Plesiosuraus propinquus

Ichthyosaurus crassimanus

Around the beginning of the l9th century, new societies devoted to natural history, science, literature and philosophy were springing up all over Britain. Many of these societies also established museums to house their collections and curiosities. It was also a time when the new science of geology was becoming a popular subject, new theories were being propounded and spectacular finds were being made. Amongst these discoveries were large skeletons of fossil marine reptiles found along the Yorkshire coast largely as a result of moving vast quantities of alum shale in order to extract the alum, one of the first chemical industries. The first one to be reported from the area was a marine crocodile. The Gentleman's Magazine of 1759 was given a description of the "Skeleton of an Allegator found in the Allom Rock near Whitby, January 3, 1758". It was discovered by Captain William Chapman and described by John Wooler in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of 1758. The specimen, later named Teleosaurus chapmani Konig, was given to the British Museum in 1781. (Rl088 now renamed Steneosaurus bollensis).

The alum quarrymen uncovering these large skeletons sold them as curiosities to other parts of Britain. Certain citizens of Whitby, under the Rev. George Young, became concerned that whilst these curiosities were being found locally they were being 'lost' to Whitby and this concern spurred them onto the formation of the Whitby Literary & Philosophical Society in 1823 with the prime purpose to setup a Museum.

One of the major early attractions was another skeleton of the fossil crocodile Teleosaurus chapmani, purchased for £7 in 1824. The collector, Brown Marshall, a carpenter from Whitby, spotted the snout sticking out of the cliff and excavated the skull and the bulk of the skeleton by hanging from the top of the cliff on ropes. Part of the tail was taken out 3 years later. Over the next few years, thanks to the guiding influence of Rev Young, the Museum gained a reputation for its rich fossil collection, particularly the beautiful and gigantic marine reptiles. Many of these are now spectacularly mounted on the walls of the Museum where they rarely fail to amaze and interest visitors. To read the fascinating story behind many of these large fossils visitors should read The Floating Egg by Roger Osborne.

Section through an ammonite	Model of Hildoceras bifrons	Ammonite - Hildoceras bifrons

Ammonites or snakestones with carved heads - Whitby legend

Imprint of fern - Cladophlebis denticulata from Whitby	Imprints of Gingko digitats

The collection, mainly assembled during the first 50 years of the Society's history, contains a wide range of fossil material - . vertebrates, invertebrates, plants and trace fossils. The invertebrate groups are well represented. The ammonites, nautiloids, belemnites, marine reptiles, fish and plants are of particular interest and international scientific importance with over 200 'primary' type specimens which includes many holotypes [a single specimen recognised worldwide as showing the main character of a particular species]. The main specimens of scientific importance are to be found amongst the ammonites, nautiloids, belemnites, plants and marine reptiles. Most of the specimens are from Lower and Middle Jurassic strata.

A number of important individual collections can be recognised in the overall collection. The most notable are those of Martin Simpson, Rev. George Young, John Bird, John Leckenby, Richard Ripley, and William Bean. Many other renowned geologists (e.g. Prof. Hemingway), past and present, have both visited Whitby, been members of the Society and used the collections. Click here to learn more about Martin Simpson one of our early curators.

The whole collection was conserved in the late 1990's with the aid of grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, P.R.I.S.M., CURRY and Pilgrim Trust Funds.

Microscope belonging to Martin Simpson

There is also a growing collection of dinosaur footprints varying from some a few centimetres in length up to one 40 centimetres long belonging to a herbivore. To learn more about ichthyosaurs visit the Berkeley University site ichthyosaurs, and to learn more about plesiosaurs visit this website.

In addition there is also a small but good representative collections of local rocks, building stones, erratics and minerals. In recent years, a number of large and spectacular evaporate mineral specimens from the Zechstein Sea as found in Boulby Mine have been collected and displayed by Mr Peter Thornton. A new display, currently under construction, will give information about the major local mineral industries : alum, ironstone and whinstone.

Three-toed dinosaur footprint from Cloughton	Footprint of herbivorous dinosaur