Image: Tine Hvidsten

When the East London Line extends further south in late May, one of the world’s most curious collections of pre-historic animals will come a little bit closer to the rest of London.
The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs have occupied the lower part of Crystal Palace Park since 1854, when the artist and sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins first unveiled his creatures to a bemused and fascinated Victorian audience. To modern eyes the sculptures still bemuse and fascinate, but for very different reasons.  The science of paleontology has moved on, and the Crystal Palace dinosaurs were left behind, frozen in time.  East London Lines spoke to Melvyn Harrison from The Crystal Palace Foundation about the past, present and future of the now iconic sculptures.