Visit Grant Museum of Zoology is located in UCL's Rockfeller building and has been in existence since 1827, founded by Robert Edmond Grant.
Get ready to discover some of London's creepiest and strangest artifacts.
Grant Museum of Zoology: article summary
What is the Grant Museum of Zoology?
The museum houses a fascinating collection of 68,000 specimens and preserved animals spanning more than 200 years.
The other thing to know about this particular museum is that the exhibits are not perfectly arranged. as one would normally expect.
Instead, as many specimens as possible are crammed into dozens of glass cases and stacked high. The space here is very small and compact given the number of unique specimens.
There's a lot to learn at London's Museum of Zoology. You'll need to pay particular attention to the remains of several extinct species.
What strange exhibits can you discover on site?
Specimens only get stranger from here. Cartoon fans will probably want to meet the thylacine. It's a Tasmanian tiger that resembles a dog-like creature and which has been extinct since the 1930s.
There are also the bones of a dodo, a flightless bird last seen in 1662.
The Blaschka collection is a range of glass models from :
- Jellyfish
- Sea anemones
- Gastropods
- Sea cucumbers
- Cephalopods
It turns out that it's extremely difficult to preserve the soft bodies of marine invertebrates, so Lepold Blaschka and his son made these strange glass models that look just like the real thing.
The history of the Grant Museum of Zoology
The museum houses London's most original objects. It was founded in 1827 by Robert Edmond Grant, hence its name.
The Grant Museum of Zoology was originally used as an educational collection for UCL. Grant was best known in his day for his work on marine invertebrates, particularly sponges, pennatula and molluscs.
A lifetime of research rewarded
At the age of 35, Edinburgh-born Grant moved to London and took up a teaching post at the University of London. He remained there until his death in 1874. He was the England's first professor of zoology and anatomy.
When Grant arrived at UCL, he found that there were no teaching materials to teach his course. So he began collecting specimens, diagrams, lecture notes and dissection material.
On his death in 1874, Grant left his library and specimen collection to UCL.
Grant Museum of Zoology: its history
The Grant Museum hasn't always been housed in the Rockefeller building; it has a very eventful past.
The museum has survived wartime bombardments and multiple ceiling collapses, as well as floods and threats of closure.
The Grant Museum's surviving equipment found its permanent home in the Rockefeller building in 2011, which was once the medical faculty of the UCL hospital.
Today, London's Museum of Zoology is a resource for university and school groups who use the collection for educational purposes, as well as for artists and researchers.
The museum offers a lively program of events throughout the year, including special exhibitions, and It is also open to the public all year round.
Additional informationÂ
Tickets for the Museum of Zoology are free.
The museum opens to the public :
- Tuesday to Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The museum is located close to the metro :
- Warren Street
- Euston Square
- Goodge Street
So you'll have no trouble getting there.
If you want to discover exceptional specimens and learn more about Zoology, I recommend a visit to the Grant Museum of Zoology. Here you can contemplate extinct species and quench your thirst for knowledge.
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