One of UK’s best fossil collections sold overseas in ‘loss to the nation’
An email seen by the Guardian suggested the NHM had “no money at all” for acquisitions.One curator said that while there had long been a hope that the collection could be kept in the UK, it also posed issues around storage space, curatorial time and packaging materials.“I don’t blame the collectors at all. They can’t sit on these things forever,” the curator said, adding that the issue was expected to occur again and again as collectors get older and look for a suitable home for their life’s work.“Whose responsibility is it to fund our heritage and the preservation of our heritage? Because otherwise it could get lost,” they added.The extensive collection is understood to come from a sequence of rocks known as the Lower Lias, from Lyme Regis, Charmouth, and the south-west of the UK.It was compiled by Chris Moore, a private Dorset-based collector with experience of hunting fossils in the area.
- ▪An email seen by the Guardian suggested the NHM had “no money at all” for acquisitions.One curator said that while there had long been a hope that the collection could be kept in the UK, it also posed issues around storage space, curatorial
- ▪They can’t sit on these things forever,” the curator said, adding that the issue was expected to occur again and again as collectors get older and look for a suitable home for their life’s work.“Whose responsibility is it to fund our herita
- ▪Because otherwise it could get lost,” they added.The extensive collection is understood to come from a sequence of rocks known as the Lower Lias, from Lyme Regis, Charmouth, and the south-west of the UK.It was compiled by Chris Moore, a pri
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| Original publisher | The Guardian — UK |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theguardian.com/science/ng-interactive/2026/aug/09/one-of-uks-best-fossil-collections-sold-overseas-in-loss-to-the-nation |
| Publication time | Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:00:02 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-08-08T16:05:47.313Z |
| Last seen | 2026-08-08T16:05:47.313Z |
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| Cluster | I-ICv8muYLgI · 1 stories |
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Composite: Guardian Design/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreen Composite: Guardian Design/Getty ImagesFossilsOne of UK’s best fossil collections sold overseas in ‘loss to the nation’Exclusive: Lack of funds left British museums unable pay eight-figure sum for collection, which went to Abu Dhabi institutionNicola Davis Science correspondentSat 8 Aug 2026 12.00 EDTLast modified on Sat 8 Aug 2026 12.02 EDTShare@font-face{font-family:Guardian Headline Full;src:url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format("woff2"),url(https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/fonts/guardian-headline/noalts-not-hinted/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff)…
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