Rotunda Museum
Encyclopedia
The Rotunda Museum is one of the oldest purpose-built museum
s still in use in the United Kingdom
. The curved grade II* listed building was constructed in 1829 as one of the country's first purpose-built museums. Situated in the English
coastal resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire
, it houses one of the foremost collections of Jurassic
geology on the Yorkshire Coast.
, 'Father of English Geology'. Smith's pioneering work established that geological strata could be identified and correlated using the fossils they contain. Smith came to Scarborough after his release from debtors' prison. The dramatic Jurassic coastline of Yorkshire offered him an area of geological richness.
Sir John Johnstone became Smith’s patron and employed him as his Land Steward at Hackness
. It was Johnstone, who was President of the Scarborough Philosophical Society which raised the money to build the Rotunda and consulted Smith as to the Museum’s design. Still in his twenties, Sir John was an intellectual leader in Scarborough in the 1820s and a staunch supporter of Smith and his ideas. He donated the Hackness stone of which the Rotunda Museum is built. Smith had seen a rotunda in London and instructed the architect, Richard Sharp of York, to follow that design. The Rotunda Museum was built to Smith’s design suggestion and the original display of fossils illustrated his ideas. The fossils and rocks were arranged in the order in which they occurred, with the youngest in the cases at the top and the oldest at the bottom. The order around the walls reflected the order of rocks on the Yorkshire coast. A section of the rocks on the coast was drawn around the inside of the dome of the building by Smiths nephew, another geologist, John Phillips
.The two wings were added to the building in 1860.
fossil plants in the country. The collection also includes a large selection of Cretaceous
fossils from the Speeton
Clay and the Chalk, a wide variety of Upper and Lower Jurassic specimens, specimens from the Ice Age such as mammoth teeth and fossils from the Kirkdale Cave
and a pristine Carboniferous
plant collection. The whole collection was catalogued and conserved in 2007 and the more spectacular specimens are now on display in the refurbished Rotunda Museum. These give a taste of the quality and range of the fossils and minerals that have been found along Yorkshire's Dinosaur Coast which stretches from Redcar
in the north to Flamborough
in the south.
Scarborough Borough Council's plans to return the institution to its original role as a geological showcase were supported by a £1.8 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
(HLF), as well as funds from the European Regional Development Fund and over £1.5 million raised from private and corporate sources. Supported by English Heritage
, the project was designed to make the museum a gateway to the area’s Dinosaur Coast and included creating a new entrance and installing a lift to improve disabled access. It was also intended to act as a tribute to the Rotunda's designer, William Smith.
William Anelay Limited was contracted to carry out essential external stonemasonry repairs and to cover the existing dome roof with a new lead covering. The contract included the demolition of some internal walls and the building of an extension to the front of the property. This provided a new entrance area, offices and toilet facilities and allows access from the path to the building at basement level. The existing spiral staircase was removed and stored, and a new one installed allowing for a lift shaft in the centre. The museum was closed during the restoration and refurbishment period and reopened in May 2008.
Architect: Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams
Structural Engineer: Alan Wood and Partners
Quantity Surveyor: Appleyard and Trew LLP
Landscape Architect: TEP - The Environment Partnership
A set of unique glass display cabinets have been put back in the museum after undergoing restoration. The cabinets date back to 1850 and were designed to showcase the work of Smith. They were removed from the upper gallery and have now been cleaned, restored and repaired where necessary. Tim Phelps and his team of specialists based near Knaresborough
carried out the work. The cabinets now display items such as a model of George Cayley
's original flying machine and an early steam car model by Sir Edward Harland
. Lower tiers house artifacts such as fossils, rock samples and minerals.
Shell
is the biggest corporate donor and is the title sponsor of the Shell Geology Now! gallery. This area of the museum looks at current geological and environmental research "bringing it to life for visitors to this unique museum". It reopened on Friday 9 May 2008 following a two-year refurbishment costing £4.4 million. The museum was renamed The Rotunda – The William Smith Museum of Geology.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s still in use in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The curved grade II* listed building was constructed in 1829 as one of the country's first purpose-built museums. Situated in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
coastal resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, it houses one of the foremost collections of Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
geology on the Yorkshire Coast.
Founding
The Rotunda Museum, described as the finest surviving purpose-built museum of its age in the country, was built in 1829 to a design suggested by William SmithWilliam Smith (geologist)
William 'Strata' Smith was an English geologist, credited with creating the first nationwide geological map. He is known as the "Father of English Geology" for collating the geological history of England and Wales into a single record, although recognition was very slow in coming...
, 'Father of English Geology'. Smith's pioneering work established that geological strata could be identified and correlated using the fossils they contain. Smith came to Scarborough after his release from debtors' prison. The dramatic Jurassic coastline of Yorkshire offered him an area of geological richness.
Sir John Johnstone became Smith’s patron and employed him as his Land Steward at Hackness
Hackness
Hackness is a village and civil parish in the Scarboroughdistrict of the county of North Yorkshire, England.Hackness is mentioned as the site of a double monastery or nunnery by Bede, writing in the early 8th century. The church of Saint Mary has fragments of a high cross dating from the late 8th...
. It was Johnstone, who was President of the Scarborough Philosophical Society which raised the money to build the Rotunda and consulted Smith as to the Museum’s design. Still in his twenties, Sir John was an intellectual leader in Scarborough in the 1820s and a staunch supporter of Smith and his ideas. He donated the Hackness stone of which the Rotunda Museum is built. Smith had seen a rotunda in London and instructed the architect, Richard Sharp of York, to follow that design. The Rotunda Museum was built to Smith’s design suggestion and the original display of fossils illustrated his ideas. The fossils and rocks were arranged in the order in which they occurred, with the youngest in the cases at the top and the oldest at the bottom. The order around the walls reflected the order of rocks on the Yorkshire coast. A section of the rocks on the coast was drawn around the inside of the dome of the building by Smiths nephew, another geologist, John Phillips
John Phillips (geologist)
John Phillips FRS was an English geologist.- Life and work :Philips was born at Marden in Wiltshire...
.The two wings were added to the building in 1860.
Collection
With over 5,500 fossils and 3,000 minerals, the strengths of the Scarborough collection include: numerous type specimens, which were the first of their kind ever to be described and one of the finest collections of Middle JurassicJurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
fossil plants in the country. The collection also includes a large selection of Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
fossils from the Speeton
Speeton Beds
Speeton Beds, in English geology, a series of clays well exposed at Speeton, near Filey on the Yorkshire coast.Peculiar interest attaches to these beds for they are the principal representatives in Britain of the marine phase of the Lower Cretaceous system...
Clay and the Chalk, a wide variety of Upper and Lower Jurassic specimens, specimens from the Ice Age such as mammoth teeth and fossils from the Kirkdale Cave
Kirkdale Cave
Kirkdale Cave is a cave located in Kirkdale near Kirkbymoorside in the Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire, England. The cave was discovered by workmen in 1821, and was found to contain fossilized bones of a variety of mammals not currently found in Great Britain, including hippopotamus, the...
and a pristine Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
plant collection. The whole collection was catalogued and conserved in 2007 and the more spectacular specimens are now on display in the refurbished Rotunda Museum. These give a taste of the quality and range of the fossils and minerals that have been found along Yorkshire's Dinosaur Coast which stretches from Redcar
Redcar
Redcar is a seaside resort in the north east of England, and a major town in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire. It lies east-northeast of Middlesbrough by the North Sea coast...
in the north to Flamborough
Flamborough
Flamborough is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north east of Bridlington town centre on the prominent coastal feature of Flamborough Head. The most prominent man-made feature of the area is Flamborough lighthouse. The headland...
in the south.
Refurbishment
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
(HLF), as well as funds from the European Regional Development Fund and over £1.5 million raised from private and corporate sources. Supported by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
, the project was designed to make the museum a gateway to the area’s Dinosaur Coast and included creating a new entrance and installing a lift to improve disabled access. It was also intended to act as a tribute to the Rotunda's designer, William Smith.
William Anelay Limited was contracted to carry out essential external stonemasonry repairs and to cover the existing dome roof with a new lead covering. The contract included the demolition of some internal walls and the building of an extension to the front of the property. This provided a new entrance area, offices and toilet facilities and allows access from the path to the building at basement level. The existing spiral staircase was removed and stored, and a new one installed allowing for a lift shaft in the centre. The museum was closed during the restoration and refurbishment period and reopened in May 2008.
Architect: Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams
Structural Engineer: Alan Wood and Partners
Quantity Surveyor: Appleyard and Trew LLP
Landscape Architect: TEP - The Environment Partnership
A set of unique glass display cabinets have been put back in the museum after undergoing restoration. The cabinets date back to 1850 and were designed to showcase the work of Smith. They were removed from the upper gallery and have now been cleaned, restored and repaired where necessary. Tim Phelps and his team of specialists based near Knaresborough
Knaresborough
Knaresborough is an old and historic market town, spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, located on the River Nidd, four miles east of the centre of Harrogate.-History:...
carried out the work. The cabinets now display items such as a model of George Cayley
George Cayley
Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet was a prolific English engineer and one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him the first true scientific aerial investigator and the first person to understand the underlying principles and forces of flight...
's original flying machine and an early steam car model by Sir Edward Harland
Edward Harland
Sir Edward James Harland, 1st Baronet was a British shipbuilder and politician. Born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, he was educated at Edinburgh Academy. In 1846, aged 15, he took an apprenticeship at the engineering works of Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle upon Tyne...
. Lower tiers house artifacts such as fossils, rock samples and minerals.
Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
is the biggest corporate donor and is the title sponsor of the Shell Geology Now! gallery. This area of the museum looks at current geological and environmental research "bringing it to life for visitors to this unique museum". It reopened on Friday 9 May 2008 following a two-year refurbishment costing £4.4 million. The museum was renamed The Rotunda – The William Smith Museum of Geology.