Sedgwick Museum

Listen to this article

The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences is the geology museum of the University of Cambridge. It contains over a million fossil, rock and mineral specimens and showcases over 500 million years of history.

The entrance to the museum

Visitors are greeted by a dinosaur skeleton

Pictures show what the dinosaur would have looked like!

The museum was built in memory of Adam Sedgwick and opened in 1904. Sedgwick was one of the creators of modern geology. He added new periods to the geological time scale after he was educated at Trinity College in Cambridge. Inside the museum you will find a stunning gallery of minerals and gemstones, as well as many important fossils and dinosaur bones. You will also see the famous local hippopotamus fossil. Found in the nearby Barrington gravel pits, this hippo fossil is literally hundreds of thousands of years old. The other fossils and rocks on display are from all over the world – and are in fact just a fraction of the specimens owned by the museum.

Rock displays inside the museum

Fossils found in the UK

Behind the scenes of the displays, is a world of research that furthers significant findings in the field. For example, the museum has purchased a partial skeleton of a Scelidosaraus, a very early breed of armoured dinosaur. It was found in Dorset, and forms the hub of much research effort. The Sedgwick Museum also owns some more local finds – such as the remains of a crocodile found in the Cambridge fens. As with so many of the University museums in Cambridge, the displays are not only enjoyable to the public, but are used for serious study in the hope of great academic finds.

The Sedgwick Museum is open Monday to Friday 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm (Saturday 10am to 4pm). Entrance is FREE. Tel: 01223 333 456

Back ~ Top ~ Home ~ Index