Yesterday whilst volunteering at Wollaton Hall there was the exciting opportunity to fill an empty display left behind by the old Titus Exhibit, and get hands on with some beautiful specimens from the stores. We had already created the list of specimens to go on temporary display, and opening the cabinets and packing them for transportation meant I could get a really good look at some of them (and a few pictures too!).

Once we’d transferred them from the stores to the room they’d be displayed in, it was time to install! After closing off the area and getting the case open (we cordoned where the glass was stuck out so no-one would bump into it), it turned into a big game of Tetris. All of the specimens we used where collected from the Oxford Clay, and we used this to represent what kind of ecosystem existed in the Jurassic ocean covering the UK at the time. A good range of invertebrates, fish and marine reptiles where included in the display, including the beginnings of a mock work-space, representing the work I have been doing matching rib fragments of an ichthyosaur (which I will cover in a different blog post). We finished the display in a day and overall was very happy with the result, and will be filling the case next to it after the bank holiday. But for now, it’s nice to see a selection of the Oxford Clay collection on public display for everyone to enjoy and appreciate, like I’ve been able to behind the scenes in the stores.