Natural Science: Geology

There are approximately 80,000 geological specimens BDMG’s collection. The fossil and rock collections come from world-wide and British sources and includes mostly fossil collections, from Cambrian to Recent times. The collection consists of scientific material, both illustrated and published, that are of significant historical value, and high-quality display minerals. Type and figured fossils such as the Upper Carboniferous holotype fossil tetrapod and the Pholiderpeton scutigerum, are internationally important.

The important Creswell Crags cave material, excavated in the later 19th Century, includes Late Glacial bones and Neanderthal quartzite. The historically important mineral collection of Joseph Dawson (1740-1813) is a rare gem, which includes a remarkable hand-written catalogue dated 1810. The collection contains mineral specimens from all over the world, and some local, classified in the Wernerian way that reflects the knowledge of mineralogy and history of science at the time.