Royal Surrey Gardens were pleasure gardens in Newington, Surrey, London in the Victorian period, slightly east of The Oval. The gardens occupied about to the east side of Kennington Park Road, including a lake of about . It was the site of Surrey Zoological Gardens and Surrey Music Hall. The gardens were the grounds of the manor house of Walworth, that is also the civil parish of Newington, Surrey. The site was acquired in 1831 by impresario Edward Cross to be the location of his new Surrey Zoological Gardens, using animals from his menagerie at Exeter Exchange, in competition with the new London Zoo in Regent's Park. A large circular domed glass conservatory was built in the gardens, in circumference with more than of glass, to contain separate cages for lions, tigers, a rhinoceros, and giraffes. The gardens were heavily planted with native and exotic trees and plants, and dotted with picturesque pavilions. The gardens were used for large public entertainments from 1837, such as re-enactments of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the Great Fire of London, or the storming of Badajoz, using large painted sets up to high, and spectacular firework displays, as had become popular at Vauxhall Gardens before its demise. Later, it was used for promenade concerts. The gardens suffered intense competition from the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 1851. Surrey Music Hall 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. The famous Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon held religious services at the Music