The Express.
London, England, 1867-11-08 00:00:00

The building moved from South Kensington has
been erected on Muswell-hill, with its whole length
--about three humired yards—facing the south,
and looking over old Hornsey town towards
London. The back of the building faces the north,
and looks towards Colney Hatch. One of the great
domes, which were such striking features at South
Kensington in 1862, is now the central dome of the
building, its surface of glass being partly cased in
with masonry, and its summit ornamented with a
circular balustrade of the Blenheim type. Its
height is about equal to that of the monument, but
its breadth makes it look much shorter. The
ground plan of the building is like two letter H's
joined, the long connecting line being the nave,
about 900 feet long, and the three cross lines
representing the central and two end transepts.
The end transepts are surmounted by two minor
domes, not so high as the centre dome, and the
centre transept is longer by about fifty feet than
the end transepts, which are each about three
hundred feet long, and high and wide in proportion.
At each end of the nave and transepts is one large
circular floriatod window, and the window
at the east end of the nave is already
glazed with stained glass, which gives the
place the appearance of a huge cathedral.
The style of decoration selected will be rich fresco
9rnaiventallasinting for the walls, cornices, and
intent* of fhe'dobi ll; the long taper iron columns
of the building having large Corinthian capitals,
which aro richly gilded and coloured blue and red,
like a royal crown. The railing of the single
gallery which runs all round the building about
half way between floor and roof without any break,
is a pretty pattern painted a light blue, with the
large centre ornament gilded. The general decora-
tion will give a richness to the interior which
promises to be in strong contrast to the Owen
Jones' style of colouring. The ground floor of the
south front near the windows is laid out for refresh-
ment and private dining-rooms, the kitchens being
in the basement. These dining-rooms run round
the two bays formed by the projection of the
transepts, and look out on a raised walk or terrace,
and beyond that on the open country. The gallery
on the north side of the building has four long
rooms lighted from the top and communicating with
each other, which are to bedevoted to pictures. Their
hanging surface will be very great, and their joint
length will be about equal to half the length of the
building. A station is in course of construction in
the basement on the north side, into which the rail-
ways communicating with the building will run
their trains. The north aide of the grounds is not
laid out at present, but the south side is fast ap-
proaching completion. A gradual slope from the
south front leads to a long flat bed of meadow that
has already been prepared and partly railed in as
a race-course. This course begins narrow and runs
about half way up into a broad plot of land as
level, to_... _ail appearance, as a billiard-table. The
race-course will be carried round the sides of this
broad piece of ground, and the centre is already
appropriated fur a cricket and archery ground,
with two Swiss refreshment and dressing cottages.
At the narrow end of the race-course, near the
starting post, a grand stand is being erected, large
enough to seat about two thousand persons. This
stand will be built according to the best de-
signs, and will have refreshment rooms, galleries,
private entrances, and abetting-ring. A carriage-
road runs from the entrance to the park, near the
Wood-green station, to this stand, but the races
can be seen from the main building and terraces—
the grandest stand of all. The highest sporting
patronage is promised for this part of the under-
taking. The south front of the building is not
" crystal " in character, being a combination of
yellow and coloured brickwork, glass, and stucco.
The bays, before alluded to, present the famliar
lines of the old South Kensington windows—some-
what inethodistical or factory-like in style, but the
fronts of the transepts are ornamented with Corin-
thian columns, and that beautiful brickwork which
distinguishes nearly all buildings erected by Messrs.
K elk and Lucas. The park is still well wooded,
though clearances have, of course, been made to
open up the prospects—the property being part of
that old "Enfie'd Chase, " the hunting-ground of
English kings, to which old records and histories I
make such frequent allusions. As at Sydenham a
few years ago, the woods and meadows are begin-
ning to acquire a new building value, and, we be-
lieve, about three hundred acres of this
ground are now offered to the designers and
occupants of semi-detached villas. If we are rightly
informed, the present Alexandra Park Company in-
tend to furnish their new palace with all becoming
splendour, and to make the entertainments given in
it as attractive as possible. The palace is all fitted
with gas pipes for evening entertainments, and the
gas will either be got from a local establishment or
will be made on the estate. What the building
loses in lightness it gains in its air-tight and water-
proof qualities, and perhaps in its warmth of tone.
The decorators are in, and forward with their work,
the glazing is finished, the flooring of the galleries is
nearly down, the gigantic scaffoldings within the
domes are being removed, and the building will
soon be transferred from the hands of the builder tai
those of the showman.

WHAT'S IN A NAME.—The Church NetCB of
Tuesday night says that " the friend of the Bishop of
Bodor and Man who remarked of Lord Derby that ' as he
had translated Homer it was hoped he might proceed to
translate Horace,' may he congratulated on the appoint-
ment of that prelate to the see of Lichfield." The Bishop
of Sodor and Man is the Hon. and Right Rev. Horatio
Powys, third son of the second Lord Litton,.
CRYSTAL PALACR. ONZ SHILLING DAT.—
TM:SMUT, NOV. 7.—Admissions on payment, 873 ; ditto
by season tickets, 1,142. Total visitors, 2,015.