The Royal Menagerie in the Tower of London

In the early thirteenth century, London saw the emergence of a job that had hitherto been unnecessary in the thriving, medieval city. In the year 1210, King John I (r. 1199–⁠1216) came into the possession of some lions, necessitating a permanent wage to be put aside for a Royal Keeper to look after the beasts in the Tower of London. Possibly the Barbary subspecies from the north coast of Africa, these lions embodied the Plantagenet king’s Royal Arms and marked the first recorded instance of the animals on the British Isles.

John’s son, Henry III (r. 1216–⁠1272) is then credited with establishing the Tower Menagerie, the king using the Norman fortress on the north bank of the Thames to house his exotic diplomatic gifts and prized collection of fauna. Henry received three leopards from the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, a polar bear from King Haakon IV of Norway and an African Elephant from Louis IX of France. Under Henry’s son and successor, Edward I (r. 1272–⁠1307), a lion and lynx were added to the Menagerie. This pattern continued under subsequent monarchs with a range of animals imported from across the world. 

The Royal Menagerie remained a permanent fixture of the Tower through the medieval and early modern periods. During this time, people were employed to care for the animals, but the conditions were often far from ideal, if not downright cruel. The London weather was a far cry from what many of the exotic animals were used to, and their living environments were ill-fitted and cramped. Archaeological excavations indicate that the lion enclosures were only about 2 x 3 metres in size and the early elephant enclosure was around 6 x 12 metres. Animals were kept on chains and often muzzled. Shockingly, there are even reports that James I (r. 1603–1625) remodelled the lion enclosures so that dogs, bears and horses could be brought in as bait. The king made sure to build a viewing platform so that he could enjoy these barbaric spectacles. Watching from a platform was seemingly not enough for him though and he installed a permanent gallery so that members of his court and visiting dignitaries could get a better view of the savagery. 

Moreover, many of the keepers did not know how to look after charges with such a range of unique needs, nor did they always provide them with the right food. For instance, the Polar bear was given beer and wine, and perhaps only survived because it was allowed to swim on a leash in the river Thames, where it could catch its own fish. The elephant, gifted by Louis IX, was given a diet of beer and wine and sadly died after only a few years. Another elephant, acquired during the reign of James I and housed in the menagerie extension in St James Park, was said to have consumed one gallon of wine a day. Ostriches were believed to hunger for iron, so they were given nails as part of their diet. In 1751, an ostrich given to King George III (r. 1760 –1820) by the Bey of Tunis died after choking on a large nail. When another ostrich was dissected some forty years later, 80 nails were found in the creature’s stomach.

Needless to say, many of the animals were in poor health, and by 1822, the menagerie, now open to the public, had diminished significantly. In this period, animal welfare was also becoming an increasingly popular topic of discussion, and some Londoners took umbrage with the state of the animals’ conditions. On September 6th of 1823, a person identified only as C.T. wrote into the Morning Chronicle, lamenting that “our national collection consists only of a few wretched animals shut up in the gloomy confines of the ancient Tower of London.” They suggested London take inspiration from across the Channel, pointing out the example of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. C.T. argued that watching a lion enjoy the fresh air, seeing an elephant rolling in a pool of water and catching a glimpse of birds sheltering themselves in a verdant copse was more gratifying to the eye than to see animals “moping away their melancholy lives in the hot unwholesome air of crowded rooms.” C.T. noted that the loss of liberty was hard enough, “but to pen them up in hot and crowded rooms is nothing short of cruelty and the native interest of the poor prisoner is lost in the contemplation of what must be its sufferings!” 

Professional zookeeper Alfred Cops had been brought in one year earlier to rectify the sorry state of the Menagerie, having previously worked as the keeper at the Exeter Change Menagerie in the Strand. Cops was the first professionally trained keeper to take up employment in the Tower and, upon his arrival in 1822, only a handful of animals made up the collection, including one elephant, one grizzly bear and some birds. However, under his care, the number and types of animals swelled. By 1828, there were approximately 300 animals of some 60 different species. From the big cat family, lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, pumas, ocelots, caracals and cheetahs were represented. Bloodhounds, wolves and jackals were also in residence, as were llamas, deer and antelopes. There were Black, Grizzly, Tibetan and Bornean bears, along with monkeys and baboons. Elephants and zebras all braved the London cold, as did macaws, alligators and a variety of snakes. From Australia (or New Holland as it was known at the time), there were kangaroos and emus, both of which were described as perfectly harmless unless irritated, at which point they could both inflict severe injuries upon their adversaries.

An 1829 companion guide entitled The Tower Menagerie celebrated Cops’ endeavours and praised the work he had done to turn the Menagerie around,

By [Alfred Cops’] spirited and judicious exertions, the empty dens have been filled, and new ones have been constructed; and the whole of them being now kept constantly tenanted, the Menagerie affords a really interesting and attractive spectacle to the numerous visitors who are drawn thither either from motives of curiosity or by a love of science. 

Despite Cops’ efforts, repeated incidents soon led to the closure of the Tower Menagerie. In 1830, Joseph Croney was attacked by a leopard as he entered the enclosure to remove refuse. The same year, one of the keepers accidentally raised a door which allowed a lion and two Bengal tigers to meet. The tigers attacked the lion and the fight, which lasted at least half an hour, was only broken up when keepers poked heated rods into the tigers’ faces. The lion was severely injured and ended up dying as a result of the fight. Cops himself was almost killed by a Boa Constrictor and the keeper only survived because two of his assistants broke the snake’s teeth. 

There were also increasing concerns about the inhabitants’ welfare in such an unsuitable location. The burgeoning number of animals in the Menagerie meant that conditions were more cramped than ever, leading to growing unease amongst the increasingly sympathetic public coming to view them. From 1831, most of the animals were moved into the newly built zoo at Regent’s Park or sold to travelling circuses (seemingly in disregard of the welfare concerns that led to the Menagerie’s closure!) Cops held onto his own personal collection in the Menagerie, although this was not to last long. In 1834, a wolf escaped from his cage and pursued a dog, following it into Sergeant Cropper’s apartments, which were occupied by his wife and two children. The family escaped injury, but the experience left them terrorised. Then in 1835, a monkey bit a chunk out of a guardsman’s leg. After this, captive animals were removed from the Tower altogether, ravens notwithstanding as the legend states that the kingdom and the Tower of London will fall if there are not at least six of them in residence.

As the “Keeper of the Royal Menagerie” was a lifetime appointment, Alfred Cops continued to live in a house beside the Lion Tower long after the animals had all found new homes. It was only when Cops died in 1853 that the Lion Tower was finally demolished. In 2010, artist Kendra Haste created 13 galvanised wire sculptures, at the behest of Historic Royal Palaces, to commemorate the animals once held in the Tower. The sculptures, which depict a family of lions, a polar bear, an elephant and a troop of baboons, are on permanent display close to where the original inhabitants were kept.