The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-04 00:00:00

THE EXHIBITION OF 1851.
The fullo%-ing is a copy of a letter addressed by the
eJnmissior.crs cf the Exhibition of 1851 to the Lords
cf the Treasury, enclosing memorandum as to the site of
Cie exhibition building in Hyde-park:—
Palace of Westminster, July 1, 1850.
Sir,—l am directed by her Majesty's Com:nisioners
f)r the Exhibition of 1851 to transmit to you here-
with, for the information of the Lords Commissioners
of her Majesty's Treasury, a memorandum of the
grounds on which the present site has been selected for
the exhibition, and of the proceedings that have been
taken in consequence of that selection.

I have, &c.,
(Signed) STAFFORD H. NORTITCCYTE.
The Right Hon. W. G. Hayter, M.P., &e.

Memorandum of the Grounds on which the Site has been
selected for the Exhibition of 1851, and of the Pro-
ceedings which have taken place in consequence of that
selection, prepared for the information of the Lords
of the Treasury, by the Royal Commissioners for
promoting the Exhibition.
1. It is within the knowledge of the Lords of the
Treasury that, from the time of the earliest announce-
ment of the proposed exhibition, it has always been in-
tended that it should take place in the metropolis. Not
)nly was such an intention matter of notoriety at the
time that the que.tion of issuing a royal commission was
ender consideration, but the commission itself, when
"sued, formally recited that it was proposed " To estab-
lish an enlarged exhibition of the works of industry of all
nations, to be holden in London, in the year 1851 ;" and
t was to further the holding of such an exhibition that
he present commissioners were specially appointed.
2. Considering the importance of tho undertaking,
and the circumstances attending its promulgation, the
selection of the metropolis as its intended locality ap-
pears to have been both natural and proper. It will be
oorne in mind that the exhibitions which have been
from time to time held in foreign countries have gene-
rally, and, as the commissioners believe, invariably, been
held in the capitals of the respective countries. Iu the
present case it was peculiarly important that an under-
taking which required the constant superintendence of a
body of commissioners, whose occupations for the most
part confine them to London, should be carried on within
their immediate cognizance, and not removed to a dis-
tant situation.
3. It being thus distinctly evident that the exhibi-
tion ought to take place in London, it is further
elisions that the actual site which may be selected for it
-should be within the precincts of, or in the closest vici-
aity to, the most central and'accessible parts of the me-
tropolis itself. It need hardly be pointed out that it
would be objectionable to impose upon persons coming
to London from a great distance, the necessity of an ad-
ditional journey to visit the exhibition; a consideration
which has already been urged upon th commissioners
,)y the representatives of several of the most important
provincial towns, who are apprehensive of the inconve-
nience to which artisans, in particular, might thus be
subjected. Moreover, the removal of the exhibition t )
any distance sufficient to diminish the number of visitors
would rsot only militate against its essential character of
general accessibility, but might most seriously affect the
receipts upon which its self-supporting character must
depend, a point upon which it appears much stress has
been laid.
4. Although Hyde-park, and even the particular space
now in question, had been already mentioned before the
issue of the commission, and, indeed, so far back as Oc-
tober, 1849, as a probable site for the exhibition, it is
ennecessary to assure the Lords of the Treasury that
the Commissioners approached the question of the site,
after their appointment, without having in any degree
prejudged the merits of particular localities. On the
14 of February, their attention having been directed to
the importance of determining the site by the committee
then recently appointed for all matters relating to the
building, they deputed two commissioners—namely, Lord
Granville and Mr. Labouchere—to wait upon the Chief
Commissioner of Woods and Forests, and to confer with
him upon the subject. The result of this conference is
set forth in the report presented by the building com-
mittee at the next meeting of the commissioners (Fob.
21), of which the following is the portion which relates
to the question of the site.
" With respect to the site, it appeared to your com-
mittee that, firstly, the north-eastern portion of Hyde-
park; secondly, the long space between her Majesty's
private road and the Kensington road, in the southern
part of Hyde-park; and thirdly, the north-western por-
tion of Regent's-park, are the only available spaces
about the metropolis which would afford the necessary
accommodation; and it is believed that the order in whch
they have been named represents also their relative
eligibility. As regards the first, the committee are in-
formed by the Chief Commissioner of her Majesty's
Woods and Forests that considerable objec-
tions would arise to its occupation for such a
purpose, and that no such objections would be rai,ed to
the use of the second; the committee therefore recom-
mended the adoption of this site, which, amongst other
advantages, is remarkable for the facility of access
afforded by the existing roads. Upon this occasion a
letter was received from the Westminster Committee,
stating that the Local Commissioners for Westminster
had visited the site in Hyde-park, and a site suggested
in the Regent's-park, and that they were of opinion that
the site in Hyde-park was the preferable one."
The recommendation of the Building Committee having
been agreed to, a form of advertisement requesting plans
and suggestions for the building was at the next meet-
ing (28th February) submitted for approbation, and was
ordered to be immediately issued in the English, French,
and German languages. To this advertisement was
appended a ground plan of the site in Hyde park, for
the guidance of those to whom the advertisement was
Addressed. The details of this plan were discussed in
the presence of the Chief Commissioner of Woods and
Forests, and were settled in conformity with his Lord-
ship's wishes.
5. In consequence of the advertisement thus issued
no less than 248 plans and suggestions, many of them
..he productions of foreign artists, were sent in to the
commissioners. A large number of these were of a
very elaborate character, and bore evident marks of con-
siderable application and ability.
6. Soon after the site had been selected, some other
important arrangements having also by this time been
made, the commissioners prepared and published a
statement (February 21) explanatory of the nature and
objects of the exhibition, which was widely circulated in
this country, was forwarded to our consuls abroad, and
co the foreign consuls in England, and was officially
transmitted by the Secretary of State to all foreign
Governments, and to all the governors of the British
colonies, as well as to India. In this statement it was
announced that " her Majesty had been graciously
pleased to grant a site for the purpose (of the exhibi-
tion) on the south side of Hyde-park, lying between
the Kensington drive, and the drive commonly called
Rotten-row."
7. The site having been thus deliberately chosen and
formally announced, all subsequent proceedings con-
nected with the building have been taken with direct
reference to it. The plans have been prepared with a
view to its peculiarities, and the form of the building
and its internal as well as its external arrangements
have been determined by them. The amount of space
available for the display of articles has been calculated
upon the data afforded by the site, and from a calcula-
tion of this amount. the commissioners have been able
to assign to each foreign country a definite space for
the arrangement of its own productions. All the neces-
4sey working drawings and specifications have been pre-
pared with very great labour, and at considerable expense,
and have now been issued in a form which will insure
to the commissioners the certainty of obtaining, within
s few days, bowl fide tenders for the execution of a
design 'presenting every facility for construction
within the time prescribed. The mechanical difficulties
have been surmounted, and all the preliminary arrange-
ments, even to the extent of provision for an effective
irainage and a sufficient water supply, have been en-
tered into. The whole of these preparations have re-
ference to this particular site only, and are inapplicable
or unsuitable to any other.
8. From what has been already stated, it will be seen
that the present site was not selected without considera-
tion, and that the proceedings which have been taken
with respect to it were not commenced until the commis-
sioners had good ground for believing that there would
be no objection to its occupation. The attention, how-
ever, which has lately been directed to the point has
;aused them anxiously to reconsider the whole subject,
and renders it new necessary for them to enter into
somewhat more of detail as to the grounds upon which
they have come to the conclusion which they have
formed that this is the only site in or about the metro-
polis which is at once suitable and practically available
for the purposes of the exhibition.
9. Of the other sites which have been suggested, the
following are the only ones deserving of particular con-
sideration :
(a) The north-eastern portion of Hyde-park.
(b) The north-western portion of Regent's-park.
(c) Battersea-park.
(d) Victoria-park.
(e) Wormwood Scrubbs.
10. The north-eastern portion of Hyde-park would,
in the opinion of many members of the Building Com-
mittee, be a very eligible situation; but, as has been al-
ready mentioned, an objection was taken to this locality
on the part of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests,
on the ground that the building would interfere with
some important thoroughfares in that part of the park,
and on account of other considerations of public im-
portance, and the idea was abandoned in consequence.
11. The site suggested in the Regent's-park has been
found, since it was visited by the Building Committee,
not to be available, as the leases under which the houses
in the neighbourhood are held contain a clear and strin-
zent provision that no new building of any kind shall be
erected within the limits of the park.
12. With regard to the ground in the neighbourhood
of Battersea proposed to be purchased by the Govern-
ment, and converted into a park to be called Battersea-
park, the Lords of the Treasury are of course aware
that only a small proportion of the whole area has as yet
been purchased, and the Commissioners found on inquiry
that this proportion consists of numerous small detached
pieces, utterly insufficient to accommodate a building of
the contemplated size, and separated from each other by
intervening plots of ground, many of them in a state of
high cultivation, and belonging to a great number of
different proprietors, with whom it would be absolutely
impossible to effect arrangements within any time which
would afford the slightest chance of the Commissioners
being put in possession of a site in time to complete their
building by the spring of next year. It should be added
that the site of this district is very low, a great portion d
of it being some feet under high-water mark, and that
the nature of the soil presents serious objections to its
use as a building ground.
13. Victoria-park is situated in an inconvenien t not very accessible part of the town. It
would, and
over, be impossible to erect in it a building of
thnieorrecquired size without most seriously interfering
with the
plantations and ornamental water which have been re.