Natural History Collection

Shells

There are around 21,000 shell specimens in the museum collection. Most of these are marine shells from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They differ from British seashells in being larger, generally more colourful and interestingly shaped. These shells are very popular amongst collectors. They can often be purchased in souvenir shops at coastal locations in the UK.

Fossils

Fossils are very popular with collectors. The museum receives many enquiries for fossil identification from members of the public.

The Museum has approximately 4,000 fossils. Two geological periods are particularly well represented in the collections. The oldest of these is the Carboniferous era from which originates a wealth of plant material dating back 280 million to 370 million years. The Jurassic period - the age of the dinosaurs - is represented by a wealth of material from the Lias quarries in south Warwickshire. Included is the head and jaw of an Ichthyosaur.

Rocks and Minerals

The rock and mineral collection at the museum has around 1250 specimens. These come from around the world and include attractive examples of malachite, opal, labradorite and green fluorite.

The museum also has a 412g fragment of the Barwell Meteorite. This is the second-to-last recorded meteorite fall in the UK. It is the largest known to have fallen in Britain, landing over a wide area in the village of Barwell, Leicestershire on Christmas Eve 1965. Although it broke up during its descent, it is thought to have originally weighed in at 46 kg. As it flew over Coventry, police received reports about a flying saucer. Many pieces of the meteorite were quickly recovered after they fell. The largest pieces are now in the Natural History Museum in London and in the Leicestershire Museum collection. The Herbert is fortunate to have approximately one-hundredth of the original monster!

Insects

The museum has a long-standing reputation for being a centre of excellence for entomology. This is due entirely to a succession of curators who have specialised in one or another group of insects over the last forty years.

The collection reflects this expertise, with approximately 140,000 specimens. These were mainly collected in the British Isles and most have detailed data. The records of individual specimens are sent to a National Database where they are plotted on UK maps. The information produced tells us about each insect species’ distribution, how rare it is and how we can best preserve populations for the future.

One insect species present in the collections that has become extinct in the UK is the aspen leaf beetle (Chrysomela tremula). Nobody knows why it disappeared, but in Warwickshire it was numerous in a number of woodlands in and around Coventry. In fact the last known British example was taken at Tile Hill Wood in 1958.

An awe-inspiring collection, bequeathed by Dr Greenwood in 1990, contains 10,000 exotic butterflies creating a dazzling array of hues.

A CD-Rom showing some of the beautiful butterflies in our collections is now available from the museum shop.

In recent years, research has been carried out at county level into the populations of two regionally scarce beetle species; the bloody-nosed beetle and the aspen leaf-rolling weevil.  The Museum plays a major part in the future conservation of these insects. For further information, please see the Warwickshire Local Biodiversity Action Plan.

Steve Lane
Keeper of Natural History
steve.lane@coventry.gov.uk
Tel: 024 7629 4762

top of page | back | ©The Herbert 2007 All rights reserved