The London Butterfly House was a visitor attraction in
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
where the public could view
butterflies
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
,
birds
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
,
reptiles
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...
,
amphibians
Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...
,
insects
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...
, and
arachnids
Arachnida () is a Class (biology), class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, opiliones, harvestmen, Solifugae, came ...
.
Set in Syon Park, the grounds of
Syon House
Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park, in the London Borough of Hounslow.
The family's traditional central London residence had be ...
, the facility consisted of three purpose built greenhouses situated overlooking a lake. The facility contained hundreds of the world's most exotic species of butterfly, along with descriptions and illustrations. It also contained a small aviary.
The London Butterfly House closed on 28 October 2007, due to the
Duke of Northumberland
Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke ...
's plans to build a hotel complex on the land.
The greenhouses were demolished in November/December 2007 and the 5 star hotel built in their place. The London Syon Park (part of the
Hilton Worldwide
Hilton Worldwide (legally Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.) is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels and resorts. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the corporation is now led b ...
Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts) opened in March 2011 with conference facilities, restaurants, and a spa.
There was a proposal to build a replacement Butterfly House in
Gunnersbury Park
Gunnersbury Park is a park in the London Borough of Hounslow between Acton, Brentford, Chiswick and Ealing, West London, England. Purchased for the nation from the Rothschild family, it was opened to the public by Neville Chamberlain, then ...
,
but this was rejected.
The owners of the London Butterfly House acquired The
Butterfly and Wildlife Park in
Long Sutton, Lincolnshire
Long Sutton is a market town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies in The Fens, close to the Wash, east of Spalding.
History
Long Sutton belonged historically to the wapentake of Elloe in the Parts of Holland.
A fl ...
, to which the creatures and many of the plants have been re-located. Unfortunately this closed in 2012 due to rising costs and reduced visitor numbers.
See also
*
Butterfly zoo
Notes
External links
Butterfly and Wildlife Park{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413144159/http://www.butterflyandwildlifepark.co.uk/ , date=13 April 2010
Butterfly houses
Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hounslow
1981 establishments in England
2007 disestablishments in England
Demolished buildings and structures in London
Buildings and structures demolished in 2007