| Summary : Zoological gardens situated in the northern area of Regents Park. It was founded by the London Zoological Society from 1826 and its first buildings were designed by Decimus Burton. The Zoo was opened to Society members in 1828, the general public were not admitted until 1846. None of the buildings designed by Burton survive except the Clock Tower and Ravens Cage. Other early Zoo architects included Anthony Slavin from 1859-1878 and Charles Brown Trollope 1882-1903. During the mid-late 19th century the Zoo contained a number of notable buildings including the world's first Reptile House which was built in 1849, the first public marine aquarium (1853) and first Insect House (1881). None of these are still extant. The Zoo has subsequently been enlarged and redeveloped and included a redevelopment programme overseen by Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell, secretary of the Society from 1903-35 which introduced naturalism to the animal displays, an approach first used by Carl Hagenbeck in Germany and included work by James Pulham and Son. The 1958 `New Zoo' plan, a ten year multi-phase development was implemented between 1958 and 1976 and resulted in the construction of many new animal enclosures and auxiliary buildings, either designed by the in-house architects who included Franz A P Stengelhofen and John Toovey, or a number of individual architects. In 1991 following many years of financial difficulties a decision was made to close the Zoo by September 1992. This did not take place as in October 1992 it was announced that the Zoo was to develop as a centre for the breeding and conservation of endangered species. Now (2009) it houses a collection of 755 species and 15,104 individual animals. A renovation programme is underway replacing animal cages with enclosures recreating the animals' natural environments and include new exhibits the African Bird Safari, Into Africa, the Gorilla Kingdom, the Clore Rainforest Lookout, the Blackburn Pavilion and Animal Adventure. |
More information : (TQ 280 833) ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS [NAT]. (1)
Zoological gardens established by the London Zoological Society formed in 1826. The zoo was laid out on 5 acres of land granted by the crown in Regent's park [NAR No. TQ 28 SE 37], to plans drawn up by Decimus Burton, in 1827. The zoo was opened in April 1828, initially to members of the Society, then from 1846 onwards to the general public. None of the original buildings by Burton survive. [Full description of development to the present day, detailed survey of architecture]. (2)
The Zoological Society of London was formed in 1826 by Sir Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) and it became the world's first institute devoted to the study and display of animals. It was given land in Regent's Park by the Crown to house a collection of animals. Landscaping of this land and the building designs were by Decimus Burton (1800-81). The Zoo was opened to members of the society and their guests in April 1828. The public were allowed in from 1846.
In 1830 Decimus Burton was appointed Zoo architect, a post he held until 1841. None of his early buildings survive except the Clock Tower (Monument HOB UID 619087) and Raven's Cage (Monument HOB UID 1507308). Both of which are rebuilds and no longer house animals as Burton had intended. Three Island Pond (Monument HOB UID 1507956) is the only surviving early garden feature designed by Burton. His later work includes the Giraffe House (Monument HOB UID 619093) which is still extant.
By the 1850s the Zoo had almost reached its current boundaries. During this period it contained a number of notable buildings including the world's first Reptile House (1849) first public marine aquarium (1853) and later in 1881 the first Insect House, none of which are now extant.
Anthony Salvin (1827-1881) was appointed Zoo architect from 1859 until 1878 and was responsible for a range of buildings which included an Antelope House (1859-61) Monkey House (1864) Elephant and Rhinoceros House (1868-69) and Lion House (1875-7).The only surviving examples of his work are the Eastern Aviary (Monument HOB UID 1169566) built in 1864 and later renamed the African Aviary and the Refreshment Rooms (Monument HOB UID 1168855) built in 1868-78 and later converted to the Parrot House. From 1882-1903 the architect was Charles Brown Trollope who designed the Reptile House (Monument HOB UID 116960) of 1882-3 and now the Bird House, and the Ostrich and Stork House (Monument HOB UID 1169819) built in 1896-97.
Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell was the Secretary of the Society from 1903 until 1935. He was a reformer who oversaw and designed a range of new buildings including the Mappin Terraces (Monument HOB UID 619101) and the Insect House of 1912-13 (Monument HOB UID 1169841). In particular he encouraged better open air facilities for animals and in 1909 he appointed John James Joass (1868-1952) to design a general plan for the future development of the Zoo. This plan recommended maximum open air for animals and improved visitor facilities and circulation but it was rejected in 1911. In 1912 Captain George Swinton, Chairman of the London County Council was appointed onto the Society's Garden Committee to develop the scheme. A plan was published in 1913 but much of it was not implemented due to outbreak of the First World War. The structures which had been built as a result of the plan include the West Tunnel (Monument HOB UID 1508539) and the open court with teahouse and restaurant, the Pavilion Building (Monument HOB UID 1168863) and Regent Building (Monument HOB UID 1168877).
During the early part of the 20th century new Zoo building designs involved the Zoo's curators, Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell and architects of a higher professional standing than had previously been involved, and included John James Joass, Sir Edward Guy Dawber (1862-1938) and the architectural company Tecton. It was also during this period that saw the introduction of naturalism in animal displays, an approach first used by Carl Hagenbeck in Germany and adopted by Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell at London Zoo with the opening of the Sea Lion Pond in 1905 (Monument HOB UID 1507957) and the Mappin Terraces in 1913-14 (Monument HOB UID 619101). It was also used for indoor displays of smaller animals, the Aquarium (Monument HOB UID 619103) used tanks furnished with rockwork and the Reptile House of 1926-7 (Monument HOB UID 1169909) had the backdrop of cages with painted landscapes which had been painted by a theatrical scene artist.
By 1935 the Zoo had reached its current boundaries, covering an area of 14.4 hectares, and Britain's first children's Zoo had opened. It was moved to its current site in 1938 (Monument HOB UID 1170537). During the Second World War the Zoo suffered considerable bomb damage and in 1947 an Architect's Department was formed under the direction of Franz A P Stengelhofen. Its main function was to plan post-war reconstruction which resulted in the Developmental Plan of 1950 proposing extensive rebuilding and the introduction of moated enclosures and elevated walkways to deal with greater visitor numbers. The scheme was approved but little was implemented due to the lack of finance.
In 1955 Professor Lord Solly Zuckerman became secretary of the Zoological Society, a post he held until 1977. In 1956 he commissioned Sir Hugh Casson together with Stengelhofen and landscape consultant Sir Peter Shepheard to prepare an alternative to the 1951 plan. The plan for a `New Zoo' was published in 1958 and was a 10 year multi-phase programme to be funded from the Society's reserves and benefactions. The plan served as a guide, with many of the implemented projects bearing very little relation to that originally envisaged. The total cost of the redevelopment was £4.4 million, of which 61% was in the form of government grants, 22% private donations and 17% the Society`s reserves. Work started in 1958 with construction of new service buildings (Monument Hob UID 1168079) followed by construction of the Cotton Terraces (Monument HOB UID ) in 1960-63. Other buildings constructed during this project included the Northern or Snowdon Aviary (Monument HOB UID 619105), the Elephant and Rhino Pavilion, now the Casson Pavilion (Monument HOB UID 619100), the Charles Clore Pavilion (Monument HOB UID 1170118), the Michael Sobell Pavilions for Apes and Monkeys (Monument HOB UID 1170173) and the New Lion Terraces (Monument HOB UID 1170213). Concurrent with this project was the development of the Zoological Society's auxiliary work, involving construction of a new Animal Hospital and Pathology Laboratory (Monument HOB UID 1507848) and new research facilities including The Wellcome Building (Monument HOB UID 1507852) and the Nuffield Building (Monument HOB UID 1507869).
The Architect department continued in use until 1991 and allowed much of the building design to be handled in house by staff architects Franz A P Stengelhofen 1957-1966, John Toovey 1966-1987 and Colin Wears 1987-1991. However, many of the major 1960s projects were given to prominent outside architects, including Sir Hugh Casson and Neville Conder and partners who were responsible for the West Footbridge (Monument HOB UID 1170753) the Elephant and Rhino Pavilion, later the Casson Pavilion (Monument HOB UID 619100) and the Education Centre (Monument HOB UID 1168534). Sir Peter Shepheard for landscaping of the Cotton Terraces (Monument HOB UID 1169943) and the rest of the south bank of the canal. Anthony Armstrong Jones, Cedric Price and Frank Newby (engineer) for the Northern or Snowdon Aviary (Monument HOB UID 619105), Llewelyn-Davies, Weeks and Musgrave for the Nuffield Building (Monument HOB UID 1507869) and Black, Bayes and Gibson, for the Charles Clore Pavilion (Monument HOB UID 1170118)
From the 1960s Zoo visitor numbers started to decline and by 1980s financial problems were acute. Several development schemes were proposed to halt this decline but were unfunded. Small projects took place in 1989-90 and included the rebuilding of the Eastern Aviary (Monument HOB UID 1169566) which was renamed the African Aviary, and the formation of Barclay Court (Monument HOB UID 1168967). In 1991 it was announced that the Zoo would have to close, due to financial problems, by September 1992. However, in October 1992 it was announced that the Zoo was to be developed as a centre for the breeding and conservation of endangered species.
Now (2009) it houses a collection of 755 species and 15,104 individual animals, making it one of the largest collections in the United Kingdom. By 2008 a renovation project to replace cages with enclosures recreating animals' natural environments was well underway. These new exhibits include the African Bird Safari which opened in 2005 as a redevelopment of the Stork and Ostrich House (Monument HOB UID 1169819). The Into Africa exhibit opened in 2006 as a redevelopment of the Cotton Terraces (Monument HOB UID 1169943). The Gorilla Kingdom opened in 2007 and was a redevelopment of the Sobell Pavilions Ape and Primates House (Monument HOB UID 1170173). The Clore Rainforest Lookout also opened in 2007 and was a replacement of the Charles Clore Pavilion for Small Mammals (Monument HOB UID 1170118). In 2008 the Bird House (Monument HOB UID 1169760) reopened as the Blackburn Pavilion containing a walk through tropical rainforest. The Children's Zoo (Monument HOB UID 1170537) was closed in September 2008 and was replaced by the Animal Adventure which opened in 2009. (3-5)
It is known that James Pulham and Son, a well-reputed firm of landscape gardeners, had worked for the London Zoological Society at London Zoo. There is, however, some confusion over which exhibits they worked on. It is commonly thought they were responsible for the rockwork on the Mappin Terraces (Monument HOB UID 619102). A Zoological Society account book for building work on the Mappin Terraces in 1913-14 does not document any payments to James Pulham and Son. However, in May 1910, they were paid for rockwork in the Polar Bears' Enclosure (Monument HOB UID) and in December 1913 for rockwork in the Coypu and Beaver Ponds, now known as the Prairie Marmot Enclosure (Monument HOB UID 1507946) (6). Hitching (7) states that James Pulham and Son had worked at the Zoo between 1905-13 and were responsible for installation of Pulhamite rockwork in the Sea Lion Pool (Monument Hob UID 1507957), Polar Bear Enclosure (TQ 2809 8344) and Monkey Enclosure (TQ 2803 8343). Both sources state that the rockwork had been removed during later building work.
London Zoo has been included in the national Pulham database (ID number 224) where it states that James Robert Pulham (1873-1957) and possibly James Pulham III (1845-1920) were responsible for the work. The site has subsequently been published in the gazetteer. (8-9) |