a reimagined walk through ‘Deep Time’.

The stage was set with ‘geological illustrations’, a series of many outcrops of original stone, reconstructed in south London, designed to highlight the then-new science of geology and to illustrate the strata the fossils came from. Together they form a model of the geology of Southern Britain. Prime building stones feature large, including Carboniferous Limestone, Millstone Grit, New Red Sandstone, Lias, Bath Stone, Portland Limestone, Wealden Sandstone and Totternhoe Stone.

This guided tour will bring you through the sequence of strata represented (with close-up views of the rocks and animal sculptures) and an opportunity to discuss the influence of geology on vernacular architecture of Southern Britain. Led by Dr Jeremy Young (UCL), stratigraphic geologist and FCPD Trustee.
Not disabled accessible.