Sandown Zoo

The zoo on the Isle of Wight (also known as Sandown Zoo) was built in the 1950s within the walls of a Victorian fort, which had been built to protect the South coast from French attack. Sandown Castle (known as Sandham castle during medievel times) was originally built between 1537 and 1541 during the reign of Henry VIII to reinforce Yarmouth Castle's defence. With its four towers, arrow-shaped bastion, landing stage and gun platform, the castle seemed well equipt to defend the island from any invasion. Sir Richard Worsley led his troops to defeat the French, and continued to do so until the end of the century. However, the castle could not withstand the battle with the sea, fell into a ruinous state of disrepair, and was demolished in 1632. The stone was then transported to repair Yarmouth castle, and to build a new fortress at Sandham. The 'new' castle was finished in 1649, making way for a stronger square building with a bastion in each corner, three main buildings, two barracks, a wet moat and a govenor's house. The battle with the sea still proved to be the main enemy of the castle, and after extensive repairs during the 18th century, was finally demolished in 1864. With this second failure of defence against the treacherous sea, the land was left to the mercy of nature once more, until the 1950s when a zoo was established on the site.

Being a new place to be entertained and educated, the zoo proved to be a popular attraction. But by the 1970s, it had fallen out of favour with the public, forcing it into severe decline, and earning it the name 'the slum zoo of Britain'. The media delighted in the misfortunes of the zoo, and their callousness eventually became its lifeline by attracting a businessman in 1976 to save it from its dismal grave.Now in the hands of hope, the zoo began to prosper with the introduction of a Herpetological Centre, working on a parallel with the World Health Organisation. It then re-entered the world of animals by introducing the tiger species at the end of the 1970s. The pride of this came with the birth of a number of tigers, which led to other species of large cats entering the zoo, regaining the reputation of a once fashionable establishment. By the mid 1990s, the zoo had accumulated a variety of animals, including lemurs. The ever-strengthening zoo now proudly accommodates the Tiger Sanctuary and Lemurland. It has become increasingly popular with islanders and tourists alike, pleading never to return to the misery of its desperate past, and vowing to keep clawing its way back to its former glory days.

Sandown Zoo Ghosts
With its history of fierce battles, it is not surpirising that Sandown Zoo is well-known for its ghostly residents. The tragic figure of a soldier whose body was cut in half in an accident has been clearly seen at the old gun platform and around the moat. Could this disembodied figure of the soldier be looking for peace? The forlorn figure of another soldier, who seems intent on haunting the area where he once fought have been reported on a number of occasions. Could this be the apparition of a master gunner whose senseless spree of insanity drove him to shoot his wife and child and slit his own throat, be wallowing in torment of his moment of madness, and begging for forgiveness?