London, Brighton and South Coast Railway closely involved with the company that purchased The Crystal Palace after the completion of The Great Exhibition in October 1851 and arranged for its removal to a site on Sydenham Hill, close to the London to Brighton main line, where it became a major tourist attraction. The LB&SCR therefore encouraged the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway to build a branch line from Sydenham, opened in June 1854. This was extended in a wide arc round south London to Wandsworth in 1856 and Battersea Pier in 1858. Shortly after the line was completed, the LB&SCR leased it and
Crystal Palace, London vegetation was left undisturbed, creating a woodland pathway. On the Church Road/Westow Street corner is an ornate Greek Orthodox Church which serves the Greek Cypriot and Orthodox community in the surrounding area. Formerly an Anglican church, the walls are now dressed in ornate Byzantine-style art. Crystal Palace lies approximately 8 miles (13 km) to the south east of Charing Cross on Norwood Ridge and includes one of the highest points of London at 112 metres above the mean sea level (OS map reference TQ337707). The Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, in the centre of the park, lies at 88 metres