Lord Bath Digs the First Turf for Longleat’s new Hippo House

Thursday, 13 March 2025 06:00

Lord Bath has dug the first turf for the hippo complex being created at Longleat in Wiltshire.

The project received planning permission last month, and the earthworks have been underway to lay out where the foundations will be.

“I grew up watching hippos Sonia and Spot living in Half Mile Pond for more than 40 years, and I shared the sadness of our guests when they passed away,” said Lord Bath.

“I am very keen to see hippos return to Longleat, and I know many of our guests are too. As well as creating a new hippo house, we are also making improvements to the grazing paddock and Half Mile Pond itself. We’re very excited to see the vision become reality.

“As well as being a tremendous opportunity for our visitors to see hippos, it is also an important chapter in our commitment to conservation, sustainability and education.

“Not only are we ensuring we are at the forefront of protecting vulnerable and rare species, but we are also using environmentally friendly practices with the build such as moving the earth to other parts of the safari park and a key part of the build is a classroom.

“My grandfather first brought hippos to Longleat in 1967 – a year after he opened the safari park which was the first to open outside of Africa; this is very much building on that legacy as we head into 2026 when we celebrate 60 years of that momentous occasion,” he added.

David Leverett, Facilities and Development Director, said: “The steel frame for the hippo house is being made off site and is due to be delivered in a couple of weeks.

“Before it arrives, we will excavate individual concrete bases which are more than seven feet deep, mainly due to the house’s proximity to the lake.

“The frame will fit on these. We are working with Minshall Construction on the project and guests will be able to see progress every time they visit as it is visible from our boat safari, the Jungle Cruise.”

The aim is to introduce a pod with a bull and females and have room to house any resulting offspring creating a self-sustaining family group and have the hippos on site and settled by early summer.

Joining Lord Bath and David for the ceremonial turf cutting was Simon Askew, Chief Operating Officer and Tom Minshall, co-owner of Minshall Construction.