Jurassic Coast World

Heritage Site Fossil acquisition strategy for the Jurassic Coast- Consultation Document

A study to identify ways to safeguard important scientific fossils from the Dorset and East Devon

Coast World Heritage Site – prepared by Weightman Associates and Hidden Horizons on behalf of

the Jurassic Coast Team, Dorset County Council

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Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site Fossil acquisition strategy for the Jurassic Coast

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………2

2. BACKGROUND…………………………………………………………………………………..2

3. SPECIFIC ISSUES………………………………………..……………………………………….5

4. CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS………………………………………………5

5. DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………………………..11

6. CONCLUSIONS…………………………..……………………………………………………..14

7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………....14

8. APPENDIX..……………………………………………………………………………………...14

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JURASSIC COAST FOSSIL ACQUISITION STRATEGY

1. Introduction

The aim of this project is to identify ways to safeguard important scientific fossils from the

Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site. The identification of placements in

accredited museums would enable intellectual access for scientific study and education.

Two consulting companies Weightman Associates and Hidden Horizons have been

commissioned to undertake this Project. Weightman Associates is a partnership of Gill

Weightman and Alan Weightman; they have been in partnership for twenty years working

on museum and geology projects. Hidden Horizons Ltd is a museum and heritage

consultancy formed in 2013 by Will Watts.

When UNESCO granted World Heritage status to the Dorset and East Devon Coast in 2001 it

recognised the importance of the Site’s geology and geomorphology. The Jurassic Coast

Management Plan 2014-2019 has as one of its aims to “To Conserve and enhance the Site

and its setting for science, education and public enjoyment” and the Plan states that a

critical success factor is “An increase in the number of scientifically important fossils found

along the site that are acquired by or loaned back to local accredited museums”. This report

examines acquisition strategies to ascertain the potential for future storage and display of

specimens.

The World Heritage Site has a Collecting Code and a Recording Scheme. An Acquisition

Strategy is considered the next stage towards completing the jigsaw of a suitable repository

for the scientific study and display of fossils. The ideal for scientific study is when the

specimens are accessioned in an accredited museum.

The authors consulted with the following agencies and personnel for formal and informal

discussions and advice on a strategy for storing and display of fossil specimens and these

included: Jurassic Coast Trust, Jurassic Coast Team, Jurassic Coast Museum Partnership,

Fossil Collectors, Museum Curators including Dorset’s Museum Coordinator, Dorset County

Museum, Lyme Regis Museum, Bridport Museum, Royal Albert Museum Exeter, Bristol City

Museum and Art Gallery, Natural History Museum, British Geological Survey, Geological

Curators Group, Natural England and Jurassica (a proposed world-class geological centre in a

former quarry in Portland).

2. Background to the Project

The Site contains a number of Geological Conservation Review sites for palaeontology while

the fossils also form an important element in many of the stratigraphical interests. Virtually

any part of the Site has the potential to produce something of considerable scientific

interest although some areas are far more productive than others. Lyme Regis is the place

where the first marine reptiles were recognised by science together with the first UK

pterosaur. Many of the fish species are unique to the Lower Jurassic rocks exposed either

side of the town. Other notable sites include those that contain the Kimmeridge Shale and

the Purbeck Beds together with the scattered and very rare Triassic reptile and amphibian

faunas of East Devon.

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Fossils from this coast have found their way into museum collections around the World and

specimens new to science continue to be found almost on an annual basis. Museums may

acquire specimens by making finds, through loans, donation, and the development of a

personal collection that becomes widely accessible. Museums may pay for specimen

conservation and may purchase specimens.

Collectors, both amateur and professional (and mainly local), have an essential role in

recovering the important specimens before they are damaged or destroyed by the sea.

There has been a long association between these collectors and scientists or museum

curators, dating back to the days of Mary Anning.

However, over the last two decades, considerably more important fossils have been found

than have been acquired by accredited museums. This might be due to a number of factors;

declining/lack of funding, a reluctance to purchase specimens by museums, a lack of

capacity to physically house specimens and a desire by some collectors to hold on to their

best specimens either due to a wish to maintain their own collections or in the hope of a

‘World Class’ museum being established for the World Heritage Site where they could be

satisfactorily displayed. Many of the most significant finds remain in the collections made by

a handful of collectors but it seems increasingly unlikely to remain so and there is a pressing

need to establish what can be done to acquire these specimens in accredited museums

ideally locally or elsewhere.

Since 2006, the local museums have formed the Jurassic Coast Museums Partnership and

this has led to some very considerable success in funding for acquisition and display. In 2008

Collecting Cultures provided £200,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund matched with

£30,000 from Dorset and Devon county councils and an additional £12,000 from the PRISM

to furnish museums with representative fossils and create displays to tell their own part of

the Jurassic Coast story. Specimens were selected for their scientific significance wherever

possible. However, the project also essentially filled any remaining display space within

these local museums while storage remains limited. In 2013 Arts Council England provided a

grant to help the partnership museums better tell their stories along the Jurassic Coast and

explore opportunities for joint marketing and training. This included a major digitisation

initiative which brought just under 1,000 specimens into an online database at

www.jurassiccoast.org/fossilfinder.

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Plate 1 Fossils from the Jurassic Coast displayed at Lyme Regis Museum

Current expansion plans are under development for Dorset County Museum, Lyme Regis

and Bridport museums but they will not significantly increase their capacity to display fossils

although they will enable better use of existing space. The Dorset County Museum plans

describe a Collections Discovery Centre, and reconfiguration of their gallery space to create

a new gallery on ‘The Story of Dorset’. The main part of the proposal includes a large new

storage facility which should provide tens of years’ worth of future storage for geological

and other collections. None of these plans include any funding for further acquisition. The

Museum of Jurassic Life based around the Steve Etches Collection is a charitable initiative

that has been able to establish a registered museum for this internationally important

collection that should be open by 2016. In addition to working with museums, the Jurassic

Coast Team has also supported capital projects at Durlston Castle, the Chesil Beach Centre,

Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre, the Sidmouth shelters, and Seaton Jurassic which have

either happened or are in development, and were identified in the Site’s Interpretation

Action Plan. It also has ambitions for a residential study centre for the World Heritage Site.

Finally, Jurassica is a major multi million pound independent proposal on Portland involving

a large dome enclosing a quarry in which fossils can be displayed alongside interpretation,

including animatronic marine reptiles. They plan to borrow and may purchase some fossils

from collectors and have already made an approach to some. Some local collectors state

that they would still rather see a ‘West Dorset museum’ over placing their collections on

Portland or elsewhere.

The Jurassic Coast Trust has established a Mary Anning Fund to support museum acquisition

but has not yet prioritised how to build up significant funds within it. One particular issue is

the need to be able to act quickly when a specimen presents itself in order to be sure to

secure it. Fundraising, in a museum context, however, traditionally takes place having

identified an object for acquisition and can take years. The Mary Anning Fund needs to be

able to raise funds, essentially for unknown specimens, in order to be in a position to

contribute when it is needed.

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A fossil collecting code of conduct has been operating between Lyme Regis and Hive Beach

on the West Dorset coast since 1999 in reflection of the extraordinary richness of specimens

found in this area but the recording scheme that accompanies it (accessible at:

http://fossilcode.org/dorset/) shows that less than 10% of the specimens defined as being

of key scientific importance have actually been acquired by museums. Most of the rest

remain in the collections of local collectors. The code resolves any issues of provenance in

the majority of land that produces fossils and therefore that is not something required from

this work, although rightful ownership is a central issue in acquisition and is recognised

accordingly.

3. Specific issues

The issues facing both the World Heritage Site and its museums are:

1. A lack of physical capacity to store and display specimens. This should improve in

time, but will current plans create what is needed and/or satisfy expectation? How

might the Dorset County Museum store work in association with other facilities to

loan and display specimens?

2. No quick, simple or guaranteed access to funding for acquisition. Potentially

important specimens may be offered with little warning prior to them becoming

available. The West Dorset code requires collectors to offer specimens to accredited

museums within the UK for a period of at least six months. One potential acquisition

exceeded that time and was therefore free to be offered elsewhere, which it was.

The delay was caused by the need to undertake sufficient work to try to determine

the present landowner on a piece of foreshore attributed to a family name from the

1860’s and was never completed.

3. An accumulation of specimens in collector’s hands, many of which are of

considerable monetary value, if nothing else because of the time invested to find,

conserve and prepare them. The result is that a potentially huge value of specimens

(perhaps 20 years’ worth or more), rather than being acquired over time, may all

need to be acquired at once, if that is possible and what the collectors wish. Many of

these specimens are also of great scientific importance but in practice cannot be

described in the scientific literature until they are secured in an accredited museum

collection.

4. Consultation with Stakeholders

Jurassic Coast Trust

The Jurassic Coast Trust (JCT) is the charitable arm of the Jurassic Coast Partnership. It has

100+ volunteers, 30 Ambassadors and 3,000+ Friends. It is the only individual body within

the Partnership which both encompasses the whole of the World Heritage Site (WHS)

geographically, and shares its name. They undertake fundraising, create publications, run

community projects and engage with local businesses. This is increasingly proving to be a

successful way to get the Jurassic Coast message across, including supporting education and

conservation initiatives. Ambassadors have local knowledge and expertise and are able to

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provide a local point of contact for community groups, schools, and businesses, explaining

where to go and what to see and educate in each local area. They can also explain about the

WHS Collecting Code and Recording Scheme if appropriate. The Trust currently employs

1.4FTE staff

The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Team (Jurassic Coast Team)

The Team is the professional body charged with looking after the Site through coordination

of the delivery of the Site’s Management Plan. The Team responds to a Steering Group

comprising more than 30 organisations and technical specialists. The Team is hosted by

Dorset County Council, and is supported by Dorset and Devon CCs, Natural England and the

Environment Agency. The Team has staff of 5.5FTE, including two geological posts.

Jurassic Coast Museums Partnership

The local museums have formed the Jurassic Coast Museums Partnership (JCMP) and this

has provided success with four different sets of funding for a variety of projects, including

acquisition and display, educational work and digitisation.. The authors spoke to

representatives from the JCMP to glean an understanding of the opportunities and

constraints for an acquisition policy for the fossils.

Lyme Regis Museum has approximately 1000 geological specimens which are mostly fossils

including one type Scelidosaurus harrisonii . The museum has recently acquired large

vertebrate species. Lyme Regis is often regarded as ‘home of palaeontology’ and the

museum reflects the variety of the geological environment of the Jurassic Coast World

Heritage Site. There are plans for a £1.5 million 2 storey extension which will provide public

services, including an education room and toilets. The redevelopment also includes plans to

revamp the geology gallery and concentrate on Mary Anning and Buckland, provide open

drawers to display more material but keep the traditional appearance of the museum. They

are relying on DCM for storing new material particularly the large specimens. They hope

that the present visitor figures of 25,000 will increase by 20% with expansion plans. There is

no money at present for specimen acquisition because their priority is providing public

services that currently don’t exist within the museum.

Bridport Museum is a Grade 2 listed building which concentrates mainly on the Rope and

Net making industries in the area. There are several hundred geology specimens and

significant acquisitions were purchased through the HLF Collecting Cultures programme, and

a new small gallery created. The emphasis of the museum is linking fossils to the human

story and they have a child friendly rather than an academic display.

Dorset County Museum is governed by the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological

Society. The museum has approximately 20,000 fossil specimens which include important

vertebrate material such as the Weymouth Bay Pliosaur and the Swanage Crocodile

including type and figured specimens. The existing geology collection is stored in a cramped

room within the building with no environmental conditioning. Some important specimens

including figured pterosaur footprints are stored in the old Craft Centre which is in a poor

state of repair. The reluctance to purchase and acquire specimens in the past has been

related to their lack of space and ethical concerns about collecting when staff did not have

the facilities to care for it long term. However, the museum has recently been successful in

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their Heritage Lottery Fund bid of £10.3 million for the Collections Discovery Centre and

gallery reconfiguration.

The new Dorset County Museum project addresses the issue of space and facilities and will

also benefit Bridport and Lyme Regis museums acting as a county wide store. The new space

is all based around open access storage (see plans in Appendix), they see this as

fundamental to addressing concerns that collections in storage are never seen.

Plate 2. Proposed Collections Discovery Centre, Dorset County Museum

A discussion with the museum representatives raised the question of whether a ‘Jurassic

Coast Collection’ consisting of fossil specimens from the World Heritage Site could become a

‘designated collection’ and be recognised as nationally significant. Arts Council Funding

could be used acquire and maintain the collection. It was suggested that the Jurassic Coast

Trust be the umbrella organisation for the Jurassic Coast Collection. Another consideration

was that Dorset County Museum (DCM) would be the best umbrella organisation as there

are no curators within the Trust and so DCM or a partnership between the Trust and the

DCM would be preferable.

Collectors

Several collectors were consulted to obtain views on their preferred storage for a Jurassic

Coast Collection. There is an immense active fossil collecting community which consists of a

range of collectors including many enthusiastic amateurs and some commercial dealers.

Several of the collectors or ‘fossilists’ are introduced in a display in Lyme Regis Museum

(Plate 3). At Lyme Regis Museum the collectors are sometimes mentioned on museum

labels and the preparators are also acknowledged for their skills.

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Plate 3 Display at Lyme Regis Museum showing some of the collectors.

Some collectors have very large fossil collections of between hundreds to thousands with

precise detail on provenance stored on computer databases. Certain collectors have

aspirations that their specimens will be on display in national museums rather being stored

away from public view. Some were impressed by the standard of curation at the British

Geological Survey and had thought this was an ideal storage location for important fossil

specimens. Some collectors thought that a range of display types was required from

scientific important fossils to those on virtual display. All considered the importance of

display for inspiring children to become interested in science. Some collectors have strong

links with some of the regional museums which tend to be mainly based on personalities

rather than museum policy.

Several of the collectors were hoping to sell their fossil specimens for display in Jurassica.

They consider that fossil specimens need to be viewed as commercial entities and that

Jurassica would be prepared to purchase specimens for display and not rely solely on loaned

fossils and therefore the Project would need significant investors. By displaying world-class

specimens the success of the Jurassica Project would be ensured. All the collectors

considered that a specialist Geology Museum was required as all the present local museums

in Dorset and East Devon cover multicultural themes. Some collectors are adamant that the

fossil specimens should be purchased rather than being loaned or donated; this is due to the

large cost invested by the collector going out in the field in all weathers, the long difficult

task removing the fossils, the precise and unique skills (part science/art) in the preparation

of the fossils. Some need to sell their collections in order to make a living. However,

collectors often part with their fossils for considerably less than their commercial value or

donate them depending on the type of project that comes forward and how the relationship

between them and that project develops. Many collectors are keen on Jurassica as this

would enable large quantities to be kept together but no local museum is big enough to

acquire all the specimens. The UNESCO brief is a strong argument for keeping the material

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in Dorset and East Devon. World Heritage Site doesn’t have a fossil museum when there are

world class scientific collections here.

One idea that emerged was to produce a travelling exhibition with a working title of

‘Jurassic Sea Dragons’ before the Dorset County Museum and Jurassica were able to accept

fossil specimens. The exhibition could go to venues such as the Natural History Museum and

the National Museum of Wales and many other museums. Such exhibitions can generate

fees of £10,000 per month and travel for 5 years but cash is needed up front to establish the

display. Specialists in travelling exhibitions are based at the Natural History Museum and

National Museum of Wales. Inherent problems include the danger of damaging important

scientific specimens so some might have to be replicas.

Some collectors had strong views about the worthiness of stratigraphic collections and the

costs to museums for their storage and curation and that the disposal of some museum

specimens may free up space for better quality, scientifically important fossils from the

World Heritage Site. Others considered stratigraphic collections were of high scientific value

and important in museum collections.

Regional and National Museums

Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives (BMGA) – BMGA holds the largest geological

collection in the South West of England, with an estimated 500,000 fossils, rocks and

minerals supported by historic archives, maps, photographs and library. This is currently

cared for by one full-time Senior Curator (Natural Sciences) and one part-time Curator

(Geology). The collection is made accessible via an active programme of display, events,

research and collections management; to achieve this BMGA’s team works closely with

specialist geology volunteers from the University of Bristol and scientists from across the

world, alongside other external partners.

As the major museum closest to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, BMGA's collection

has a long history connected to the area.

“The first specimen acquired by the Bristol Institution (a parent of the current organisation)

was a Lower Lias ichthyosaur purchased from Mary Anning of Lyme Regis. Bristol was the

place that William Conybeare and Henry De La Beche undertook their seminal early research

on marine reptiles (1821-4), with specimens from the coast informing a very early 3D

skeletal reconstruction of an ichthyosaur and the first announcement of the discovery of a

complete plesiosaur. The Institution’s collection figured prominently in Owen’s famous

‘Report on British Fossil Reptiles’, and its earliest curator, J.S. Miller, was the first to

recognise pterosaurian material from Lyme Regis later named by William Buckland as

Dimorphodon.

Over the years Bristol acquired one of the most important collections of marine reptile

fossils in the world. In a sad twist of fate, a direct hit to the old museum during World War II

destroyed most of the large and significant display specimens, which it had not been

possible to move to safety, though much early material remains in our stored collections.

Since the end of the war, and during the 1980s and 1990s in particular, there has been a

drive to repopulate lost specimens. New acquisitions have included large and significant

specimens from the Jurassic coast. There is also a wish to research and rediscover the

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museum’s early 'ghost' collection by re-acquiring representations of specimens that were

cast, illustrated or photographed before they were lost.

Large and significant Jurassic coast specimens in BMGA's collections today include: the

impressive ‘Charmouth ichthyosaur’, purchased in 1980s; a skull of Temnodontosaurus

thought to be the second significant specimen discovered by Mary Anning; a scelidosaur

specimen including extremely rare preserved skin. Smaller specimens are contained in a

large number of storage boxes, the focus of a current digitisation project.

BMGA are very keen to continue to acquire significant specimens from the Jurassic coast

where these have good provenance and scientific field collection data, and are important to

new scientific research, display or the history of our collections. Continuing from our work in

this area during the 1980s and 1990s we would seek funding to support this from Friends’

groups, sources including the PRISM and Curry funds, and individual giving. Our geology

stores have considerable existing space for expansion of smaller specimens. As with most

museums we would need to carefully consider the storage implications surrounding

acquisition of larger specimens, but would accommodate significant specimens as part of a

current drive to increase storage capacity for the service as a whole and by incorporating

into new displays. Indeed, we are in the early stages of planning a major new palaeontology

temporary exhibition for 2017 and considering acquisition opportunities linked to this.” Isla

Gladstone – Senior Curator (Natural Sciences).

Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter (RAMMS) – The museum has a few hundred

specimens Lyme and Charmouth area. They would prefer to accept fossil material that was

found closer to Exeter. They would much prefer the fossil specimens from the Jurassic Coast

to remain in this area and consider DCM a possible repository if there is adequate research

access and suitable storage. Holly Morgenroth – Curator of Natural History.

Natural History Museum – The NHM will continue to support the work of the World

Heritage site by providing specialist expertise across a wide range of fossil groups, working

with local accredited museums to provide loans of historic specimens and consulting with

museums, individuals and the Jurassic Coast Team in relation to potential acquisitions.

Geological Curators Group – They are happy to facilitate discussion and comment, they are

supportive of fossil material being held in museums where possible.

British Geological Survey – There are 6775 prime reference specimens (including type,

figured and cited) from the 50k map sheets along Jurassic Coast, and a further 26,000+

other specimens. The BGS is happy to accept a significant number of additional specimens in

the future. “My personal view is that, within reason, it doesn’t matter too much where the

material is stored, so long as it is easily accessible. That means online, with not just Ids,

locality & stratigraphy information, collecting information & bibliography, etc. but also good

quality images. The Jurassic Coast database is fine, but I believe the stereo views and 3d

digital models of the BGS/JISC GB\3D database are the future: http://www.3d-

fossils.ac.uk/ and try: http://www.3d-

fossils.ac.uk/search.cfm?pageNo=1&sortCol=REG_NUMBER&sortDir=ASC&findtext=Lyme+R

egis&basicSubBtn=Search “- Dr Mike Howe Chief Curator, Head of the National Geological

Repository

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5. Discussion

During the writing of this document, a number of strong opinions were heard from all

parties, some of these were quite negative in terms of people’s perceptions of how other

people had acted in the past and might act in the future. However, despite this there does

seem to be a consensus, that material from the JCWHS would ideally be retained in the UK,

ideally in Dorset and ideally in public collections.

It is also clear from the consultations that there is a large body of material that has been

collected over the last few decades by private individuals, all following the collecting code.

All the collectors we met are very keen to see their material contribute to the development

of the scientific understanding of the JCWHS. Many of the collectors have retained material

for a number of years in the hope that a solution may be found.

Whilst there is often a focus on spectacular vertebrate remains, it is important that any

acquisition strategy also considers all the other material that has been collected. This

provides a context to the ‘star finds’ and also ensures that a truly representative collection

of material is acquired for future generations.

More work and local discussion between parties is required to look at all the options and

constraints for acquisition. Different options should be explored, including donation and

purchase. Individual dialogues and tailored approaches with collectors adapted for each

situation would probably be a good way forward, this has to be led and managed at a local

level in the local area.

In some circumstances, ensuring that collectors are financially compensated for their

material (and the large amount of time and resources put into collecting and preparing it)

will be important to moving forward. It was however encouraging that everybody we spoke

to agreed that there will need to be this element of financial transaction in some cases (it

should be noted that this view may not be held by all interested parties once the strategy

goes out for wider consultation).

The consultation has also highlighted a number of potential barriers to acquisition and these

will need to be looked at both on a case by case basis and also more holistically. For

example, the issue of proof of ownership and transfer of title has been identified and it is

encouraging that plans are already in place to look at this on a wider level between the

Natural History Museum, ACE and others. The unique opportunity afforded by this material

should be used to find solutions to these issues, which may include unique solutions that

may be different to existing procedures that exist.

The acquisition of fossil material could be viewed as a major challenge or a huge

opportunity in the management of the WHS, this is in terms of the sheer quality of material,

the associated data collected, preparation techniques, scientific value etc. The lack of a clear

strategy means that a large accumulation of material has been built up recent decades, and

this will need to be addressed in any strategy (as opposed to what might be required in

future years once this material has been ‘cleared’), it should be noted that not all consultees

agreed that there was a need to consider a large block of material for a ‘one off’ solution,

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rather that it could be addressed in an ongoing manner as material became available to the

market.

The fossil material we saw during this study was of a very high quality and this is only a

fraction of the material that exists and has been retained by collectors through their

goodwill and patience. Whilst some material has been dispersed though various channels

including sales, donations and loans, both into private hands and public collections, there is

a once in a lifetime opportunity to ensure that this quality material of scientific importance

is acquired for public collections to ensure they are available for future generations.

During the consultation and preparation of this report there have been developments

pertinent to this work, including funding news for major capital projects, changes in

personnel and developments regarding specific collections and specimens. Recent news on

social media suggested that a major vertebrate fossil in a private collection maybe sold at

auction, which arguably would be the exact situation a future strategy would seek to avoid.

All of these ‘shifting sands’ make the development of a clear strategy, backed by all

stakeholders, suitably resourced, and independent of short term change and the associated

disruption that it brings, crucial to making the most of the opportunity.

A fossil acquisition strategy for the WHS is based upon the fact that is a unique situation and

opportunity, in terms of the amount and quality of material, the exciting capital

developments taking place in Dorset and the organisations and partners willing and keen to

see a solution. However, a model for The Jurassic Coast could be adopted for other fossil

locations elsewhere in the UK.

A key finding of this work is that there needs to be an agreed shared vision for fossil

material collected from the JCWHS, this work has begun to tease out some of the elements

that might form this vision but it is also clear from discussions and responses to early

versions of this document that there are areas where stakeholders do not necessarily agree.

The most effective way to move forward on an agreed vision would be to bring together all

those stakeholders already consulted as part of this process, and potentially those from a

wider network, to meet and work together to agree a vision, and also to ensure that the full

range of views and issues are shared face to face.

Once a vision has been agreed then how to deliver this can be considered. Everybody we

spoke to (and it would be common sense) was very keen to see a joined up approach to this

opportunity. There may be a number of ways forward, ranging from the simple ‘we will all

make sure we talk and work together’ when material become available, through to the

fruition of multi-million pound capital projects. Whilst it is premature without a vision to

look at solutions, we have provided just one idea here that is slightly different from other

options that already exist. It is provided to act as a catalyst for discussions.

It is clear that much of the material that has been collected from the JCWHS forms a

definable collection, albeit with a number of areas that will require further discussion and

decisions by all parties concerned. As a starting point for the next stages of this work the

concept of a Jurassic Coast Collection (JCC) is outlined below, along with some suggested

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next steps that could be considered.

1. What do we mean by a Jurassic Coast Collection?

It would consist of material collected from the World Heritage site and would be a publically

owned collection, with intellectual access and on public display in and around Dorset and

East Devon. As a minimum there would need to be discussion about the following:

- What would be the criteria for inclusion of a specimen in the JCC?

- How would it relate to the categories already used in the Fossil Recording Scheme?

- How much of the material currently held by private collectors would need to be in a JCC? )

- Would there be a desire to see elements of existing museum collections become part of

the JCC perhaps in the longer term?

- Who would be involved with the initial stages of setting up a JCC, are these same bodies

who are involved in later stages?

2. Partners in a JCC:

- who the lead body would be in particular around the ultimate ownership of items and

fundraising to acquire and care for them. Do these need to be the same organisation?

- Assuming the JCC is held in public hands then who the accredited museum body would be

where the material would be held, this may not necessarily need to be the same partner for

all the collection.

- who would be key interpretation/display partners for the collection? This might well

include other organisations not directly involved with the fundraising for the JCC or the long

term care

- who would be key academic partners? Does this even need to be defined a this stage?

3. Collections management and care

- the idea of Designation for a collection like the JCC would need to be explored further, in

particular with reference to any other Designation bids by relevant museums, but also with

regard to whether a collection managed in this way is eligible.

- To ensure the long term sustainability of a JCC then serious thought should be given to the

establishment of an endowment fund to cover the ongoing cost of collections care, this of

course ties right back to discussions about ultimate ownership and therefore risk and

benefit associated with owning this material.

4. Finance

- Discussions with collectors need to take place sensitively and realistically about the value

of material that ideally needs to be acquired. This would be into the low £millions.

- At the same time as a cost is being established then discussions with potential funders and

sponsors can begin. How this is managed is crucial, who is best placed to raise funds, are

there any potential conflicts around partners needing to approach funders for other work at

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the same time. The unique nature of this situation should be used to maximum advantage;

this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for British palaeontology.

- Who would benefit from any commercial spin offs from the JCC, touring exhibitions,

bespoke merchandise?

6. Conclusions

The goodwill and genuine desire to find a solution that suits all parties that we encountered

would make this approach achievable. It would also have the added benefit of requiring

partnership working between all those involved whilst also making best use of the resources

available.

There is an opportunity for all those interested parties to gain great benefit from the fossil

resource that is part of the WHS. The unique status afforded to a WHS alone, alongside the

exciting developments in Dorset and East Devon mean the time is probably ideal to resolve

this long standing situation in a positive way. This consultation document is a starting point

and the strategy is likely to be an iterative evolving process.

7. Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the following people and thank them for their

assistance in the compilation of this report. Vicky DeWit, Richard Edmonds, Isla Gladstone,

Wolfgang Grulke, Emily Hicks, Mike Howe, Paddy Howe, Jonathan Larwood, Chris Moore,

Holly Morgenroth, Martin Munt, John Murden, Alex Odwyer, Sam Rose, Alison Smith, David

Sole, David Tucker, John Whicher.

8. Appendix

The Jurassic Coast Management Plan 2014-2019

http://jurassiccoast.org/component/phocadownload/category/14-managment-plan-current

The Jurassic Coast Collecting Code

http://www.charmouth.org/chcc/rocks-and-fossils/fossil-code

Information on the Dorset County Museum Collection Discovery Centre

http://www.dorsetcountymuseum.org/discovery-centre

Information on Jurassica

http://jurassica.org

Will Watts, Gill Weightman July 2015.