The Clock Tower is the earliest surviving building at London Zoo, although it has twice been rebuilt. It was constructed as a 'Gothic House for Lamas', but was soon given over to camels. It was built in 1828 and designed by the architect Decimus Burton. The clock turret was added in 1831 and rebuilt in 1844. It was reconstructed 'in an improved form' in 1897-98 by Charles Brown Trollope, architect; George Smith and Company, builders. It was bomb damaged in 1940 and wholly rebuilt 1946-47 by Burnet, Tait and Lorne, architects. It was converted to a chair store in 1958 and shops in 1988. It is Grade II listed.
The Children's Zoo is set off from the rest of the Zoo as an area where children can come into close contact with animals, generally those that are either young or domesticated. In its early years most of the site remained open. Scattered across the Children's Zoo is a miscellany of small buildings dating from the period 1959 to 1975, when the Zoo as a whole was undergoing redevelopment. The curved paddock railings are reused public barriers from around one of the outdoor cages of the 1875-77 Lion House. Founded in 1938, incorporating deer shed of about 1920. Western stables, 1959; Nocturnal House, 1963; Milking Parlour, 1963 as Chimp Den, converted 1973-75, with addition of stable sheds and enclosing walls; Animal Handling Building 1967; eastern farm pens, about 1938, rebuilt 1967, paddock layout altered 1977, dens inserted 1983. All by Zoological Society of London architects.
An area aimed primarily at children and housing domesticated livestock such as turkeys, llamas, alpacas, cows, silkie chickens, horses, donkeys and goats, most of which are free-roaming. The Children's Farm is also home to a female Bennett's wallaby named Pip.
