Commissioned in 1852 and unveiled in 1854, the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs are the world's first dinosaur sculptures.
They were designed and sculpted by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, under the scientific direction of Sir Richard Owen. Sir Richard Owen is best known for coining the term 'Dinosauria'.
The sculptures also include other extinct animals and the collection is known as the 'Geological Court' or 'Dinosaur Court'.
By today's standards many of these sculptures are anatomically inaccurate. Many were sculpted on incorrectly assembled skeletons, showing the limit of 19th century scientific understanding. But, being the world's first, they paved the way for many of the advances in fossil understanding and palaeontology.
In 1952 a full restoration of the sculptures began, with some of the dinosaurs being moved. The sculptures were Grade II listed, in 1973. Between 2001-02 the sculptures were extensively restored, with fibreglass models replacing the more severely damaged ones. Some previous restorations had used lead, for the legs, linking these appendages to the bodies with iron rods. The iron had then corroded, causing more damage, resulting in new pieces to be cast.
In 2007, the sculptures were Grade I listed.
Of the fifteen genera of extinct animals only three are true dinosaurs. The periods that are covered by the sculptures include the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic.
In May of this year, Crystal Palace Park, the dinosaurs, playground, cafe and more began undergoing a multi-million pound refurbishment, which is due to be completed by summer 2026. The park is remaining open, but restrictions to certain areas may be in place.
