Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences
The University's free geology museum, with Darwin's Beagle rocks, an upright Iguanodon and a huge fossil collection.
The Sedgwick Museum is Cambridge's university geology museum, attached to the Earth Sciences department on Downing Street. It is described as the oldest of the eight museums in the University of Cambridge Museums consortium.
How it began
The collection grew from the bequest of John Woodward, who gathered nearly 10,000 specimens over about 35 years and kept them in five walnut cabinets. The cabinets are still in use. His will also funded a chair in geology. Adam Sedgwick later expanded the holdings, buying several ichthyosaur skeletons from Mary Anning. After his death the collection outgrew its space, and a public appeal that raised more than £95,000 paid for a museum in his memory. King Edward VII attended the opening on 1 March 1904.
What to look for
The museum holds roughly two million rocks, minerals and fossils spanning 4.5 billion years. Among them are about 2,000 rocks gathered by Charles Darwin on the Beagle voyage of 1831 to 1836. Look for the Iguanodon skeleton by the entrance, which also inspired the museum's emblem; it stands upright and a display board explains that this is not the posture the animal would have held. Bring your own finds: staff will try to identify a rock, fossil or mineral free of charge.
Practical notes
Admission is free. The museum opens Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 17:00 and on Saturday from 10:00 to 16:00; it is closed on Sundays, and bank holiday dates are listed on its website. There is no cafe, and eating and drinking are not allowed inside, but there are open spaces nearby for picnics. Combine a visit with the Museum of Zoology a few steps away.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
