Showing 288 results

Places
Places term Scope note Archival description count Authority record count
Zoological Society of London Offices and Library
  • The Zoological Society of London Offices and Library building was erected to replace premises in Hanover Square. The Society's move to Regent's Park was prompted by the need for convenient access to the Zoo and for greater space for a growing library. The building's angular elevations are characteristic of Joass. The principal interior space in the building was originally the Society's Meeting Room and Library. It has since been divided horizontally and refitted as a reading room over book stacks (the Society's Meeting Rooms had moved to the Nuffield Building). Built 1909-1910, John James Joass, architect; G Godson and Sons, builders; lift made by Archibald Smith, Major and Stevens; cost £17,787. Attic and turret balustrading removed 1932. Library conversion 1932. Library conversion 1965, funded by Wolfson Foundation; Franz Stengelhofen and Colin Wears, architects. First building in the Zoo with an electricity supply. A cable was run from here to the Insect House. The Council Room, Reception and Library Lobby was refurbished in 2006.
3 1
Zoo Sports and Social Club
  • The Sports and Social Club for the Zoo staff accommodated a bar, billiard room and caretaker's flat. Built 1963, Franz Stengelhofen, architect.
0 1
Wolf Wood
  • Wolf Wood is an areas of fenced parkland backing on the Broad Walk. The land was brought into the Zoo in 1935, intended for the Children's Zoo. Built 1963, Franz Stengelhofen and Colin Wears, architects.
0 0
Wild Wild Whipsnade
  • Wild Wild Whipsnade was opened in 2010. This exhibit is home to several species of animal that lived in the wild in Britain hundreds of years ago. These include Eurasian brown bears, wolverines, Eurasian lynx, European wolves, European elk, reindeer, wild boar and European bison.
0 0
Whipsnade Zoo (14)
  • Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell (ZSL Secretary 1903-1935) was inspired by a visit to the Bronx Zoological Park to create a park in Britain as a conservation centre. Hall Farm, a derelict farm on the Dunstable Downs, 30 miles (48 km) to the north of London was purchased by the Zoological Society of London in 1926 for £13,480 12s 10d, The site was fenced, roads built and trees planted. The first animals arrived at the park in 1928, including two Lady Amherst's pheasants, a golden pheasant and five red junglefowl. Others soon followed, including muntjac, llama, wombats and skunks. Whipsnade Park Zoo opened on Sunday 23 May 1931. It was the first open zoo in Europe to be easily accessible to the visiting public. The collection of animals was boosted in 1932 by the purchase of a collection from a defunct travelling menagerie and some of the larger animals walked to the zoo from Dunstable station. During the Second World War, the zoo acted as a refuge for animals evacuated from London Zoo. During 1940, 41 bombs fell on the park with little damage to the zoo structure. Some of the ponds in the park are the remains of bomb craters from this period.
279 0
West Tunnel
  • The West Tunnel is a pedestrian subway leading under the Outer Circle, made to improve circulation to and from t he Middle Gardens in response to the increasing number of visitors. This was the first building work taken up after World War One. The concrete tunnel vault is decorated with paintings in the style of those of the caves of Lascaux and Altamira. Built 1919-20, in fulfilment of the 1913 scheme by Captain George Swinton with the Zoological Society of London's Garden Committee. Vault paintings 1954, by a team of students from the Royal Academy of Arts School of Painting working under Henry Rushbury. The paintings were lost in 2000 when the tunnel was strengthened.
0 0
West Service Gate Buildings
  • The buildings around the West Service Gate, to the north of the Mappin Terraces, derive from a 1950 plan for a new service complex that was incorporated into the 1958 redevelopment scheme prepared under Sir Hugh Casson. They were the first part of this scheme to be executed as the shifting of supply and works functions from the Middle Gardens to this site made space available for the Cotton Terraces. Built 1951 and 1958-60, Franz Stengelhofen, architect. (Services Building and Garage, 1960. Works Department, 1958-59. Boiler House, 1951; Incinerator added 1959, replaced 1982.
3 1
West Indies 3 0
West Footbridge
  • The West Footbridge arose from Franz Stengelhofen's 1950 Development Plan. It was designed to improve links between the North and Middle Gar dens and was ultimately built as part of the Cotton Terraces Development. Built 1960-61, funded by Jack Cotton; Sir Hugh Casson, Neville Conder and Partners, architects (Frank Shaw, associate architect)' Stephen Revesz, consulting engineer. The footbridge is now listed.
1 1
West Africa 7 0