Initial Plans: Wyld's Great Globe Leicester Square London

Wyld's Great Globe (also known as Wyld's Globe or Wyld's Monster Globe) was an attraction situated in London's Leicester Square between 1851 and 1862, constructed by James Wyld (1812-1887), a distinguished map-maker and sometime Member of Parliament for Bodmin.  At the centre of a purpose built hall was a giant globe, 60 feet 4 inches (18.39 m) in diameter. The globe was hollow and contained a staircase and elevated platforms which members of the public could climb in order to view the surface of the earth on its interior surface, which was modelled in plaster of Paris, complete with mountain ranges and rivers all to scale. Punch described the attraction as "a geographical globule which the mind can take in at one swallow." In the surrounding galleries were displays of Wyld's maps, globes and surveying equipment.

Wyld originally proposed that the globe should be constructed at the Great Exhibition, but its size and Wyld's desire to run it as a promotional venture precluded it from being featured inside the Crystal Palace, so Wyld negotiated with the owners of the gardens of Leicester Square, and after much wrangling secured an agreement to site it there for ten years. The exhibition hall and model of the Earth were hastily constructed to coincide with the Great Exhibition. Through an advertisement in The Builder, Wyld contracted Edward Welch as the architect for the project. Welch submitted his first set of plans in January 1851. These plans included the construction of four theatres which Wyld planned to rent out to recoup his expenses, but there was vigorous opposition from the residents of the square, and when Wyld put the plans out to tender, the cheapest quote, from George Myers B was £2,561. Welch negotiated this down to £1,888, but Wyld informed Welch that he considered the price prohibitive. On 24 February 1851, Wyld asked Welch to retire from the project, promising that he would be paid for the work he had done so far. Wyld then contracted Abraham to produce new plans. Both Welch and Abraham were eventually forced to sue to get their fees.