Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in north London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. It was designed by John Johnson and Alfred Meeson. It opened in 1873 but following a fire two weeks after its opening, was rebuilt by Johnson. It was intended as "the People's Palace" and it is often referred to by the nickname "Ally Pally".

At first a private venture, in 1900 the owners planned to sell it and Alexandra Park for development. A group of neighbouring local authorities managed to acquire it. An Act of Parliament created the Alexandra Palace and Park Trust. The Act required the trustees to maintain the building and the park, and make them available for the free use and recreation of the public forever. The present trustee is the London Borough of Haringey, whose coat of arms shows lightning bolts depicting Alexandra Palace's pioneering role in the development of television.

In 1935 the trustees leased part of the Palace to the BBC for use as the production and transmission centre for their new television service. Thus, in 1936, it became the home of the world's first regular public (then) "high-definition" television service. The broadcasting system was 405-line monochrome analogue television – the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. Although other facilities soon superseded it after the Second World War, Alexandra Palace continued to be used by the BBC for many years, and its radio and television mast is still in use.

The original Studios A and B still survive in the southeast wing with their producers' galleries, and are used for exhibiting original historical television equipment. The original Victorian Alexandra Palace Theatre with its stage machinery also survives and, as of 2019, is back in use. The theatre and the stage structure are on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk register. Alexandra Palace became a listed building in 1996, at the instigation of the Hornsey Historical Society. A planned commercial development of the building into a mixed leisure complex, including a hotel, a replacement ice-skating rink, a cinema, a ten-pin bowling alley and an exhibition centre, encountered opposition from public groups and was blocked by the High Court in 2007.

The Great Hall and the West Hall are typically used for exhibitions, concerts and conferences. They are operated by the trading arm of the charitable trust that owns the building and the park on behalf of the public. There is also a pub, an ice rink, a palm court and a panoramic view of London.

In 2013 Alexandra Park was declared a local nature reserve. It is also a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1.

The nearest railway stations are Alexandra Palace, with Great Northern services from Moorgate, and the London Underground station Wood Green on the Piccadilly line. Alexandra Palace is also served by London Buses route W3, which is operated by Arriva London.