London’s Screen Archives enables Londoners see their past come alive on film. Managed by Film London, we are a unique network of historic film collections that cares for, collects and screens heritage film across the city. Together we preserve London’s rich film heritage from feature films to home movies, public information films, newsreels, and records of the capital’s many different industries.
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Fall of a Great City
There’s not a hard hat in sight, as cameras record the tragic destruction of the stunning spires, minarets, columns and arches of the Empire Exhibition at Wembley.
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Overview
Despite hosting the hugely successful Empire Exhibition in 1924 and 1925, the concrete mini-city of Wembley Park was largely demolished in 1927. Only a handful of structures – among them Wembley Stadium itself - survived the destruction recorded here, as pillars and spires are pulled down by cloth-capped workmen. Two pavilions, much altered, still remain while two others were demolished between 2007 and 2010 to make way for the new Wembley Stadium.
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