NATURAL HISTORY: THE BENNETT FOSSIL COLLECTION

In 1987, the Museum acquired the collection of the amateur fossil collector and past president of Croydon Natural History Society Walter H Bennett (1892-1971). The collection comprises over 175,000 individual fossil specimens and covers geological periods from the Cambrian to more recent times.

Bennett travelled extensively, collecting fossils from many parts of the world. Most came from Britain and Europe and includes material collected from important geological sites such as the Solnhofen limestone in Germany and other European locations, for example, Italy, France and Cyprus. Other material was collected from farther afield.

The collection contains a small number of specimens from the Burgess Shale in Canada, one of the first designated World Heritage Sites, where it is now almost impossible to collect. Specimens from other significant North American sites including the Green River Eocene Shales are also represented in the collection.