THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Water Lily

Lisa Karen Miller

          When Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert was put in charge of planning the Great Exhibition in 1850, the first thing his committee was tasked with was finding a venue large enough for a huge pavilion. They finally settled on Hyde Park, but then had to agree on a design and a contractor for the massive project.

          Over 14,000 exhibitors from around the world would display their countries’ technologies, born of the Industrial Revolution.  The building had to be large and tall enough to house great machines, trees, animals, and thousands of daily visitors.

          It was a gargantuan task.

          After reviewing and rejecting over 200 designs, they received one from the renowned Joseph Paxton. He was best known as the head garden designer and architect at the Duke of Devonshire’s sumptuous palace, Chatsworth House.

          His experience with glasshouse construction was considerable, so he suggested a building made of glass with steel supports.  This was looked upon favorably by the committee.

          But how could a building of this scale sustain the weight of all the glass without collapsing?

          At Chatsworth, Paxton had designed the giant Lily House specifically for the Victoria amazonica water lily, only recently discovered by European botanists and named in the Queen’s honor.

          He demonstrated to the committee the strength of the lily pads’ huge ribbed floating leaves – which had cross supports – by standing his nine-year-old daughter on one.

          It didn’t budge.                     

The lily’s design meant that any weight placed upon it was evenly distributed; in other words, there were no natural stress points to make it vulnerable to collapse.  He used this principle in his architectural plans.

          Paxton’s idea was approved, and construction on the Crystal Palace began.

To Paxton’s further credit, the building’s plans and costings were submitted in record time, the palace was built quickly, and it came in under budget.

          A true miracle in the construction world.

          He even included a clever guttering system to avoid water buildup on the roof, a louvered ventilation scheme, and slatted floors to let dust and debris fall to the ground under the building, where it was swept up by cleaning machines, also invented by Paxton.

          The long trailing skirts of lady visitors did a brilliant job of sweeping the dust in between the slats of the floor.

          After his great success with the Crystal Palace, Paxton went on to design palatial country homes for two de Rothschilds, become a director of the Midlands Railway, and even be elected a Member of Parliament.

          And it all began with a water lily.

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller