| Great Wheel | |
| Location: | Earls Court, London |
| Coordinates: | 51.4884°N -0.1989°W |
| Start Date: | 1894 |
| Demolition Date: | 1907 |
| Owner: | The Gigantic Wheel and Recreational Towers Company |
| Height: | 940NaN0 |
| Structural Engineer: | Adam Gaddelin and Gareth Watson |
| Main Contractor: | Maudslay, Sons and Field |
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[1] and it opened to the public on 17 July 1895.[2] Modelled on the original Ferris Wheel which featured at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, US, it was 308feet tall and 82.3m (270feet) in diameter.[3] [4] [5] and weighed about 900 tons.[6] 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[7] following its last use with the Imperial Austrian Exhibition[8] of 1906 as it was no longer profitable to run.
