2-703-769 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Where the Beasts of Prehistory Lurk By the Lake in the Palace Grounds', c1935. Statues of life-size prehistoric monsters dating from 1854 in Crystal Palace Park, Sydenham, south London. They were created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins who was commissioned by the Crystal Palace Company to build a series of prehistoric animal sculptures. Hawkins was advised by paleontologist Sir Richard Owen, and the sculptures were based on the latest scientific knowledge at the time. However the dinosaurs are incorrect by modern standards. From "Wonderful London, Volume 3", edited by Arthur St John Adcock. [The Fleetway House, London, c1935]