Earls Court Exhibition Centre - History

History

Earls Court was once a rural area covered with green fields and market gardens. The Saxon thegn Edwin had been the owner before the Norman Conquest. For over 500 years the land, part of the ancient manor of Kensington, was under the lordship of the Vere family, Earls of Oxford and descendants of Aubrey de Vere I, who held the manor of Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances, in the Domesday Book in 1086. By circa 1095, his tenure had been converted, and he held Kensington directly of the crown. The earls held their manorial court where Old Manor Yard is now, just by the London Underground station. Earl's Court Farm is visible on Greenwood's map of London dated 1827.

Earls Court was largely a waste ground before the introduction of the two railway stations. The idea of introducing an entertainment venue to the grounds was brought about by an entrepreneur called John Robinson Whitley, who sealed the grounds' fate in entertainment by introducing Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and a huge observation wheel to the grounds in the late 19th century.

The Earls Court Gigantic wheel was 300 ft high (the London Eye is approximately 450 ft high) and was built in 1896. It was not dismantled until the winter of 1906/7, when a local company cut up the wheel and used it for scrap. During its time, the wheel only broke down once, when it got stuck shortly after opening with sixty or seventy passengers on board. They remained stuck until noon the next day and received £5 5s in compensation, which was a substantial sum in those times.

Another major attraction at the Earls Court arena was Captain Paul Boyton's water chute, which was constructed in 1899. The Captain flooded the arena in 1893 and built the 70 ft high chute backing on to Lillie Road at today's West Brompton entrance. The ride was considered to be the biggest ride of its kind on either side of the Atlantic.

Some of the early exhibitions and shows that took place when Earls Court was an open arena include: The Empire of India Exhibition in 1896, The Victorian Era Exhibition in 1897, The Military Exhibition in 1901, Paris in London Exhibition in 1902, the International Fire Exhibition in 1903, Venice by Night in 1904 and the Imperial Austrian Exhibition in 1906.

After the company became Earls Court Ltd, the showgrounds fell into decline. Four or five events were staged before the war broke out and closed them. Shortly after taking over, Earls Court Ltd surrendered its lease and went into liquidation. The centre was turned into a home for over 1300 refugees, predominantly from Belgium. After 1919, the London General Omnibus Company took up the surrounding area and used it as a depot for unwanted buses. Occasionally fairs and circuses used the site to entertain, but they came and went.

In 1935, it was suggested that the British Government take the initiative and build an exhibition centre specifically for the British Industries Fair. The idea was originally refused, as it was deemed extremely wasteful to have a building that stood empty for 11 months of the year.

A group of industrialists took action in late 1935 and drew up their own proposals for a new exhibition and event centre at Earls Court. The problem that they had was that the grounds are crossed by four separate sets of railway tracks. However, plans were drawn up, and it was decided that on top of the tracks, a giant steel and concrete building was to be erected.

Sir Ralph Glyn, who was chairman of Earls Court Ltd, had laid down some basic requirements:

• The building must provide a total of 42,000 sqm of exhibition floor space on no more than two levels.
• Seating for 23,000 in a column-free auditorium overlooking an arena, in the middle of which must be a giant pool
• The entire auditorium, including the pool and seating, to be convertible at speed to flat floor exhibition space
• There must be parking on site for 2,000 cars.

The idea was to construct a show centre to rival any other in the world, and to dominate the nearby Olympia exhibition hall. It was designed by Detroit architect C. Howard Crane. The plan was to create Europe's largest structure by volume. The project did not go exactly to plan; it ran over budget and was late in completion.