Marwell Hall & a zebra
The Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi), also known as the imperial zebra, is the largest extant wild equid and the largest and most endangered of the three species of zebra, the other two being the plains zebra and the mountain zebra. Named after Jules Grévy, it is the sole extant member of the subgenus Dolichohippus. The Grévy's zebra is found in Kenya and Ethiopia. Compared with other zebras, it is tall, has large ears, and its stripes are narrower. It is more ass-like in appearance as compared to other zebras, which are more horse-like.
The Grévy's zebra lives in semi-arid grasslands where it feeds on grasses, legumes, and browse; it can survive up to five days without water. It differs from the other zebra species in that it does not live in harems and has few long-lasting social bonds. Male territoriality and mother–foal relationships form the basis of the social system of the Grévy's zebra. This zebra is considered to be endangered. Its population has declined from 15,000 to 3,000 since the 1970s. However, as of 2008 the population is stable.
Marwell Hall was built in the early 14th century (around 1320) by Walter Woodlock, a relative of the Bishop of Winchester. It was a timber-framed structure of the type known as a base cruck, in size about 8 metres by 13 metres. Over the centuries many alterations have been made, but the original medieval hall remains as the core of the building.
In the mid 1500s ownership passed to the Seymour family. Henry VIII is said to have been a frequent visitor. Local legend likes us to believe that he and his third wife, Jane Seymour, were married here. Jane Seymour's son, Edward VI, is said to have visited the Hall, and the Royal arms and the initials E.R. can be seen carved over the fireplace in the Hall.
There are many stories of ghostly happenings in and around the Hall. Probably the most famous is the story of the ‘Mistletoe Bride'. On her wedding day, while playing hide and seek with her groom and guests, the bride hid in an oak chest in a remote corner of the hall. She was unable to get out of the self-locking chest. The groom and guests searched high and low, but her cries were not heard and her remains were found many years later. It is the wedding guests who can be heard frantically rushing around the corridors searching for the missing bride.
In 1644 Marwell Hall was the scene of a skirmish between Roundheads and Cavaliers. A newsletter of the time relates that a party of about 200 Cavaliers, having spent much of the day drinking in Winchester, rode out to Marwell to engage a troop of sixty of Sir William Waller's men. In spite of outnumbering the Roundheads by more than three to one, they were routed, and fled back to Winchester.
In the middle of the nineteenth century (1841 to 1852) Marwell Hall was owned by a gentleman by the name of John Gully. He survived, but lost, a 64 round boxing match (before the days of the Queensberry rules), trained racehorses at Danebury (but not, it seems at Marwell), had two wives, twenty -four children, and became MP for Pontefract.
For some forty years, from 1798 onwards, the Hall was occupied by the Long family. William Long, in about 1816, made considerable alterations to the Hall during this time, resulting in the building that stands here today.
Marwell Wildlife, formerly known as Marwell Zoological Park, is a 140-acre (57 ha) zoo situated at Owslebury in the English county of Hampshire, near Winchester. It is home to over 1,200 animals of 235 different species, and in 2007 was voted by Hampshire residents in an online poll as the place they were most proud of.
Beyond the park itself, Marwell Wildlife is also a registered charity that works for international conservation, with a particular focus in Africa in addition to work from its base in Hampshire. Its name was changed from Marwell Zoo in 2009 to reflect these wider activities.
The zoo is in The South Downs National Park which is England's newest National Park, having become fully operational on 1 April 2011. The park, covering an area of 1,627 square kilometres (628 sq mi) in southern England, stretches for 140 kilometres (87 mi) from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex. The national park covers not only the chalk ridge of the South Downs, with its celebrated chalk downland landscape that culminates in the iconic chalky white cliffs of Beachy Head, but also a substantial part of a separate physiographic region, the western Weald, with its heavily wooded sandstone and clay hills and vales. The South Downs Way spans the entire length of the park and is the only National Trail that lies wholly within a national park.
Marwell Hall & a zebra
The Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi), also known as the imperial zebra, is the largest extant wild equid and the largest and most endangered of the three species of zebra, the other two being the plains zebra and the mountain zebra. Named after Jules Grévy, it is the sole extant member of the subgenus Dolichohippus. The Grévy's zebra is found in Kenya and Ethiopia. Compared with other zebras, it is tall, has large ears, and its stripes are narrower. It is more ass-like in appearance as compared to other zebras, which are more horse-like.
The Grévy's zebra lives in semi-arid grasslands where it feeds on grasses, legumes, and browse; it can survive up to five days without water. It differs from the other zebra species in that it does not live in harems and has few long-lasting social bonds. Male territoriality and mother–foal relationships form the basis of the social system of the Grévy's zebra. This zebra is considered to be endangered. Its population has declined from 15,000 to 3,000 since the 1970s. However, as of 2008 the population is stable.
Marwell Hall was built in the early 14th century (around 1320) by Walter Woodlock, a relative of the Bishop of Winchester. It was a timber-framed structure of the type known as a base cruck, in size about 8 metres by 13 metres. Over the centuries many alterations have been made, but the original medieval hall remains as the core of the building.
In the mid 1500s ownership passed to the Seymour family. Henry VIII is said to have been a frequent visitor. Local legend likes us to believe that he and his third wife, Jane Seymour, were married here. Jane Seymour's son, Edward VI, is said to have visited the Hall, and the Royal arms and the initials E.R. can be seen carved over the fireplace in the Hall.
There are many stories of ghostly happenings in and around the Hall. Probably the most famous is the story of the ‘Mistletoe Bride'. On her wedding day, while playing hide and seek with her groom and guests, the bride hid in an oak chest in a remote corner of the hall. She was unable to get out of the self-locking chest. The groom and guests searched high and low, but her cries were not heard and her remains were found many years later. It is the wedding guests who can be heard frantically rushing around the corridors searching for the missing bride.
In 1644 Marwell Hall was the scene of a skirmish between Roundheads and Cavaliers. A newsletter of the time relates that a party of about 200 Cavaliers, having spent much of the day drinking in Winchester, rode out to Marwell to engage a troop of sixty of Sir William Waller's men. In spite of outnumbering the Roundheads by more than three to one, they were routed, and fled back to Winchester.
In the middle of the nineteenth century (1841 to 1852) Marwell Hall was owned by a gentleman by the name of John Gully. He survived, but lost, a 64 round boxing match (before the days of the Queensberry rules), trained racehorses at Danebury (but not, it seems at Marwell), had two wives, twenty -four children, and became MP for Pontefract.
For some forty years, from 1798 onwards, the Hall was occupied by the Long family. William Long, in about 1816, made considerable alterations to the Hall during this time, resulting in the building that stands here today.
Marwell Wildlife, formerly known as Marwell Zoological Park, is a 140-acre (57 ha) zoo situated at Owslebury in the English county of Hampshire, near Winchester. It is home to over 1,200 animals of 235 different species, and in 2007 was voted by Hampshire residents in an online poll as the place they were most proud of.
Beyond the park itself, Marwell Wildlife is also a registered charity that works for international conservation, with a particular focus in Africa in addition to work from its base in Hampshire. Its name was changed from Marwell Zoo in 2009 to reflect these wider activities.
The zoo is in The South Downs National Park which is England's newest National Park, having become fully operational on 1 April 2011. The park, covering an area of 1,627 square kilometres (628 sq mi) in southern England, stretches for 140 kilometres (87 mi) from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex. The national park covers not only the chalk ridge of the South Downs, with its celebrated chalk downland landscape that culminates in the iconic chalky white cliffs of Beachy Head, but also a substantial part of a separate physiographic region, the western Weald, with its heavily wooded sandstone and clay hills and vales. The South Downs Way spans the entire length of the park and is the only National Trail that lies wholly within a national park.