The partially submerged ruins of not quite exactly former civilisations but certainly former glories. Along with the mysterious organisation next door, the blank, anonymous industrial-looking building cunningly hidden by tall trees, reminds me of a cross between the TV series Lost and Tarkovsky’s Stalker (for me the beauty of the film is entirely in its puddles). There’s not exactly a mystery to Crystal Palace park – the Great Exhibition moved there; burnt down – but its remains: the ruins, the Sphinxes, the general dilapidated splendour, make it feel more ancient and fallen than it actually is. Indeed, my daughter asks how is it that photos exist of the Great Exhibition’s Crystal Palace, so ancient she believed it to be. But she has a point, I thought; it’s almost a shame that there are photos, it ruins the mystique.

Previously on Barnflakes
London through its charity shops #25: Crystal Palace, SE19
The dinosaurs of Crystal Palace