This was not the case in Victorian times and many vast collections were gathered across Britain. The more scientific of these collectors documented their collections or labelled the eggs with data. It is these eggs that are most useful to us today.

Our collection contains some 13,000 eggs. We believe it is the ninth largest public collection in Britain. Today it is useful as a research tool. The Herbert collection has been used in an international study to see if climate change has affected the dates of egg laying in song thrush and dipper during the last century.