The Tower of London Menagerie

Before the Tower of London Menagerie

In 1100 – Henry 1st’s Menagerie at Woodstock Park

The Menagerie at Woodstock Park founded by Henry 1st, son of William the Conqueror, was the foundation for the early Tower of London Menagerie.

Henry Ist (son of William the Conqueror) founded a menagerie at Woodstock Park in Oxfordshire in 1100. This was for private entertainment and Henry actually released some of the exotic animals so that he could hunt and shoot them for fun. Nice.

These primitive antics continued at Woodstock for another hundred years before the menagerie and zoo was finally disbanded and its animals were sent to the Tower of London to establish the Tower’s own menagerie. The animals included the now extinct Barbary Lion.

In 1252 the Menagerie welcomed a Polar Bear sent as a gift by Kin Haakon IV of Norway to Henry III.

In 1255, an elephant, which had been captured during the Crusades, was brought to the Tower. Nobody had ever seen anything like it. Matthew Paris, a famous chronicler, both drew and wrote about the elephant, stating ‘the beast is about ten years old, possessing a rough hide rather than fur, has small eyes at the top of his head and eats and drinks with a trunk.’

It was such a status symbol that Henry III taxed Londoners to build a large elephant house. However, the poor elephant didn’t live long, since keepers didn’t realise that it wasn’t a carnivore, and gave it a gallon of wine to drink every day. After it died, the bones were used to create reliquaries to house religious relics.

1270 The Tower of London Menagerie is born

By the date of 1270 the King, Edward 1^st had moved the expanded Menagerie to the entrance of the Tower and all who entered and left the Tower were required to walk past the lions. Scary. I hope the lions ate some of their prison guards in revenge for stealing their lives and wild freedom.

Entrance to the Tower of London Menagerie was free… if the public brought a dog or cat to throw to the lions

Under Elizabeth I’s rule, the public could visit the Menagerie at the Tower of London for free if they brought a cat or dog to feed to the lions. Nonetheless, it continued to be hugely popular, particularly during the 18th century. We can’t imagine this today, but it’s the sad truth that even as late as 1964 Gorillas were still being hunted in Africa.

At one time there were 300 animals at the Tower of London Menagerie

In 1822, Alfred Copps, a professional zoologist, was appointed as Keeper of the Tower of London Menagerie. By 1828, his knowledge about and care for the animals boosted the numbers at the menagerie to 300 animals from 60 different species, including wolves, big cats, bears, elephants, kangaroos, antelopes, zebras, birds and reptiles. The welfare and life expectancy of the animals born at the Tower was even better, and zoologists flocked to study the animals there.

The Tower of London Menagerie was closed in 1835

In 1828, the London Zoological Society opened a new zoo in Regent’s park – London Zoo – and many of the animals at the menagerie started to be moved there.

After a long decline in visitor attendance, and after 600 years in existence the Duke of Wellington made the decision to close the Tower of London menagerie in 1835.

Read more about the Tower Menagerie in the book entitled “The Tower Menagerie” by Edward Turner Bennett. This book is copyright free and can be downloaded or read on Project Gutenberg here