After Cross's death, the gardens were acquired by a company. The zoo had become run down, and the animals were sold off in 1856 to build Surrey
Music Hall in the gardens. It was a large, rectangular building of three floors, with an arcade around the ground floor and two covered galleries above, and octagonal staircases at each corner with ornamental turrets. Like the Crystal Palace, it was largely constructed from
cast iron, and was capable of holding 12,000 seated spectators, making it the largest venue in London. It was used to celebrate the return of soldiers at the end of the
Crimean War in 1856, and for a four-day military festival from 27 July to 30 July 1857 to honour and raise funds for
Mary Seacole. The French popular and eccentric conductor and composer of light music
Louis Antoine Jullien gave numerous very successful concerts in the Royal Surrey Gardens in 1855 and 1856 mixing classical and dance music. preaching in a packed Surrey Music Hall in around 1858. The famous
Baptist preacher
Charles Spurgeon held religious services at the Music Hall in weekends because the
New Park Street Chapel could not contain his audiences. The first service was held on the evening of Sunday 19 October 1856, with an audience of 10,000 inside and as many outside unable to enter. It was, however, marred by tragedy when someone
shouted fire and a panic to escape ensued. Seven were killed in the crush and many injured. Nevertheless, Spurgeon returned a few weeks later to hold morning services in November 1856. The services continued to be very well attended, with audiences exceeding 10,000. The proprietors decided to hold Sunday evening music concerts in the hall; Spurgeon objected to the entertainment being held on the
Sabbath, and the last Sunday morning service was held on 11 December 1859. The music hall was destroyed by fire in 1861, leading to a
High Court legal case,
Taylor v. Caldwell (1863) 3 B & S 328, to recover the costs of printing posters for an event that could not be held at the hall as a result of its destruction. The case established the doctrine of
impossibility in English
contract law. The gardens returned to holding large public entertainments, but they were less successful than before, and the gardens finally closed in 1862.
St. Thomas' Hospital moved to the site temporarily, while its new buildings at the new
Albert Embankment,
Lambeth Palace Road, near
Westminster Bridge, were being constructed. Its previous buildings had been sold for the railway viaduct built to connect
London Bridge railway station to Cannon Street, Blackfriars and Charing Cross railway stations. ==Pasley Park==