Wildlife Park
The grounds of the house, known as Cricket Park, were designed by D.D (David) Davis, a noted Horticulturist at the start of the 19th Century, and later turned into a wildlife park. They also became home to Crinkley Bottom, a theme park created by Noel Edmonds around the Mr Blobby character from his hit television series Noel's House Party. The project was short-lived and was later abandoned. The grounds reverted back to their previous use and the wildlife park was home to 600 rare and endangered species including lemurs, primates, camels, reptiles and wildfowl. The wildlife park was closed in 2009 and the larger animals were moved to other zoos around the country. Some of the smaller animals, such as the lemurs, were kept and the park was returned to gardens and lakes, re-opening in mid 2010. The manor house was developed into a Warner Leisure Hotels resort in 1999.
Read more about this topic: Cricket St Thomas
Famous quotes containing the words wildlife and/or park:
“Russian forests crash down under the axe, billions of trees are dying, the habitations of animals and birds are layed waste, rivers grow shallow and dry up, marvelous landscapes are disappearing forever.... Man is endowed with creativity in order to multiply that which has been given him; he has not created, but destroyed. There are fewer and fewer forests, rivers are drying up, wildlife has become extinct, the climate is ruined, and the earth is becoming ever poorer and uglier.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“Is a park any better than a coal mine? What’s a mountain got that a slag pile hasn’t? What would you rather have in your garden—an almond tree or an oil well?”
—Jean Giraudoux (1882–1944)