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New Lion Terraces
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- The New Lion Terraces displaced Anthony Salvin Junior's Lion House of 1875-77 and the Cattle Sheds of 1869 which, from 1967, had included Chi-Chi's Giant Panda Enclosure. It came in the 150th anniversary year of the foundation of the Zoological Society of London and was the final component of the post-war reconstruction programme. The terraces are a rambling complex covering two acres of largely open space. The buildings are deliberately obscured in favour of landscaping that was intended as an improvement in the display and welfare of the animals, an approach that relied on the precedent of the lion and tiger exhibits at Whipsnade. It was built 1972-76, funding from Government and Sir Charles Clore; brief by D M R Brambell, Curator of Mammals; John Toovey, Colin Wears and Roger Balkwill, architects; Margaret Maxwell, landscape architect; R T James and partners, engineers; J Jarvis and Sons Limited, building contractors. It cost £666,232. Sculpture enrichments include a finely lettered slate dedicatory plaque designed by Banks and Miles and cut by David Kindersley. Another stone inscribed 'The Lions House' was taken from above the entrance of the 1875-77 Lion House (the 'S' is a 1970's insertion). A large lion mask was similarly resited and there is a cast lion's head presented by its sculptor, William Timyn, in 1976.
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Mappin Terraces
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- The Mappin Terraces are the Zoo's largest and most prominent feature. They were built as 'an installation for the panoramic display of wild animals' in the form of artificial mountains. This 'naturalistic' approach to animal display, which derived from the work of Carl Hagenbeck in Hamburg, was intended to improve living conditions for the animals and viewing conditions for the visitors. It was built 1913-14, designed by Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell; funded by John Newton Mappin; John James Joass, architect; Alexander Drew, engineer; D G Somerville and Company, reinforced-concrete contractors. Resurfaced and screens on steps remade 1968-72, John Toovey, architect. Vacated 1985. Grade II listed. The Mappin Terraces now house the Outback exhibit.
It closed in July 1985 when the bears left. It reopened as Bear Mountain in 1997. Reopened again as the Outback Exhibit in 2008 with Wallabies and Emus.
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Mappin Cafe
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- The Mappin Cafe is at the lower (south) angle of the Mappin Terrraces, a small quadrant within the larger quadrant. This 'tea pavilion', in Italian Renaissance style, was part of the 1913 scheme but, at Mappin's request, it was left 'until the best possible provision has been made for the animals'. Work began just before the outbreak of World War One, but was postponed for six years before being completed to modified plans. It was built 1914-20, funded by John Newton Mappin; John James Joass, architect. Closed 1985. Grade II listed. The cafe was refurbished in 2003.
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Aquarium
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- The Aquarium is housed under the Mappin Terraces. The space had been set aside for an aquarium from 1913 when the Terraces were laid out, but detailed planning was deferred by war until 1921-22. Briefs were provided following visits to aquariums in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Berlin and Dresden. It was built 1923-24, brief by E G Boulanger, Curator of Reptiles; John James Joass, architect; Alexander Gibb and Partners, engineers; J Jarvis and Sons Limited, building contractors; Joan Beauchamp Procter, rockwork design; cost around £55,000. Refaced to west 1951, and to east 1965, Franz Stengelhofen, architect. Grade II listed. The Aquarium closed on 22 October 2019. Some animals were moved to a new aquarium at Whipsnade Zoo, while others were set to be housed in a new corals exhibit in the B.U.G.S. building in 2020.
Electricity was installed in the rest of the Zoo when the Aquarium was built.
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Raven's Cage
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- The former Raven's Cage is a rebuilding of an aviary put up as summer caging for macaws. It originally stood just north west of the clock tower. No longer used as an aviary, it survives simply as a decorative and commemorative object. It was built 1829, Decimus Burton, architect. 'Renovated' 1927. 'Reconstructed' 1948 following war damage. Moved 1971. Grade II listed. By the 1840s the cage had been converted to accommodate a vulture and a small house had been added on the north-western side. This was removed, probably in 1948.
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African Aviary
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- The African (formerly Eastern) Aviary replaced an aviary of 1827-28 by Decimus Burton on the same site. The Victorian building, now largely remodelled, was claimed as the best of its type in the country when it opened. To protect vulnerable birds there was a hot water heated interior with indoor cages viewable from a public passage. The floors of these cages were set close to eye level to make the birds more readily visible. Originally, there were ten outdoor cages on the south side, the two largest at either end. Built 1863-64, Anthony Salvin Junior, architect; Lucas Brothers, builders. Cost £2,688. Remodelled with new outdoor caging and renamed 1989-90, brief from Peter Olney, Curator of Birds; John S Bonnington Partnership, architects; Whitby and Bird, structural engineers; landscaping by Derek Howarth and Ron Whittle, filmset experts. Cost £485,000.
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Peafowl Aviary
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- The Peafowl Aviary of 1903 adjoins the north-west corner of the Bird House. It is a simple row of bird runs, a building type established in an agricultural context as hen-runs and pheasantries. It originally comprised wooden shelters behind wire-mesh covered runs. The shelters have been rebuilt in concrete blocks and corrugated-sheet roofing.
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Southern Aviary
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- The Southern Aviary of 1905 is the largest of the Zoo's early aviaries. It was an early attempt to provide a natural environment for birds, giving them space for free flight. The landscaping of artificial rockwork and ponds, with mature willows, was a reordering of what had been the Southern Ponds from about 1860.
The Southern Aviary was demolished circa 2008 for the Giant Tortoises.
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Owls' Aviary
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- The Owls' Aviary of 1905 is a pheasantry-like structure with caging around as if with a 'palace front'. The 100 ft (30 m) row consists of fifteen open cages in front of simple shelter huts, probably of timber originally but rebuilt in concrete blocks.
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North Pheasantry
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- Built about 1900. Resited further north 1906-7. More than doubled in length to the west 1913-14. Additions cleared in 1960s.
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