University Museum of Zoology
A free natural history museum under a hanging fin whale, with Darwin's specimens and extinct birds.
The University Museum of Zoology has its home on the New Museums Site, off Downing Street. A fin whale skeleton hangs above the shop in the Whale Hall, which is the first thing most visitors see. The galleries are organised around the variety of animal life and around stories of extinction, survival, evolution and exploration.
The collections
The oldest material is the Harwood anatomical collection, bought in 1814. William Swainson's birds came next, with specimens from the Cambridge Philosophical Society, and much of the rest was gathered on nineteenth-century expeditions, between about 1865 and 1915 especially. Charles Darwin's own specimens are among the holdings: fish he collected on the voyage of HMS Beagle are kept in spirit, and the insect collection includes ones he caught around Cambridge. The museum also has skeletal remains of the dodo and the Rodrigues solitaire. The collections were designated of outstanding importance in 1998.
The building
The present purpose-built home dates from 1968 to 1970. A redevelopment backed by a £1.8 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant ended with the reopening on 23 June 2018, which created new stores, learning space and displays.
Practical notes
Admission is free. The museum is closed on Mondays, though open 12:00 to 16:30 on bank holiday Mondays; otherwise it opens 10:00 to 16:30 Tuesday to Saturday and 12:00 to 16:30 on Sundays, with last entry at 16:15. Children under 11 must be accompanied by an adult. The Whale Cafe serves Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 15:00. Occasional maintenance closures are posted on the website. Next door, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is also free.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
