The world’s first safari park outside Africa is in the most unlikely place
The lion sleeps. That’s what lions do. The fact that it is being watched by a group of adoring humans from the safety of their vehicle doesn’t seem to bother it.
In the great national parks of Africa, this is a common scene. But what makes this particular sleeping lion different is that it is snoozing in the grounds of an opulent British stately home.
It’s nearly 60 years since Longleat turned part of its vast estate into a pioneering safari park, turning the Wiltshire countryside considerably wilder. When the drive-through adventure opened in April 1966 it was the first attraction of its kind outside Africa.
The story starts 20 years earlier, when Henry Thynne became the 6th Marquess of Bath upon his father’s death. It was at a time when inheritance tax-style death duties were causing several large, aristocratic estates around the country to collapse.
Thynne knew he couldn’t sustain the Longleat estate on agriculture alone. Given that he was already in the tourism business, running the Cheddar Gorge caves elsewhere on his land, the 6th Marquess decided to open up Longleat House to visitors.
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Paying visitors were admitted in 1949, a pioneering move at the time, and one that captured the public attention. But as several other stately homes followed suit, Longleat needed something new to stand out.
In 1965, Thynne got talking to Jimmy Chipperfield, of the Chipperfield circus dynasty, and the idea hatched.
Chipperfield could use his circus contacts to source an initial 50 lions for what was originally called The Lions of Longleat. There was just the small matter of convincing the public that allowing 50 lions to roam the grounds was safe.
Luckily, they didn’t have to. At least at first.
Dr James Ford, Longleat’s current curator, says: “They discovered they didn’t need specific planning permission to introduce the lions – just the large fences.”
With the infrastructure given the go-ahead, it was time for the diplomacy to start, and the locals were slowly persuaded of the economic benefits. Some of that persuasion was on the eyebrow-raisingly brazen side, too.
“A Tory MP was a tenant on the estate,” says Ford. “He asked if they could install a telephone line for him in case of emergency.”
The MP got the new phone line – which he may or may not have been wanting for a while anyway – and the huge press attention snowballed into a giant free marketing campaign.
“It proved a huge success,” James explains. “It became a big deal to get a souvenir car sticker, and barring a few teething problems with guests winding down car windows, it went remarkably smoothly.”
In the second year, hippos and sea lions were added, and the Lions of Longleat gradually morphed into the multi-creature safari that exists today.
The winding route through the grounds starts with sightings of antelope before entering the African village section, where ostriches strut, zebra mosey and Rothschild’s giraffes lumber.
Painted dogs and flamingos then come into view before the section that Longleat is now most notorious for – the Monkey Jungle.
The rhesus macaques that inhabit the Monkey Jungle are little terrors, but unquestionably hilarious with it. They’ll saunter down the track and climb up onto the cars, sometimes sitting on the wing mirrors, sometimes taking a perch on the back windscreen and sometimes fighting each other on the roof.
Alas, they are also absolutely notorious for giving cars a special makeover, bending aerials, tugging off windscreen wipers and removing parking sensors.
There are few funnier things on earth than watching this happen to someone else’s car. It’s less hilarious when it happens to yours, but enormous signs warn that the monkeys are going to have a go, and there’s a bypass available for cowards who value their car more than joyful laughter.
The famous lions come towards the end of the drive. There are two prides now, with their sizable enclosures near the tigers and wolves.
These days, their sleepiness is a comedown after the manic monkey energy. But the story of Longleat is a reminder that it’s remarkable they’re here at all.
THE DETAILS
VISIT
Longleat is near Warminster, Wiltshire, in south-west England. The nearest major cities are Bath and Bristol. Expect a one hour and 45 minute drive from London Heathrow. Tickets cost from £44.95 ($92). See longleat.co.uk
FLY
Qantas is among several airlines offering one-stop flights from Sydney and Melbourne to London. See qantas.com
STAY
Doubles at the four star Hotel Indigo in Bath, around 35 minutes’ drive away, cost from £119 ($244), room only. See bath.hotelindigo.com
MORE
Visitbath.co.uk, visitbritain.com
The writer travelled as a guest of Visit Britain and Visit West.
David Whitley is a writer based in Sheffield, England, who has made it his mission to cover as much of Australia as possible. He has a taste for unusual experiences and oddities with a great story behind them. As far as David’s concerned, happiness is nosily ambling around a history-packed city or driving punishing distances through the middle of nowhere on a big road trip. He is also probably the only person to have been to Liechtenstein and the Cook Islands in the same week.