News Archive

A Little Piece of History

David Edgington, the Park's Curator, writes about some landmarks in the history of the house and Park.

The listed Manor House at the centre of the Park, Bradwell Grove, celebrates its 200th anniversary this year. In 1804, the owner William Hervey pulled down the existing Jacobean house and erected the present building in the then fashionable Georgian Gothic style, following the example of Strawberry Hill, Horace Walpole's masterpiece at Twickenham. Hervey also planted a great number of trees in the Park, many of which can still be seen.

In 1923, the house and estate were purchased by Colonel Heyworth-Savage, and on his death in 1949 passed to his grandson John Heyworth, the current owner, who was born in the Manor House. The house was then rented out for twenty years to the Oxford Regional Hospital Board, until in 1969 Mr. Heyworth decided to open the gardens to the public, and since 1970 the house has been the heart of the Cotswold Wildlife Park.

After a great deal of work the Park finally opened on 27th March 1970 exhibiting 230 specimens from 40 different animal species, and with an admission price of 30p for adults and 15p for children. Since that day over 1,100 different species of animal have been exhibited at the Park, and in January 2003 our number of paying visitors passed the 10,000,000 mark!

During our first year the animal husbandry staff consisted of a director, 3 senior keepers, 1 junior keeper and 2 weekend part-timers. Since that time 90 full time keepers have passed through the Park, many of whom have gone on to take up senior positions at other zoos. The animal staff currently comprises a Curator, a Registrar, 15 senior keepers and 5 junior keepers, who combined have almost 160 years service at the Park.

The Park keeps changing and growing but we cannot help but wish that the annual bills were the same as they were in 1970/71.

Want to Help?

A visit to the Cotswold Wildlife Park can now be even more worthwhile. By adopting an animal, you can provide a helpful contribution towards the costs of keeping and feeding the animals and supporting our conservation breeding programmes... click here for more information