Colchester + Ipswich Museums

What?

The geology specimens held at Ipswich museum comprise a collection of local geology and a collection of general specimens.

Local Geology collection

East Anglia contains the richest deposits of Pliocene and Pleistocene fauna in the country and the museum’s collection is of high national and international importance. The famous Crag deposits are packed full of fossils. Early collectors flocked to Suffolk to search for the fantastic vertebrate finds that could be found here including mastodon, walrus, tapir, three-toed horse, gazelle, porcupine and sabre-tooth cat. These fossils tell the story of climate change during the Ice Age and beyond.

Important Collectors include Alfred Bell, Sir  R. I. Murchison, Rev Prof. Adam Sedgwick, Sir Richard Owen, F. W. Harmer, Henry Canham, C. Morley, Chester Doughty (1870-1938), N. F. Layard, R M Brydone, R. A. D. Markham, James Reid Moir, H. E. P. Spencer, and Father MacEnery.
 

General Geology collection

The collection of British fossils contains some quality specimens including a complete Ichthyosaur from Somerset and a Chirotherium footprint rescued from Storeton Hill Quarry, Cheshire. There are good comparative collections including the W. M. Crowfoot Collection of Tertiary molluscs from France and Italy and the Cautley mammalian fossils from the Siwalic Hills in India. There is also a good representative collection of minerals.

 

Where?

The collection is held in the Natural History stores at the High Street Museum Ipswich and is available to researchers by appointment. Please contact Ann Ainsworth - Assistant Curator of Natural History  for more information.