The Butterfly World Project was a visitor attraction in the village of

Chiswell Green Chiswell Green is a village, to the south of St. Albans, in the parish of St Stephen and district of City of St Albans in Hertfordshire. It has a population of approximately 2,800. It is in the civil parish of St. Stephen. It is located on the ...

, on the outskirts of St Albans in Hertfordshire, UK, dedicated to showcasing and promoting learning about butterflies. It closed permanently in 2015.

History

The project was started by lepidopterist Clive Farrell, and was launched in 2008 at the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Farrell secured a number of high-profile patrons for the scheme, including naturalists Sir David Attenborough and Professor

David Bellamy David James Bellamy (18 January 1933 – 11 December 2019) was an English botanist, television presenter, author and environmental campaigner. Early and personal life Bellamy was born in London to parents Winifred May (née Green) and Thoma ...

, gardener and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh, actress

Emilia Fox Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose film debut was in Roman Polanski's film '' The Pianist''. Her other films include the Italian–French–British romance-drama film '' The Soul Keeper'' (2 ...

, and barrister and politician Baroness

Helena Kennedy Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, FRSA, HonFRSE (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018. Ea ...

. Construction began at the site at Chiswell Green, adjacent to the Gardens of the Rose, in 2009. Terra Firma landscape architects worked with client Clive Farrell, artist and garden designer Ivan Hicks and Chrysalis Architects on the project masterplan and detailed proposals. The Butterfly World site opened to the public in spring 2009. The site comprised a butterfly-shaped chalk garden, wildflower meadows designed to provide a habitat for butterflies, a shop, cafe and plant boutique. In phase 2, a breeding centre was opened, together with an

artificial lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

in the shape of a chrysalis, a study centre, picnic areas and a children's play area. The cafe and visitor centre was also enlarged and upgraded. 250,000 sunflowers were planted in the field that would have eventually hosted the rainforest biome. Plans for the third phase of development included the opening of a leafcutter ant exhibition, as well as expansion of the children's play area and a redevelopment of the butterfly house and designer gardens. The final phase of development would have seen the construction of a 100-metre-wide rainforest biome, which would have provided a habitat for butterflies as well as

hummingbirds Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

spiders Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species di ...

and tropical plants. The biome was planned to include a public walkway, caves and watercourses, but was never built. On 14 December 2015 the owners, Breheny Construction, announced that the project would close permanently.

References

{{Reflist Tourist attractions in Hertfordshire Lepidoptera and humans Butterfly houses