Natural History Museum - Tring, Hertfordshire, UK - Wildlife Museums on Waymarking.com

The main website describes the museum in detail:

'The remarkable collections in the galleries of the Natural History Museum at Tring were once the private passion of its founder, Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild. The Rothschild family gifted the entire Museum and its collections to the nation in 1937. Walter Rothschild was a scientist, collector and founder of the Museum.

Walter himself was a remarkable character. As well as collecting many thousands of mounted animals, he kept an astonishing variety of live animals in the grounds around the Museum and in Tring Park. He even used zebras to draw his carriage.

During his lifetime, Walter Rothschild collected many thousands of mounted mammals, birds, butterflies and moths, along with bird skins, giant tortoises and an impressive library.

Taxidermy
Many of the specimens on display are outstanding examples of 19th century taxidermy. Walter Rothschild selected only the finest specimens and made sure they were prepared by experts. We try to preserve this character in the displays you see today.

Scientific research
Walter accumulated new research material so rapidly that he and his professional zoologist curators, Ernst Hartert and Karl Jordan, began to issue the Museum's own scientific journal. Novitates Zoologicae launched in 1894. Over the course of 45 years, they published more than 1,700 scientific books and papers, and described more than 5,000 new species of animals.

Libraries
The Museum has two libraries, the stunning Rothschild Library and the modern Ornithological Library. The magnificent Rothschild Library was added to the Museum between 1908 and 1912. Augmented by The Natural History Museum's ornithological collection, it now houses some 75,000 books and is considered to be one of the finest ornithological libraries in the world.

Collections left behind
During his lifetime Lord Rothschild accumulated:
2,000 mounted mammals
about 2000 mounted birds
2 million butterflies and moths
300,000 bird skins
144 giant tortoises
200,000 birds' eggs
30,000 relevant books

Dispersing the collections
The majority of Walter's bird skin collection was sold to the American Museum of Natural History in the early 1930s and is now in New York. All his research collections other than the remaining bird material were moved to the Natural History Museum at South Kensington over an extended period following World War II. The Natural History Museum's own bird collections were then moved out to a new purpose-built building at Tring in the early 1970s, where they attract researchers from around the world.

The bird collections now include about 1,150,000 specimens of skins, skeletons, nests, sets of eggs and spirit-preserved material. They continue to grow very slowly as new items are added.

Spirit collection
The spirit collection is home to 17,000 specimens, kept in a solution of 80 per cent industrial methylated spirit, to preserve the birds complete with all internal organs in a manner permitting dissection. The oldest date back to Captain Cook's voyages in the 1760s and 1770s.

Skeleton collection
The 15,000 items in the skeleton collection are mainly disarticulated (kept as separate bones) and stored in boxes in tight-sealing cupboards.

Skin collection
The skin collection of 700,000 specimens includes skins from Charles Darwin's Galapagos journeys and Captain Cook's explorations. Kept in the dark, in well-sealed cupboards and with carefully-regulated conditions of temperature and humidity, the skins retain their plumage colour and have a virtually indefinite life.

The collections also include around 400,000 sets of eggs and some 4,000 nests.'

We have always enjoyed visiting this fantastic museum. The contribution to research was truly remarkable from these collections. On top of all of this it is free to visit.

Admission Fees: Free Hours of operation: the Museum is open 10.00-17.00 Monday to Saturday, 14.00-17.00 on Sundays the Museum shop is open 10.00-17.00 Monday to Saturday, 14.00-17.00 on Sundays the Zebra Café is open 10.30-17.00 Monday to Saturday, 14.00-17.00 on Sundays The Museum is open every day, including Sundays and bank holidays, but is closed 24-26 December. Services Provided: Shop, Restaurant, Cloakroom, Unisex disabled toliet, Picnic Areas. Parking: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
There will be no requirement for posting a visit; but a photo of you with your GPS or just your GPS somewhere on the museum grounds or in the museum would be fun. Preferrably at the entrance or near the museum sign. Actually going IN the museum is also NOT required for posting a log.

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