SEDGWICK MUSEUM OF EARTH SCIENCES

At a time when we are increasingly concerned about changes taking place on our planet, an understanding of how the Earth works, and how life shapes it, is of vital importance. The Sedgwick Museum’s collections – more than 2 million rocks, fossils and minerals from across the world – are a vast library of information about Earth history, and play an important role in research to understand its future.

The Museum has a large and loyal public audience, and a strong digital following. While many families come for the dinosaurs, our aim is to reach and engage a much wider and more diverse audience, adults and children, through many aspects of Earth Science, and to support and inspire the next generation of Earth scientists, whether they are still at school or studying at the University.? As well as showcasing current research and promoting science, the museum is proactive in researching and sharing previously ‘hidden’ stories about its collections, and works collaboratively with individuals and community groups to co-produce displays which enable them to interpret our collections in their own way.

Behind the scenes, the Museum is currently moving more than 150 tonnes of research rock samples into a new purpose-built research centre, aiming to create a new and vibrant research community around these exceptional collections.

Inside the Woodwardian Museum

Our top picks include:

• Iguanodon?– one of very few complete casts of a skeleton found in Belgium in 1878.

• The Beagle Collection?– comprising more than 2000 rocks minerals and fossils collected by Charles Darwin on the voyage of HMS Beagle 1831-1836.

• The Woodwardian collection?– a unique collection of nearly 10,000 rocks, minerals, fossils and archaeological artefacts bequeathed to the University in 1728, making it one of the oldest intact geological collections in the world.

• Marine reptiles?– collected by Mary Anning, the early C19th fossil collector from Lyme Regis.

• The Community Cabinet?– a changing display co-curated by community members, featuring their own collections as well as their interpretations of material from our own collections.

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