Great Wheel

{{Short description|Former ferris wheel in London, England}}

{{Other uses}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox building

|name = Great Wheel

|status =

|image = Great Wheel.jpg

|image_size = 200px

|location = Earls Court, London

|coordinates = {{coord|51.48835|-0.19889|region:GB|display=inline,title}}

|start_date = 1894

|demolition_date = 1907

|architect =

|owner = The Gigantic Wheel and Recreational Towers Company

|building_type =

|height = {{Convert|94|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}

|structural_engineer = Adam Gaddelin and Gareth Watson

|main_contractor = Maudslay, Sons and Field

|opening = {{start date|df=yes|1895|07|17}}

|developer =

}}

The Great Wheel, also known as the Gigantic Wheel, or Graydon Wheel, was built for the Empire of India Exhibition at Earls Court, London, in the United Kingdom. Construction began in March 1894 at the works of Maudslay, Sons and Field in Greenwich{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMJfV7Fhak8C&pg=PA237 |title=The story of Greenwich |date=1999 |publisher=Harvard University Press |first=Clive |last=Aslet|isbn=9780674000766 }}{{Cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814172740/http://www.photolondon.org.uk/whole_gallery/gnmr_wheel.htm|title=The Great Wheel |archive-date=14 August 2007 |work=National Monuments Record, English Heritage |url=http://www.photolondon.org.uk/whole_gallery/gnmr_wheel.htm |via=PhotoLondon}} and it opened to the public on 17 July 1895.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/07/21/archives/the-ferris-wheels-london-rival.html|title=The Ferris Wheel's London Rival |author=The London Times|newspaper=The New York Times |date=21 July 1895}} Modelled on the original Ferris Wheel which featured at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, US, it was {{Convert|308|ft|m|disp=flip}} tall{{citation |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/spot-the-difference-london-landmarks-then-and-now-8375409.html |date=3 December 2012 |title=Spot the difference: London landmarks, then and now |work=Evening Standard}} and {{Convert|82.3|m|ft|0}} in diameter.Anderson, p97{{Cite book|page=109|title=Circles in the Sky: The Life and Times of George Ferris|first=Richard |last=Weingardt |year=2009|publisher=American Society of Civil Engineers |isbn=978-0784410103}}{{Cite book|page=74|title=A Short History of Carson City|first=Richard |last=Moreno|date=28 March 2011|publisher=University of Nevada Press |isbn=978-0874178364}} and weighed about 900 tons.https://en.numista.com/catalogue/photos/tokens/g52720.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}} It stayed in service until 1906, by which time its 40 cars (each with a capacity of 30 persons) had carried over 2.5 million passengers. It was demolished in 1907{{Cite web|url=http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=4731|title=The Great Wheel, London - Building #4731|website=www.skyscrapernews.com|access-date=14 December 2009|archive-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306003050/http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=4731|url-status=dead}} following its last use with the Imperial Austrian ExhibitionAnderson, p100 of 1906 as it was no longer profitable to run.