Rare animal cages saved at fun park

RARE cages discovered at the Dreamland site have been given planning protection by the Government and now may be incorporated into a new road plan.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has agreed to a Grade II listing of Sanger’s cages after efforts by Thanet council to have the rare structure listed.

But the move will mean an extra hurdle to overcome for a new road layout plan, which the district authority itself produced.

The newly protected site will need listed building consent, and for works affecting their setting, planning consent. This will have an impact on the proposals for the new road running beside the fun park.

Margate Renewal Partnership director Derek Harding said the cages would be a positive addition to the plans.

He said: "Our view is that the road can be accommodated, whether the road runs around the cages or the cages are incorporated into the embankment.

"It would be a mistake to leave them on the other side of the road and we can perhaps run a trail around them as part of the theme park."

The historic wall and cages date back to 1874 and run along the railway line coming out of Margate train station. The Government report states that "early animal cages are exceptionally rare".

The listing means that three sites within the Dreamland complex have all been protected. The Scenic Railway is Grade II listed, the cinema Grade II* listed and now Sanger’s menagerie.

"Lord" George Sanger, the most successful circus entrepreneur of the 19th century, bought the land in 1874 as a headquarters for his empire and used it to house lions, elephants and various other exotic animals.