The largesse of Longleat: Bath’s £50k to save koalas

He has Longleat house and a 9,000acre estate at his disposal. But Ceawlin Thynn, Marquess of Bath, is finishing the year as he began it — with his attention on the plight of imperilled wildlife on the far side of the planet.

he has j ust sent £ 50,000 to conservation programmes dedicated to aiding australia’s koala population, tens of thousands of which perished in bushfires which swept through an area more than four times the size of Wales.

‘This year has been an incredibly challenging one for all of us,’ reflects Ceawlin, who succeeded as 8th Marquess on his father’s death from coronavirus in april and managed to re- open Longleat to the public just two months later, with requisite social distancing measures in place.

‘But, for all the many challenges we’re currently facing, it’s crucial to show our support.’

The fires were still burning when, in January this year, two keepers who care for Longleat’s southern koalas flew out to australia to aid the rescue operation, tending to koalas suffering f rom burns and monitoring other survivors.

None of that could have been envisaged in 2018 when Ceawlin and his wife, strictly s t ar emma (right), set up a pioneering project at Longleat, which became home to five southern koalas — the first zoological collection in europe with the marsupials — as part of a l ong- t erm partnership with the south australia government. To t he marquess’s del i g ht , Longleat’ s visitors have taken the koalas to their hearts. ‘Thousands have contributed to this appeal,’ he tells me, adding that Longleat’s specially created JustGiving page helped raise more than £28,000. ‘Their generosity will have a direct impact. It’s a real cause for celebration.’

at the same time, he assures me there’s no chance that he’ll be neglecting Longleat, which has 365 timber windows and threequarters of an acre of roof.

‘ We’ve had to rebuild the east Terrace. The balustrade was leaning at angle of about ten degrees — in the direction of a public walkway.’ But the Lodge Gates, he concedes, still need attention. ‘ We’d j ust had them restored and repainted. Then a lorry drove into them.’