Natural Science Collections at Warwickshire Museum

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Welcome to

Natural Science Collections

in West Midlands Museums and Botanical Gardens

Warwick: Warwickshire Museum

Warwickshire Museum, Market Hall, Warwick CV34 4SA

Tel: 01926 412481

Contacts:

Steven Falk

Senior Keeper Natural History

stevenfalk@warwickshire.gov.uk

Dr Jon Radley

Keeper of Geology,

jonradley@warwickshire.gov.uk

Collections:

Botany - consists of fine herbarium in the Reserve Store, containing about 35,000 specimens mainly of flowering plants and fungi, including voucher collections and many 'first county records'. Minor collections of lichens, mosses, charophytes, wood specimens and seeds.

Mounted specimen of Kiwi from New Zealand by Spicer

Zoology - comprising about 32,000 specimens in total. Nearly 1000 are vertebrate items - mounted animals, nests, eggs and skeletons held at the Market Hall and in the Reserve Store. Much of this is derived from the Warwickshire Natural History and Archaeological Society (the so-called 'Old Collection'). The most notable are the fine cased birds and mammals, with equipment and historical information, connected with the local taxidermy firm of Spicer. The rest is invertebrates, comprising mainly of pinned insect collections made by local entomologists, but also some British shells, a growing economic reference collection of pest species and a small spirit collection. This is held in the Reserve Store. Apart from Lepidoptera, the insect collection is generally poor in number and coverage.

Natural history photographic slides (35mm) - currently several thousand held in a filing cabinet at Market Hall and cover botany, zoology and wildlife sites. This collection is relatively strong on plants and butterflies, but poor for groups such as birds and other insects. A reciprocal arrangement, reflected in the Museum's Acquisition and Disposal Policy, exists with Coventry's Herbert Art Gallery & Museum (HAGAM) whereby we hold the greater part of the botanical material for the Warwickshire sub-region, and they do the same for entomology. A recent collection exchange with HAGAM has now provided us with most of their former botany collections, whilst they have gained a collection of foreign shells and bones that had previously been on long-term loan to them.

Fossil Ammonite from Shipstone, Warwickshire

Geology - Like natural history, the early collections were initiated in the 1830's by the Warwickshire Natural History and Archaeological Society. They consisted of fossils, rocks and minerals, essentially of world-wide provenance. Since that time the collections have slowly been built up by a number of collectors and donations. As a consequence the fossil and rock collections have a strong British content and Warwickshire specimens (including important type specimens of Triassic vertebrates) are well represented. The early collections still form the bulk of the present day geological collection but all areas are slowly being added to. Notable recent additions include the Truslove Collection of minerals, the geological collections of North Warwickshire College, Leamington Museum and material from some significant local collectors. County specimens and those with strong County links account for most recent acquisitions, in accordance with Warwickshire Museum's Acquisition and Disposal policy. The geology collection totals about 15,000 specimens made up of approximately 9,000 fossils, 4,000 minerals, 1,000 rocks and a small number of man-made materials (furnace products such as 'slags'). The main strengths of the collection lie in Triassic vertebrate fossils and Lower Jurassic fossils from Warwickshire.

Record Centres - In addition to specimens, the Museum also maintains Record Centres for natural history (the Warwickshire Biological Records Centre) and geology (the Geological Localities Records Centre).

Access: The natural history and geology collections are used for a wide variety of purposes. The Market Hall Museum houses our permanent natural history and geology galleries. Items not on permanent display are brought out when opportunities arise, using temporary displays, road-shows and events. All Museum collections are used for both formal education and informal learning events and activities. All of the collections can be viewed by appointment subject to the usual safeguards. Occasional open days are held to allow viewing of stores. Handling collections exist for both natural history and geology, and are being actively developed. Suitable items can be loaned to other museums, and occasionally elsewhere. Collections are used by both staff and third parties for research and in the production of publications and articles. There is currently no on-line access to catalogue data, but the practicalities of achieving this is currently being investigated. Some information on our collections can be found in our web-site at

www.warwickshire.gov.uk/museum

Key Issues (Warwickshire Museum):

Natural history - The collections are cared for by a specialist Keeper of Natural History with regular condition checking taking place. Environment, documentation and storage meet Fast Forward level 4. Current stores are adequate but with limitations on space and environmental control. Staff time for documentation work is limited and external funding for extra staffing is being explored. The permanent gallery is due for renewal – progress in relation to this is currently dependent on the emerging overall strategy for the Museum Service.

Geology - The collections are cared for by a specialist Keeper of Geology. Environment, documentation and storage meet Fast Forward level 4. The stores are adequate but with limitations on space and environmental control. Documentation is further advanced than for Natural history, but staff time for this work is still limited. The permanent gallery is due for renewal – progress in relation to this is currently dependent on the emerging overall strategy for the Museum Service. Facilities for in-house conservation are very limited. Developments: A broad view is taken of the Museum's role in relation to both natural history and geology: there is substantial involvement in local conservation initiatives such as a Local Biodiversity Action Plan, Local Geodiversity Action Plan, and to ongoing upgrading of our biological and geological record centres. An emerging new strategy for the Museum Service will inform future plans for display and for electronic and other forms of access.