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Port Lympne Mansion

Country houses in KentGrade II* listed buildings in KentGrade II* listed housesHerbert Baker buildings and structuresPhilip Tilden buildings
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Port Lympne geograph.org.uk 996612
Port Lympne geograph.org.uk 996612

Port Lympne, at Lympne, Kent is an early 20th-century country house built for Sir Philip Sassoon, 3rd Baronet by Herbert Baker and Philip Tilden. Completed after the First World War. Following Sassoon's death in 1939 it was bequeathed with its contents, including cars and planes, to Hannah Gubbay, his cousin. It was abandoned after the Second World War. In 1973, it was purchased by John Aspinall as part of an expansion of his Port Lympne Zoo. The house is a Grade II* listed building as of 29 December 1966.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Port Lympne Mansion (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Port Lympne Mansion
Knoll Hill, Folkestone and Hythe District

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.07565 ° E 0.99958 °
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Port Lympne Mansion

Knoll Hill
CT21 4PF Folkestone and Hythe District
England, United Kingdom
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Port Lympne geograph.org.uk 996612
Port Lympne geograph.org.uk 996612
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Port Lympne Wild Animal Park

Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve near the town of Hythe in Kent, England is set in 600 acres (2.4 km2) and incorporates the historic Port Lympne Mansion, and landscaped gardens designed by architect Sir Herbert Baker, for Sir Philip Sassoon. The estate with an Edwardian mansion near Lympne was purchased in 1973 by John Aspinall; the intent was to solve lack of space at the nearby Howletts Wild Animal Park. It was opened to the public in 1976. Since 1984 the animal parks have been owned by a charity (The John Aspinall Foundation, currently led by Damian Aspinall). The collection is known for being unorthodox, for the encouragement of close personal relationships between staff and animals, and for their breeding of rare and endangered species. The park now includes tigers, lions, leopards, gorillas, bears, giraffes and the UK's largest herd of black rhinos. The facility also plans to release some of the animals into the wild.Royalty and many other famous people have stayed at the mansion at the centre of the park. The rooms are lavishly decorated and the landscaped gardens have views of Romney Marsh. Other accommodations are also provided in the Park, some in Lion Lodge, Tiger Lodge, Bear Lodge (glamping), Rhino Lodge, Treehouse Hotel, The Bubble, Hogdeer Creek, Giraffe Cottage, Giraffe Lodge (glamping), Pinewood (glamping), Wolf Lodge and Forest Hideaway. The latest accommodation options are Lion Lodge and the 20-bedroom Giraffe Hall.

Lympne Airport

Lympne Airport was a military and later civil airfield (IATA: LYM, ICAO: EGMK), at Lympne, Kent, United Kingdom, which operated from 1916 to 1984. During the First World War RFC Lympne was originally an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returning from, France but was later designated as a First Class Landing Ground, RAF Lympne. It became a civil airfield in 1919 and saw the operation of early air mail services after the 1918 armistice. It was one of the first four airfields in the United Kingdom with customs facilities. Lympne was also involved in the evolution of air traffic control, with facilities developing and improving during the 1920s and 1930s. A number of record-breaking flights originated or ended at Lympne. During the 1920s Lympne was the venue for the Lympne light aircraft trials from which a number of aircraft types entered production. Air racing was also held at Lympne. Just before the Second World War, Lympne was requisitioned by the Fleet Air Arm. It was named HMS Buzzard and renamed HMS Daedalus II three months later, before being transferred to the Royal Air Force in May 1940. During the war Lympne was a front-line fighter base, RAF Lympne. It was heavily bombed during the Battle of Britain in 1940 and put out of action for a number of weeks. It was too close to the coast to be used as a squadron base, but squadrons were detached there on a day-to-day basis. Lympne was also to have been the landing place for a German aircraft used in a plot to kidnap Adolf Hitler, with preparations made by the Royal Air Force for his arrival. Lympne returned to civilian use on 1 January 1946. In 1948, the first air ferry service was inaugurated at Lympne by Silver City Airways. Problems with waterlogging of the grass runway and the refusal of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation to upgrade the airfield led to Silver City transferring operations to Lydd (Ferryfield) in 1954. By 1956, the airport's ownership had passed to Eric Rylands Ltd, the Skyways holding company. Skyways operated a coach-air service between London and Paris, flying passengers from Lympne to Beauvais. This service operated until 1974 (1955–1958: the original Skyways; 1958–1971: Skyways Coach-Air; 1971–1972: Skyways International; 1972–1974: Dan-Air Skyways). Following the cessation of commercial operations in October 1974, Lympne continued to be used as a General Aviation airfield until about 1984. The site is now an industrial estate.