Tring Zoological Museum

In 1889, when Lionel Walter Rothschild came of age, his father, the first Baron Rothschild, gave him a piece of land in Tring Park on which he built two cottages, one to house his collection of insects and books and the other for a caretaker. A much larger building designed for the display of mounted specimens was also built and first opened to the public in 1892. As his collections grew, he continued to devote much thought and care to the arrangement of the galleries, selecting especially fine specimens for exhibition and sparing neither time nor expense over their preparation. Thus in addition to their scientific interest, the specimens displayed are outstanding examples of the taxidermist's art of the 19th century. The Museum continued to expand, and in 1910 and 1912 additional wings were added to the main building in order to accommodate the study collections of birds and insects as well as to provide more space for exhibits.


When the Museum was bequeathed by Lord Rothschild to the British Museum in 1938, the collections included more than 2000 complete mounted mammals and a similar number of study skins and skulls, more than 2000 mounted birds and twice as many skins, about 1000 reptiles and amphibians, about 1000 fishes, and a vast collection of insects including some two million Lepidoptera.