This area has been the entrance for Chessington since it opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931. The zoo advertised having 50 acres of beautiful grounds, a fully licensed restaurant, historical mansion and popular prices, it was open from 9:30am until sunset. A newspaper article from 1939 explained how a ticket to Chessington Zoo ‘included admission to the circus where donkeys played seesaw, elephants shaved and ponies leaped over a camel’ and was a ‘real beauty spot, well laid out gardens, a variety of organised amusements, good catering and the attraction of many animals proved a happy choice for such an outing’. The zoo also advertised to house the ‘finest indoor model railway in Britain’. The site also had an aquarium with over 40 tropical and cold water fish tanks. In 1974, the admission price for adults was 45p and children tickets were 20p.