Rotunda Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1829 |
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| Location | The Rotunda Museum,
Vernon Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO11 2NN |
| Type | Geological |
| Visitors | Open Tue–Sun, 10 am–5 pm |
The Rotunda Museum is a very old and special museum in the United Kingdom. It was built just for being a museum! This cool, round building was made way back in 1829. It's one of the very first museums ever built in the country. You can find it in the seaside town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The museum holds an amazing collection of Jurassic rocks and fossils from the Yorkshire Coast.
Building the Rotunda Museum
The Rotunda Museum is known as one of the best old museums of its kind. It was built in 1829 by Richard Hey Sharp from York. The idea for its design came from William Smith, who is often called the "Father of English Geology."
William Smith was a pioneer in geology. He discovered that you could tell how old rock layers were by the fossils found inside them. After some tough times, Smith came to Scarborough. The amazing Jurassic coastline there was perfect for his geology studies.
Sir John Johnstone became a big supporter of William Smith. He hired Smith to help manage his land. Sir John was also the head of the Scarborough Philosophical Society. This group raised the money to build the Rotunda Museum. They asked Smith for his ideas on how the museum should look. Sir John was a smart leader in Scarborough in the 1820s. He strongly believed in Smith's ideas. He even gave the special stone from Hackness that was used to build the museum.
Smith had seen a round building, called a rotunda, in London. He told the architect, Richard Sharp, to use a similar design. The Rotunda Museum was built following Smith's ideas. The first displays showed his discoveries. Fossils and rocks were placed in order, from the newest at the top to the oldest at the bottom. The way they were arranged around the walls showed the order of rocks along the Yorkshire coast. Smith's nephew, John Phillips, who was also a geologist, drew a picture of the coast's rock layers around the inside of the museum's dome. Two extra parts were added to the building in 1860.
What's Inside the Collection?
The Scarborough collection has over 5,500 fossils and 3,000 minerals. Many of these are "type specimens." This means they were the very first of their kind ever studied and described by scientists. The museum also has one of the best collections of Middle Jurassic fossil plants in the country.
The collection also includes:
- Many Cretaceous fossils from the Speeton Clay and Chalk.
- A wide range of Upper and Lower Jurassic specimens.
- Items from the Ice Age, like mammoth teeth.
- Fossils found in the Kirkdale Cave.
- A perfect collection of Carboniferous plants.
All these items were carefully organized and cared for in 2007. The most amazing ones are now on display in the updated Rotunda Museum. They show how many wonderful fossils and minerals have been found along Yorkshire's "Dinosaur Coast." This coast stretches from Redcar in the north to Flamborough in the south.
Modern Updates for the Museum
Scarborough Borough Council wanted to make the museum great again. They wanted it to be a top place for showing off geology. They received a big grant of £1.8 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. They also got money from the European Regional Development Fund and over £1.5 million from other groups and people.
With help from English Heritage, the project aimed to make the museum a starting point for exploring the area's Dinosaur Coast. They added a new entrance and a lift to make it easier for everyone to visit. The project also honored William Smith, who first designed the museum.
William Anelay Limited was hired to fix the outside stone walls. They also put a new lead roof on the dome. The work included taking down some inside walls and building an extension at the front. This new part created a new entrance, offices, and restrooms. It also made it possible to enter the building from the path at the basement level. The old spiral staircase was removed and stored. A new one was put in, with space for a lift in the middle. The museum was closed during this work. It reopened in May 2008.
Special glass display cabinets from 1850 were put back in the museum after being fixed. These cabinets were made to show William Smith's work. They were taken from the upper gallery, cleaned, and repaired. Tim Phelps and his team near Knaresborough did this work. The cabinets now show things like a model of George Cayley's first flying machine. They also display an early steam car model by Sir Edward Harland. Lower shelves hold fossils, rock samples, and minerals.
Shell was the biggest company to donate money. They are the main sponsor of the Shell Geology Now! gallery. This part of the museum shows current research about geology and the environment. It helps visitors understand these topics in a fun way. The museum reopened on Friday, May 9, 2008. The updates cost £4.4 million and took two years. The museum was renamed The Rotunda – The William Smith Museum of Geology.
