The world's first wildlife park. This is Walton Hall, near Wakefield in Yorkshire. It was the home of Charles Waterton (1780-1865), whose family had a plantation in British Guiana. The plantation is still there today, now the village of Walton Hall (on the Essequibo Coast), but Charles wasn't interested in it.
The world's first wildlife park. This is Walton Hall, near Wakefield in Yorkshire. It was the home of Charles Waterton (1780-1865), whose family had a plantation in British Guiana. The plantation is still there today, now the village of Walton Hall (on the Essequibo Coast), but Charles wasn't interested in it. Instead, he made six epic journeys into the interior, providing some of the first descriptions of life in inland Guyana.
Based on his experiences, he turned his Yorkshire estate into a sanctuary for animals, conserving everything (except rats) for the pleasure of local mill-workers. He also did experiments here with curare, which he'd been given by the Macushi Amerindians, and his findings would, eventually, change the face of modern anaesthesia.
Meanwhile, Walton Hall (Yorkshire) is now a hotel, although there is still a carving of giant otters over the door.
