Crystal Palace transmitting station

The Crystal Palace transmitting station stands on a hill in the London Borough of Bromley. It occupies the site of the former Crystal Palace, destroyed in the 1930s, and John Logie Baird’s early television studios which once stood nearby. The present tower rises 216 metres above the ruins and is the highest point in London. Built in the 1950s for the BBC, it was the tallest structure in London until 1990. Its steel framework was fabricated by Painter Brothers of Hereford and erected with two temporary masts used as derricks. The station became London’s main television transmitter in 1956, replacing Alexandra Palace. It pioneered colour test transmissions in 1956 and the first 625-line UHF broadcasts in the UK in 1962. In 1986 it sent the world’s first NICAM stereophonic sound for the Proms. Today it carries all BBC and ITV regional services as well as national FM and digital radio multiplexes. Visitors find a massive lattice tower set on a 37-metre square base. The structure tapers through twelve stepped panels to a narrow platform at 131 metres. The hilltop site gives clear views across London and the Home Counties. Nearby relay stations extend the signal to Surrey, Sussex and Hertfordshire. The tower remains a key part of the UK’s broadcasting network.