In 1873 the first Alexandra Palace opened to much fanfare and the Park and Palace have provided a place of recreation and innovation ever since. The archive, thought lost in the fire of 1980, was discovered during enabling works in 2016 and the process of creating a formal archive began shortly after. Further records have since been discovered or kindly donated and as our collections grow so does the understanding of the history of the People's Palace. Cataloguing work continues in order to increase accessibility to this unique collection.
To find out more about the history of the Park and Palace, see our timeline.