Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Over het museum

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History was built between 1855 and 1860 on the initiative of Henry Acland, the University's Regius Professor of Medicine. At the time, teaching and collections in the natural sciences were scattered across the colleges, and Acland wanted to bring them together under one roof, with a central court surrounded by laboratories and lecture rooms. The Gothic Revival building opened in 1860, and the same year it hosted a famous debate about Darwin's ideas on evolution.

The core of the collection came from the Ashmolean Museum, including specimens gathered by the Tradescant family, and from other Oxford institutions. Over the following decades the science departments moved out to new buildings along South Parks Road, and the last of them left in 1978. In 1885 and 1886 a neighbouring building was added to house the ethnographic collection of General Pitt Rivers, which became the Pitt Rivers Museum; visitors still reach it through this museum.

Today the museum holds more than seven million specimens in zoology, entomology, geology, mineralogy and palaeontology, and it remains a research centre for the University. Its main court, with the cast-iron and glass roof, displays skeletons of dinosaurs and other animals. A long-running re-display project has been renewing the permanent galleries since 2018.

Hoogtepunten

• Whale and dolphin skeletons hanging from the roof of the main court
• Two plesiosaur skeletons in the Out of the Deep display
• Trilobite wall with 450-million-year-old fossils from Morocco
• Nantan meteorite, which visitors can touch
• Gemstone and mineral collection
• Victorian Gothic building with its glass and iron roof

Vaste collectie

• Life, As We Know It – Newly installed permanent displays on biodiversity, evolution and the history of life, including past ecosystems of Oxfordshire.
• Whale skeletons – Five skeletons, including a killer whale, a beluga and a bottlenose dolphin, hang from the roof of the main court.
• Out of the Deep – Two large plesiosaur skeletons from the seas that covered Britain about 165 million years ago.

Opgericht

1860

Beheerder

University of Oxford

Directie

Gavin Svenson

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

De toegang is gratis.

Entry to the museum is free and not ticketed.

Toegankelijkheid

• Rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift
• Aangepast toilet
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats
• Hulphonden welkom
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal
• Audiodescriptie

A step-free accessible entrance is on the right-hand side of the building as seen from Parks Road, with an automatic door and a lift to the lower ground, ground and first floors; the lift has tactile buttons, audio announcements and a hearing loop. The main entrance has eight steps. A small stair lift links the ground floor with the north lower ground floor. Two manual wheelchairs can be borrowed (no booking). Two Blue Badge spaces are on site. Accessible toilets are on the lower ground floor. A Touch Table with Braille text and raised images and other touchable specimens are on the ground floor. An audio-described guide, a visual guide for autistic visitors, an Easy Read guide and an access and sensory guide are available. Assistance animals are welcome. The shop counter has no hearing loop.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Gezinsrondleidingen & workshops
• Doe- en voelstations
• Kinderwagenvriendelijk
• Verschoonruimte

The museum describes itself as family friendly, with touchable specimens such as rocks, fossils and bones, family events and downloadable family craft templates. Pushchairs are welcome in the wide aisles, but they cannot be stored. Baby changing is in the south toilets on the lower ground floor.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

Traffic filters operate across Oxford, so visitors by car are encouraged to use Park and Ride. Coaches should not stop on Parks Road because of construction work and should use Keble Road for drop-off and pick-up. Bike racks are on Parks Road and beside the Robert Hooke building.

Service & horeca

• Café
• Museumwinkel
• Garderobe: niet aanwezig

Taylors museum café on the first floor with hot lunches, salads, sandwiches, snacks and drinks, and the Horsebox outside for cakes, snacks and drinks. The museum shop is on the ground floor. There is no cloakroom, so visitors keep their belongings with them.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

• Ruimtes te huur
• Privéfeesten
• Zakelijke evenementen

Tot 300 personen.

Spaces include the central court, meeting rooms and a lecture theatre with a capacity of 300.

Je bezoek plannen