Booth Museum of Natural History facts for kids
.JPG)
The museum from the southwest
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Established | 1874 |
|---|---|
| Location | 194 Dyke Road, Brighton, East Sussex, England BN1 5AA |
| Type | Natural history museum |
| Collection size | 500,000 (approx.) |
| Public transit access | Brighton railway station; Brighton & Hove Buses routes 14,14C,27 |
The Booth Museum of Natural History is a cool museum in Brighton and Hove, England. It's all about natural history, especially showing off amazing collections from the Victorian era. You'll find lots of taxidermy (preserved animals), especially British birds. The museum also has huge collections of butterflies and other insects, fossils from chalk, skeletons, and plants. It's part of the "Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust," and guess what? It's free to visit!
History of the Museum
.jpg)
The Booth Museum first opened its doors in 1874. It was started by a naturalist and collector named Edward Thomas Booth. Booth was super interested in birds. He wanted to collect examples of every single bird species found in Britain.
He displayed his bird collection in a special way called dioramas. These were like mini-scenes that showed birds in their natural homes. For example, a diorama of a Gannet bird looked just like the real place where they live, copied from a sketch of a rock called the Bass Rock. Booth was one of the first people in Britain to use these diorama displays. His museum really changed how other museums showed off their animal collections.
Booth gave his museum to the city of Brighton in 1890. He asked that the more than 300 dioramas should not be changed. The museum then opened to the public under the city's care in 1891. In 1971, it officially became the Booth Museum of Natural History.
Today, the museum still has those amazing dioramas of British birds. It also features big collections of butterflies, British fossils, and animal bones. Over the years, many more items have been added. The museum now has about 700,000 insects! It also has 73,000 animal specimens, including skeletons and preserved animals. Plus, there are 35,000 fossils and minerals, and 60,000 plants.
Some other cool collections come from famous collectors in the area. For example, Sir Alexander Crichton collected plants and rocks. He was a doctor to the Russian royal family a long time ago. Another amazing collection is of South and Central American butterflies. These were collected by Arthur Hall over 13 trips between 1901 and 1939. This butterfly collection is so big it fills over thirty cabinets!
In 2020, scientists even found a new type of pterosaur (a flying reptile from dinosaur times) in the museum's fossil collection!
What You Can See: Exhibits
The museum has one of the biggest collections of taxidermied birds in the country. You can see birds from all over Britain, preserved so they look like they're still alive.
There's also a huge collection of skeletons from animals around the world. This includes primates (like monkeys), dolphins, and even bones from animals that are now extinct, like the dodo and the thylacine (a type of wolf). The biggest skeleton you'll see is from an orca (killer whale). It was found on the beach in Brighton in 1935.
You can also explore many fossils and minerals. The insect displays include over 650 different types of butterflies. The museum also has some old-fashioned "curiosities" from the Victorian era. These include a fake merman (half-human, half-fish) and something called a "Toad in the Hole" (which is a bit of a mystery!).
Some of the exhibits at the museum were even used as inspiration for the computer-generated animals in the TV show His Dark Materials in 2019. In early 2024, the museum added a brand new diorama, the first in 92 years! It's called 'Life in the Garden' and shows off the wildlife found right here in Brighton.
See also
- Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: A–B
