ZSL London Zoo London Zoo Aquarium: the Final Months

[gentle lemur]

As far as I am aware, it is an open secret that old Aquarium at London Zoo is due to close in a few months time: but I don't think a date has been announced yet.
However recently it was announced that the new Aquarium at Whipsnade, which will hold the freshwater species, will open on Friday July 26th. Perhaps when the work preparing for the movement of the marines to B.U.G.S is complete, the date for the opening of that area will become the date for the closure of the old Aquarium too.
The ZSL website still refers to the three halls of the Aquarium (Hall 1: freshwater, Hall 2: marine & Hall 3: Amazonian) - but I saw on my visit on 28th April, Hall 3 is closed.

No-go area

• gentle lemur
• 15 Jun 2019
• 3

Aquarium, London Zoo, 28th April 2019

However the displays in the remaining halls are well worth a visit. The marine systems are well established and quite diverse and two of the freshwater exhibits have been renewed recently which shows commendable commitment (although the mangrove killifish in the mangrove tank were so small that were very difficult to see - I hope they have grown significantly since my visit).

Marine aquarium

• gentle lemur
• 15 Jun 2019
• 1

Aquarium, London Zoo, 28th April 2019

Piranha aquarium

• gentle lemur
• 15 Jun 2019
• 1

Aquarium, London Zoo, 28th April 2019

Mangrove killifish aquarium

• gentle lemur
• 15 Jun 2019
• 1

Aquarium, London Zoo, 28th April 2018

I spent some time taking photos of the Aquarium on my visit and I hope I can manage one final visit before the end to fill in some of the gaps in my coverage. The Aquarium has never disappointed me in many visits since 1971, I will miss it. I sincerely hope that the new displays in B.U.G.S and at Whipsnade will be even better.

 

[13700]

are there details in pdf on this exhibit ?

 

[Pertinax]

As far as I am aware, it is an open secret that old Aquarium at London Zoo is due to close in a few months time: but I don't think a date has been announced yet.
However recently it was announced that the new Aquarium at Whipsnade, which will hold the freshwater species, will open on Friday July 26th. Perhaps when the work preparing for the movement of the marines to B.U.G.S is complete, the date for the opening of that area will become the date for the closure of the old Aquarium too.
The ZSL website still refers to the three halls of the Aquarium (Hall 1: freshwater, Hall 2: marine & Hall 3: Amazonian) - but I saw on my visit on 28th April, Hall 3 is closed.

No-go area

• gentle lemur
• 15 Jun 2019
• 3

Aquarium, London Zoo, 28th April 2019

However the displays in the remaining halls are well worth a visit. The marine systems are well established and quite diverse and two of the freshwater exhibits have been renewed recently which shows commendable commitment (although the mangrove killifish in the mangrove tank were so small that were very difficult to see - I hope they have grown significantly since my visit).

Marine aquarium

• gentle lemur
• 15 Jun 2019
• 1

Aquarium, London Zoo, 28th April 2019

Piranha aquarium

• gentle lemur
• 15 Jun 2019
• 1

Aquarium, London Zoo, 28th April 2019

Mangrove killifish aquarium

• gentle lemur
• 15 Jun 2019
• 1

Aquarium, London Zoo, 28th April 2018

I spent some time taking photos of the Aquarium on my visit and I hope I can manage one final visit before the end to fill in some of the gaps in my coverage. The Aquarium has never disappointed me in many visits since 1971, I will miss it. I sincerely hope that the new displays in B.U.G.S and at Whipsnade will be even better.

Closure represents a very sad end for what was once a superlative display of underwater life. Many visits to ZSL I wouldn't have time to visit in there, but other times when I did, it was amazing and one could spend a long time to see everything properly.

 

[gentle lemur]

are there details in pdf on this exhibit ?

No. It is 100 years old, so it was built long before plans had to be published. You might be able to find an old plan by a Google search, remembering that the Aquarium is under the artifical hills of the Mappin Terraces.

 

[13700]

Ok thank you

 

[gentle lemur]

I visited the Aquarium again yesterday, which will probably be my final visit. I took a lot more photos of the fishes and tanks. Some of the better ones will eventually appear in the Gallery, however I got a few which illustrate points that belong in this thread.
On my previous visit I had not bothered to study the little information panels about the Aquarium in the foyer. This time the image of Queen Mary at its opening caught my eye. I think King George V is coming down the steps behind her.

Graphic in Aquarium foyer

• gentle lemur
• 3 Jul 2019
• 1

Aquarium, London Zoo, 2nd July 2019

The graphic I wanted to photograph is a very old one which used to be more or less in the middle of the building. Since the third Hall was closed it is now near the far end. It shows the basic design of the Aquarium under the Mappin Terraces. I hope it will help @leone a little.

Original graphic about the Aquarium

• gentle lemur
• 3 Jul 2019
• 2

Aquarium, London Zoo, 2nd July 2019

I couldn't help looking through an open door marked PRIVATE, which led to the keepers area behind the tanks used for growing on corals and other invertebrates (which I presume will eventually go into the new section in B.U.G.S). I grabbed a couple of photos before getting out of the way of a couple of the staff who wanted to go through the door.

A glimpse behind the scenes

• gentle lemur
• 3 Jul 2019
• 1

Aquarium, London Zoo, 2nd July 2019

As you can see, the area is basically tidy and business-like, but it shows lots of modifications to the original structure including plumbing and electrical systems. The ceiling is covered in plastic panels which look to be recent additions to extend the life of the building. I presume this one of better areas.
About half an hour later, I was passing again and took another peep - and I was caught by one of keepers again. He grinned at me and asked if I was a spy I explained that I was taking photos while I still could and that I wanted to write about the Aquarium for ZooChat. I asked if there was definite date for the final closure, he said it would be at the end of the year. We had a pleasant chat for a couple of minutes. I had not realised that the Aquarium is not actually a listed building, but of course the Mappin Terraces above it are listed - which would make reconstruction of the Aquarium massively expensive - so it will not happen.
One more little piece of news. The printed sign in B.U.G.S still says that the new marine exhibit will open in Autumn 2019, but the boards behind it, which hide the construction area, say 'Opening in Spring 2020'. Don't hold your breath

 

[Panthera1981]

This is an excellent thread so far, highly emotive though. Feels like I’m being punched in the gut with every picture I see.

Looking forward to further updates!

 

[Tim May]

Thank you, "gentle lemur", for all the excellent photos of the aquarium.

Given that the aquarium opened in 1924 and is due to close in 2019, the statement in one of the graphics that "When the doors close it will have provided 98 years of incredible underwater encounters" is rather puzzling.

 

[gentle lemur]

Given that the aquarium opened in 1924 and is due to close in 2019, the statement in one of the graphics that "When the doors close it will have provided 98 years of incredible underwater encounters" is rather puzzling.

I suspect that like many royal openings today, the official ceremony took place some time after the public were first admitted to the building. The Palace has own ways and priorities, and I doubt if that has changed much in 100 years.

 

[Tim May]

I suspect that like many royal openings today, the official ceremony took place some time after the public were first admitted to the building. The Palace has own ways and priorities, and I doubt if that has changed much in 100 years.

I am, of course, aware that official opening ceremonies often take place after the public were first admitted to the building.

I was basing my earlier comment on the details provided by Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell, Secretary of the Zoological Society of London, in his book “Centenary History of the Zoological Society of London” (1929).

According to this volume: - The King and Queen visited the aquarium on 1st April 1924, the aquarium was opened to Fellows of the Zoological Society on Saturday 5th April and then opened to the public the following Monday.

However, looking through the 1923 London Zoo guide, it appears that the aquarium was open that year even though building work had not completed. (Construction of the aquarium began in December 1922 and finished early in 1924.)

 

[Bib Fortuna]

It is very regrettable that the aquarium will soon be closed forever. In London, the story of public aquariums has begun. Regent's Park Zoo is not the same without a large aquarium--the aquarium department in BUGS is unlikely to be an equivalent replacement. The London Aquarium was always unusual compared to other aquariums, a single-storey, very long, three-tiered room with countless tanks on either side of the visitors' hall. And that under the paws of bears, hooves of wild goats, deer and numerous birds .... In terms of the fish collection it was one of Europe's most species-rich aquariums. Although Frankfurt and Berlin had a greater number of species, they also included reptiles and amphibians, which in London were always separate from the actual aquarium. Invertebrates, fish, amphibians and reptiles in the same building were typical of German zoos. Too bad that there was only one guidebook to the London Aquarium. I've had the opportunity to see it four times so far-1994,1995,2001 and 2010. The differences between my first and last visit were huge. Although the aquarium was already in decline in 1994, significantly more aquariums were occupied than in 2010. The renovation never came and would probably be significantly more expensive than a new building. In the excellent TV documentary "London Zoo Chronicles" the decay of the aquarium was clearly visible. In 1985, the film "Turtle Diary" with Ben Kingsley - a very beautiful, wonderfully melancholic film - the aquarium plays a big role - highly recommended , Anyone who still has the chance to visit the aquarium should definitely take this and take pictures. I find the historic aquariums very beautiful and exciting - whether Berlin, Frankfurt-the world's fourth-oldest aquarium or London-the old aquariums simply have much more flair, atmosphere and charisma than the new super aquariums. Which of course are great, without question. I miss, for example the old "Troparium" at Hagenbeck. Although it was very small, but it had a wonderful charisma-and here was the first coral reef basin with living coral in Europe!
How about an article about London Zoo Aquarium for the "Grapevine"?

 

[gentle lemur]

I have had time to think over some of the points made in this thread, and my mind keeps going back to the old panel showing the placement of the Aquarium under the Mappin Terraces.
I was curious about the total cost of £55000: a quick search found an inflation calculator which converted that figure from 1924 into its 2019 equivalent of £3.3 million. I thought that seemed too cheap, but of course it was quite an economical project as the existing Mappin Terraces provided the 'roof' and 'walls' of the structure. Does anyone know whether the possibility of building the Aquarium was a feature of the original design of the Mappins, or whether someone came up with a bright idea after the Mappins were completed?
I first visited London Zoo in 1971, and as a lover of aquarium fishes, I could not miss the Aquarium; although my only special memory from that visit is seeing the big old carp, which was a British record when it was caught (and probably grew larger in the Zoo, it seemed almost twice as big as the other carp in the big tank). I went to the Zoo quite frequently in the 1970s so I don't have more memories of specific visits. At that time virtually all the tanks shown in the old diagram were in use and visitors went anticlockwise along the north side, through the halls and back again on the other side. When you reached the end, where the sea horses are now, you turned right through a short passage lined with small displays for amphibians to reach the Exit opposite the side of the Reptile House. My old guidebook says that this section was added in 1968.
Over the years more and more of the tanks have been taken out of service, particularly on the south side, and now that Hall 3 is closed, I would suggest that only about of a third of the exhibits are still on-show.
It is also worth remembering that in 2004 ZSL announced plans to build a new aquarium called Biota! in a new development in Docklands, close to London City Airport. Unfortunately the whole project ran into problems and was killed off in the financial crash. We have an old thread about it "£1.5bn aquarium project sinks" - Londons New Aquarium Plans Scrapped. [ZSL London Zoo]
Something similar happened to another ambitious scheme called NIRAH (which had nothing to do with ZSL) around the same time The NIRAH Project: a lesson in how not to Build an Aquarium Blooloop
In the circumstances, I think it was inevitable that a time would come when the Aquarium would have to close and be replaced by smaller projects. The new marine area in B.U.G.S will not be large, but that should mean that the quality of the exhibits will be high. Likewise the new freshwater Aquarium at Whipsnade has plenty of potential. Perhaps one day finances will allow development of further more specialised aquatic exhibits at both sites.

 

[Dassie rat]

Although Frankfurt and Berlin had a greater number of species, they also included reptiles and amphibians, which in London were always separate from the actual aquarium.

The Aquarium had an amphibian lobby near the exit; I remember seeing a hellbender there. It also had Cuvier's dwarf caimans from 2005-11.

 

[Tim May]

Does anyone know whether the possibility of building the Aquarium was a feature of the original design of the Mappins, or whether someone came up with a bright idea after the Mappins were completed?

Again referring to Chalmers Mitchell's book “Centenary History of the Zoological Society of London” (1929), it is clear that there was always the intention of building an aquarium under the Mappin Terraces, funds permitting. In the section of the book dealing with the design of the Mappin Terraces, Chalmers Mitchell writes:-

"The space under the higher terraces I proposed to use for storage or any other temporary purpose until the money could be found for placing an aquarium in it."

He goes on to add "......making some re-arrangements to leave ample room for the aquarium"

 

[gentle lemur]

Again referring to Chalmers Mitchell's book “Centenary History of the Zoological Society of London” (1929), it is clear that there was always the intention of building an aquarium under the Mappin Terraces, funds permitting.

Thank you

 

[Jennings]

The aquarium is reputedly haunted. The poor chap's going to have the place to himself from now on.

 

[Pacu]

I carried out a survey of each exhibit and other aspects of the aquarium in February; a bit early, I know but once the Tropical Hall was closed I wanted a catalogue of displays before they started shutting down. I will be back again next month. I am just putting the finishing touches for an article for the Bartlett Society and waiting to see if I can get permission to use the photographs I took. I have attached a diagram to show what was on and off show at the time of my visit (red shows where boarding covers up the displays and also the boards around the scaffolding in hall one. There has been some remodelling of the seahorse back room but the diagram gives a fairly accurate depiction and will hopefully be supported with photographs in the article.

The aquarium was constructed 'in' 1921, according to the society but it seems it was not fully completed until 1923 and the official opening came a year later. I have a copy of the 1924 guide and there is also a book called 'The Aquarium', by Boulenger, I think. I have a copy but it's in my fish and bird room and the lights are out in there now, so I won't disturb them to check. If the article goes ahead, I will check with the society's chairman to make sure I can signpost anyone on here who is not linked to the Bartlett Society to the article. It is possible that there may be a shorter version for the Bartlett Society and a longer version on my website. I have a reasonable amount of photographic material from the tropical hall too, which people may or may not be interested to see.

 

[Tim May]

I am just putting the finishing touches for an article for the Bartlett Society ...

Good. I look forward to reading your article in due course.

...and there is also a book called 'The Aquarium', by Boulenger, I think.

The actual title of the book is "The Aquarium Book" by E. G. Boulenger, Director of the Aquarium. (E. G. Boulenger was the son of the ichthyologist and herpetologist G. A. Boulenger.)

"The Aquarium Book" was first published in 1925 although many different editions were issued in the following years.

Boulenger wrote numerous other popular books about animals including "A Naturalist at the Zoo" (1926).

"The Aquarium Book" and "A Naturalist at the Zoo" were subsequently combined and published as a single volume called "The Zoo and Aquarium Book".

 

[gentle lemur]

@Pacu thank you for the plan. As I'm sure you know, the closure and/or removal of the on-show aquaria has been a gradual process over the years. If I remember correctly, among the first to go were the smaller tanks on the south side of the Freshwater Hall. I remember seeing small trout and, I think, salmon parr in heavily oxygenated tanks many years ago now.

 

[Pacu]

Yes, even in the 1990s most were in use, although I can remember seeing a few leaking then, mostly on the side still in use. There was a railing too but only one part of that remains.. It was a huge relief when they decided against closing the Tropical Hall at that time. Presumably the tanks are all still there behind the boards and, of course the division between the benches in the Freshwater Hall and behind the boards in the Sea Water Hall hide the scaffolding poles that are keeping the ceiling up; I have a photo of the large tank at the end of the seawater hall from a long time ago and the ceiling was probably twice its current height, which would have created a very different atmosphere to today. You probably remember the very small tanks in both the Seawater and Tropical Halls, just about ten inches to a foot wide but quite tall housing anemones betta splendens respectively. I have always enjoyed the architecture of the aquarium and will miss those lovely wooden door which divide the halls and provide keeper access...

I visited the Aquarium again yesterday, which will probably be my final visit. I took a lot more photos of the fishes and tanks. Some of the better ones will eventually appear in the Gallery, however I got a few which illustrate points that belong in this thread.
On my previous visit I had not bothered to study the little information panels about the Aquarium in the foyer. This time the image of Queen Mary at its opening caught my eye. I think King George V is coming down the steps behind her.

Graphic in Aquarium foyer

• gentle lemur
• 3 Jul 2019
• 1

Aquarium, London Zoo, 2nd July 2019

The graphic I wanted to photograph is a very old one which used to be more or less in the middle of the building. Since the third Hall was closed it is now near the far end. It shows the basic design of the Aquarium under the Mappin Terraces. I hope it will help @leone a little.

Original graphic about the Aquarium

• gentle lemur
• 3 Jul 2019
• 2

Aquarium, London Zoo, 2nd July 2019

I couldn't help looking through an open door marked PRIVATE, which led to the keepers area behind the tanks used for growing on corals and other invertebrates (which I presume will eventually go into the new section in B.U.G.S). I grabbed a couple of photos before getting out of the way of a couple of the staff who wanted to go through the door.

A glimpse behind the scenes

• gentle lemur
• 3 Jul 2019
• 1

Aquarium, London Zoo, 2nd July 2019

As you can see, the area is basically tidy and business-like, but it shows lots of modifications to the original structure including plumbing and electrical systems. The ceiling is covered in plastic panels which look to be recent additions to extend the life of the building. I presume this one of better areas.
About half an hour later, I was passing again and took another peep - and I was caught by one of keepers again. He grinned at me and asked if I was a spy I explained that I was taking photos while I still could and that I wanted to write about the Aquarium for ZooChat. I asked if there was definite date for the final closure, he said it would be at the end of the year. We had a pleasant chat for a couple of minutes. I had not realised that the Aquarium is not actually a listed building, but of course the Mappin Terraces above it are listed - which would make reconstruction of the Aquarium massively expensive - so it will not happen.
One more little piece of news. The printed sign in B.U.G.S still says that the new marine exhibit will open in Autumn 2019, but the boards behind it, which hide the construction area, say 'Opening in Spring 2020'. Don't hold your breath