Wembley Stadium |
Hob Uid: 1187011 | |
Location : Greater London Authority Brent Non Civil Parish
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Grid Ref : TQ1935085470 |
Summary : The development of Wembley Stadium goes back to the 1880s when Wembley Park Leisure Grounds had football and cricket pitches, a running track, fountains and waterfalls, walkways and flower beds. Then in 1889, in a bid to encourage more people to use the railways, the Chairman of the Metropolitan Railway, Sir Edward Watkin, decided to build a main attraction at the site, linked to central London by a railway line. He embarked on a grand project to build a huge tower, 350 metres high within the Leisure Grounds. Sadly, Watkin's Tower was never completed. During construction of the first stage, the foundations moved and the project ran out of money. It had reached only 61 metres high when work was abandoned. It became known as Watkin's Folly until it was destroyed in 1907. At the end of the Great War in 1918, the Government began planning a British Empire Exhibition with a stadium as a National Sports Ground as its centrepiece. The Wembley Park Leisure Ground, which was now a golf course, was selected as the ideal site. The Empire Stadium, as it was originally known, was built by architects Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayerton, and the engineer Sir Owen Williams. It took just 330 days to complete at a cost of £750,000, and was built from 25,000 tons of ferro concrete and 1000 tons of steel. The Empire Exhibition was opened on 23rd April 1924. The first event at the stadium was the famous 'white horse cup final' of 1923. Floodlights were added in 1955, whilst the electric scoreboard and the all encircling roof, made from aluminium and translucent glass, were added in 1963. The most famous component of the stadium was its twin towers. These were massive concrete twin domed towers situated on the long north side of the stadium at the end of Olympic/Empire Way. The stadium was demolished in late 2000 to make way for a new Norman Foster/HOK S+V+E designed stadium which opened in 2007. |
More information : The development of Wembley Stadium goes back to the 1880s when Wembley Park Leisure Grounds had football and cricket pitches, a running track, fountains and waterfalls, walkways and flower beds. Then in 1889, in a bid to encourage more people to use the railways, the Chairman of the Metropolitan Railway, Sir Edward Watkin, decided to build a main attraction at the site, linked to central London by a railway line. He embarked on a grand project to build a huge tower, 350 metres high within the Leisure Grounds. Sadly, Watkin's Tower was never completed. During construction of the first stage, the foundations moved and the project ran out of money. It had reached only 61 metres high when work was abandoned. It became known as Watkin's Folly until it was destroyed in 1907. At the end of the Great War in 1918, the Government began planning a British Empire Exhibition with a stadium as a National Sports Ground as its centrepiece. The Wembley Park Leisure Ground, which was now a golf course, was selected as the ideal site. The Empire Stadium, as it was originally known, was built by architects Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayerton, and the engineer Sir Owen Williams. It took just 330 days to complete at a cost of £750,000, and was built from 25,000 tons of ferro concrete and 1000 tons of steel. The Empire Exhibition was opened on 23rd April 1924. The first event at the stadium was the famous ' white horse cup final' of 1923. Floodlights were added in 1955, whilst the electric scoreboard and the all encircling roof, made from aluminium and translucent glass, were added in 1963. The most famous component of the stadium was its twin towers. These were massive concrete twin domed towers situated on the long north side of the stadium at the end of Olympic/Empire Way. The stadium was demolished in late 2000 to make way for a new Norman Foster designed stadium which opened in 2007. [1-2]
The stadium was used for the olympics in 1948. It was converted from a greyhound racing circuit in just 17 days. The dog track was dug up and revealed the foundations of the original running track. Cinders were then used to lay the new track , which gave it the distinct reddish hue. The cinders were from domestic fires in Leicester. It was removed promptly after the olympics had finished so dog racing could re-commence. (3)
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