Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of visiting Oxford, England for a short afternoon. I was dashing around the city trying to take in the sights, but one thing I couldn't rush was my visit to their Natural History Museum.
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| The Oxford University Natural History Museum |
Now, I think I have an obligation to visit every NHM I can in every city that I visit. I've been to a few already, and rarely am I disappointed. Oxford was no exception. Even with some infamous museums within it's radius (see the National NHM in London), the Oxford museum definitely held it's own.
And goodness, did it feel British! As modern as it is, between the building itself and their setup, it might have been the 1800s still - lots of glass cases and labels, and some of the specimens have been on display since it opened!
Oxford as a university has been around since before 1100 A.D. So it's been there for a while. And during its reign it has educated or played home to some of the greatest minds in history. Especially for natural sciences.
So it comes to no surprise that The NHM has quite a few nods of appreciation to quite a few of these gentlemen. One of the most noted being Charles Darwin, who's Origin of Species was greatly debated in 1860. They had an excellent and informative display about evolution and Darwin's theories, as well as some fun facts about the man himself - everything a budding biologist would want to read and hear on a trip to a museum!
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Some other fun things I saw and read at the museum:
Dodo
They have a stuffed dodo and it's skeleton on display the museum. This was my first dodo! They really are ridiculous looking birds - how depressing that they are extinct! I feel like the dodo display has been around since forever, but it would have been nice to see more about modern examples of extinction.
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| Dodo! Skeleton, cast of legs, and taxidermy specimen |
Dinosaurs
I know you don't have to travel all the way to England to see a T-Rex skeleton, but while you're here, you should come check it out! And who knew that so many dinosaur fossils and bones have been found in England? I didn't, until I came to the museum!
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| T-Rex! Roar! |
Marine Mammal Skeletons
Okay, so obviously I just love these, but they have a bunch of skeletons in ascending size hanging above your head - they don't have room for the biggest of the big, but their collection is still impressive!
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| Marine mammal skeletons - from bottlenose dolphin up to minke whale |
Alice in Wonderland
Did you know the Lewis Carroll was a deacon at a church in Oxford, and a student and Professor at the university? I didn't, until I came to Oxford. They are very proud of it, so much so there is a display at the NHM with all the animals mentioned in his various Alice and associated books.
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| The white rabbit in the corner is always late |
Okay, sometimes I am so much a child at heart that the instant I see a "Do Not Touch" sign I have an intense need to touch it. I manage to control myself but man, does it hurt!
Not Anymore!
The Oxford NHM knows that kids and grown-up kids alike have this strange need to touch things. So along with all the objects behind glass and railings, they have some out on the floor that they actually ask you to touch! Dream come true! Probably some of them are casts or replicas, but the stones, some of the fossils and definitely the animals were 100% real and I touched them all! As someone who has worked in a museum I know how much touching things is very, very bad, so it's a major bonus when a museum has things out (that clearly aren't too valuable or can't get easily damaged) for the public to play with. I was as giddy as the 6 year old I was following behind, just touching it all.
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| That's me touching an ammonite fossil! |
Obviously this is just the tip of the iceberg. It's not an overwhelmingly large museum, but it has quite the collection. I know my reviews usually just focus on animals, and even then primarily mammals, but their plant, bird, insect and rock and mineral displays were equally impressive.
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| Insect display |
So thank you Oxford University Natural History Museum, for a perfect finish to a perfect afternoon in Oxford.
Speak Loud!
You can visit their website and get all details about the museum here
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