place

London Zoo

1828 establishments in England1828 in LondonAviariesBuildings and structures in Regent's ParkCultural and educational buildings in London
Decimus Burton buildingsGrade II* listed buildings in the City of WestminsterGrade II listed buildings in the City of WestminsterGrade I listed buildings in the City of WestminsterGrade I listed zoo buildingsLondon ZooRegent's ParkTourist attractions in LondonTourist attractions in the City of WestminsterZoological Society of LondonZoos established in 1828Zoos in England
ZSL London Zoo in the Regent's Park in London, June 2013
ZSL London Zoo in the Regent's Park in London, June 2013

London Zoo aka ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. In 1831 or 1832, the animals of the Tower of London menagerie were transferred to the zoo's collection. It was opened to the public in 1847. Today, it houses a collection of 673 species of animals, with 19,289 individuals, making it one of the largest collections in the United Kingdom. The zoo is sometimes called Regent's Zoo. It is managed under the aegis of the Zoological Society of London (established in 1826), and is situated at the northern edge of Regent's Park, on the boundary line between the City of Westminster and the borough of Camden (the Regent's Canal runs through it). The Society also has a more spacious site at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire to which the larger animals such as elephants and rhinos have been moved. As well as being the first scientific zoo, ZSL London Zoo also opened the first reptile house (1849), first public aquarium (1853), first insect house (1881) and the first children's zoo (1938). ZSL receives no state funding and relies on 'Fellows' and 'Friends' memberships, entrance fees and sponsorship to generate income.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article London Zoo (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

London Zoo
Outer Circle, City of Westminster Marylebone

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: London ZooContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.535555555556 ° E -0.15583333333333 °
placeShow on map

Address

Main Entrance

Outer Circle
NW1 4RY City of Westminster, Marylebone
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

ZSL London Zoo in the Regent's Park in London, June 2013
ZSL London Zoo in the Regent's Park in London, June 2013
Share experience

Nearby Places

Gorilla House
Gorilla House

The Gorilla House (later known as the "Round House") was built at London Zoo in 1932–33, on a site between Regent's Canal and the Outer Circle of Regent's Park. It was designed by the Modernist architect Berthold Lubetkin, with civil engineering assistance from Ove Arup, in the International Style. It was the first substantial building completed to a design by Lubetkin's firm, Tecton Group, and the firm's first building at London Zoo. It was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1970. The Gorilla House was commissioned to house the zoo's pair of gorillas from the Congo, Mok and Moina The main structure is based on a cylindrical drum made from 4 in (10 cm) reinforced concrete, painted white. The structure is divided into two halves, one enclosed and one open, with a semi-circular indoor winter enclosure to the north, and a low-walled open-air summer enclosure to the south surrounded by a metal cage. The entrance and exit doors are in small projecting wings to the east and west. It included a rotating semi-circular top-hung insulating screen, rotating around a central pivot and moving along rollers in a metal channel around the top of the building, that could be deployed in the winter to turn the outdoor space into a sheltered viewing area for zoo visitors, while the gorilla remained behind glass screens in their heated indoor enclosure. In the summer, the screen could be rotated away and concealed within the northern half of the structure, so the gorillas could live and viewed in the outdoor half of the structure. The northern half is lit by clerestory windows, topped by a flat asphalt roof. It opened in April 1933. The structure was later housed a series of different animals, including elephants, Kodiak bears, chimpanzees (from which the building is sometimes known as the "Chimps Breeding Colony"), koalas, aye ayes, and fruit bats. The rotating screen fell out of use and was fixed in place. After the successful Gorilla House, Tecton Group designed other structures at the zoo, including its Penguin Pool, also completed in 1934 and also listed at Grade I in 1970.

Regent's Park Road
Regent's Park Road

Regent's Park Road is a street in the Primrose Hill area of London, England. Located in the London Borough of Camden, it runs in a curving crescent shape. For some of its route it follows alongside the eastern edge of Primrose Hill park and also includes the commercial centre of the area. Despite its name the street does not run as far as Regent's Park although the adjacent Prince Albert Road does. It diverges from Gloucester Avenue at Cecil Sharp House and heads westwards until it meets Primrose Hill. It runs adjacent to the park and then at the northern end the previously residential buildings give way to shops, restaurants and a pub, the Queen's Hotel, as the road curves eastwards. It again meets Gloucester Avenue by the Pembroke Castle pub and then continues over a bridge across the West Coast Main Line until it finishes at the junction with Haverstock Hill between Chalk Farm tube station and the Roundhouse. The bridge that carries the street across the West Coast Main Line is now pedestrianised. It was the location of the former Primrose Hill railway station, once an important commuter station on the North London Railway, which closed in 1992. The northern part of the street dates back to at least the eighteenth century and was known as Primrose Vale. Like the rest of the area it was laid out as a residential area in nineteenth century, with many of the original buildings surviving. There had been an older Chalk Farm Tavern on what is now the street, which was famous as a site of dueling in eighteenth century and Regency London, but was rebuilt in the Victorian era. The stretch of street south of the Queen's Hotel was originally known as Queen's Street, but later the whole road adopted the same name. The Anglican St Mark's Church was opened in 1852, and then rebuilt following German bombing in the Second World War. The German socialist theorist Friedrich Engels lived in the street from 1870 to 1894 and is now commemorated with a blue plaque. Kingsley Amis lived in the street from 1984 onwards. The pianist and teacher James Gibb lived in a flat at No 10 from 1956 until his death in 2013, aged 95.

Readymoney Drinking Fountain
Readymoney Drinking Fountain

The Readymoney Drinking Fountain, also occasionally known as the Parsee Fountain, is a Grade II listed structure near the middle of the Broad Walk footpath on the east side of Regent's Park, in London. It lies southeast of London Zoo, close to the highest point of Regent's Park, about 41 metres (135 ft) above sea level, in an area with few trees, making it widely visible across the park. The drinking fountain was erected in 1869, with the £1,400 cost funded by Sir Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney, a successful Parsee businessman and philanthropist from Bombay, as a token of thanks to the people of England for their protection of the Parsees in British India. The structure was built to the Gothic design of Robert Keirle, who was the architect of the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association. It was constructed by the sculptor Henry Ross, using 10 tons of white marble from Sicily, and 4 tons of pink and grey granite from Aberdeen. The main four-sided structure rests on three octagonal steps. The central white marble block has a pink granite basin on each side, with granite standing blocks on the ground beside each basin. Small apertures were included at the base of the central block to allow dogs to drink. Above each basin is a carved marble panel, with one depicting a lion and another a Brahmin bull, topped by a frieze decorated with inlaid stars and a triangular pediment resembling a gable. The central block rises to a gabled spire with a decorative terminal, with three pink granite columnettes rising to a single pinnacle at each corner. Three of the gables have a carved bust, depicting Readymoney, Prince Albert, and Queen Victoria, and the fourth has a clock. The drinking fountain was unveiled on 1 August 1869 by Princess Mary of Teck; she was a granddaughter of George III, and her daughter later became Queen Mary. It was listed at Grade II in 1970, and it was restored in 1999–2000 with over £400,000 of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. A modern plaque above the basin on the south face of the fountain reads: "This fountain erected by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association was the gift of Sir Cowasjee Jehangir (Companion of the Star of India), a wealthy Parsee gentleman of Bombay, as a token of gratitude to the people of England for the protection enjoyed by him and his Parsee fellow countrymen under the British rule in India. Inaugurated by H.R.H. Princess Mary, Duchess of Teck, 1869. Restoration supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund 1999 – 2000.Further restoration work was undertaken in 2016 and 2017. The water no longer runs, but a modern drinking fountain has been installed nearby.