© Jeannette D’Souza 2022
What’s on for summer with the many events and special concessions during this warm break…Our thoughts were on The Natural History Museum which serves as a comprehensive wealth to learning our flora, fauna and the evolving of all species here on earth. Many intercontinental tourists do not overlook this unmissable sightseeing attraction and all the more for locals.
The Natural History museum’s building exteriors and interiors, (the tracery, carved pillar work and architectural embellishments) are stupendously amazing and we’re creatively designed by Alfred Waterhouse generating an attraction in itself within London’s most desirable areas!
London’s Natural History museum with it’s most unique natural collection of over 80 million objects all assembled meticulously over 4 floors draws millions of visitors annually from across the world. A fascinating discovery lies in every gallery collection spread over the 4 zones and a wealth of knowledge awaits those who explore..
As we entered the museum the grand Hintze hall at the heart of the edifice took us by surprise, every space and corner was draped in intricate stone ornamentation, an art delight to cherish!
The grand Victorian blue gold interiors of the Hintze hall were very welcoming, aesthetically striking and surely are an inspiration to architects, tourists and students alike.
Richard Owen a scientist and naturalist founded the Natural History museum then opening it to the public in 1881, he had a brilliant talent for analysing fossils and the museum mentions the fact that Owen invented the word “Dinosaur” when he named the group “Dinosauria”, meaning the terrible lizard.
Alongside traditionally set specimen and model displays of flora and fauna the interactive visual aids are a great source of learning as well as helpful in understanding the origins and evolution of life on earth…
Our heads turned toward the canopy of the grand atrium when we seen a gigantic skeleton of our world’s largest animal- a colossal blue whale wholly suspended from the ceiling…
A brief reflection engulfed it’s spectators as we read about some of the irreversible impacts from humankind’s thoughtless regard for nature, with species on the brink of extinction and many other species now gone, it was an evoking reflection…
Wandering around the ground level it led us to “Dippy returns”, an entire section with small videos all dedicated to this massive fossil skeletal structure of Dippy displayed on show.
Dippy as nicknamed is a Diplodocus Carnegii dating 145-155 million years old from the late Jurassic period, then weighing about 15 tonnes and over 24 metres long… this dinosaur has travelled over the country’s cities going on exhibitions for a few years and has now returned home back to the Natural History museum!
The Dinosaur gallery- the museum’s dinosaurs are world famous be it skeletons or robot models. The T-Rex robot fascinated all visitors with it’s roaring movements that caught most by surprise, while some of the unique original specimens were much credit worthy.
“Volcanoes and Earthquakes” is a very popular gallery with live demos and simulators, an exciting feature especially for children…
Entering the creepy crawlies section we seen numerous encased specimens as well as authentic models of anthropods- insects, crustaceans, centipedes and arachnids , a brilliant collection indeed.
We were amazed to hear that there are over 300 scientists researching at the museum, they study the extinct and the present day species to understand the rise and fall, the survival and evolution of organisms over time!
The birds section was reminiscent of old science movies(an Paddington) with their traditional style of enclosed glass displays pinned at angles- macaws, peacock, turkeys and even a model of the legendary dodo that is now extinct all well presented.
The dodo and the not so mysterious facts around it’s extinction, another sad reality owing to human actions…some insightful thoughts on the dangers caused to our universe from deforestation, urbanisation ….
Next up, The Vault is a large gallery that has preserved traditionally a massive collection of world’s precious and semiprecious gems, minerals including gold, silver and platinum all in their natural crude form and further more all geology fans can marvel at a brilliant collection of crystals and meteorites too.
Among many stunning displays at the Vault is the stunning “Ostro stone” weighing nearly 2 kgs, this Topaz is 9381 carats and originally from Brazil, It has an intense blue radiating colour and is the world’s largest treated topaz
The Vault houses a must see collection and a special pic below of a glass model of the world’s most talked about diamond “The Kohinur”!
Ascending the top most floor of the museum we witnessed nature’s wonders in this magnificent display, pic below. A colossal slice of a Giant Sequoias tree called the “Mark Twain” tree that lived for 1335 years..
I have always been fascinated by trees, they give so much asking nothing in return, preserving our world they provide shelter to a vast scope of life and play a vital role in absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, watching trees grow is a boundless joy !
When this tree was felled in 1891 most of the 70% of the earth’s land area was covered in natural habitat with trees and forests. Due to human activity such as logging, land clearing, urban development amongst other facts we are left with something below 40% of this natural area in this 21st century, another reflection over humankind’s actions…
The colourful ceiling of the Hintze hall is gilded covered with paintings of a wide and diverse variety of plants from across the world. The museum’s first superintendent Richard Owen (also the founder of the museum) worked closely with the museum’s architect Alfred Waterhouse to design a museum that reflected within it’s interiors the naturally wild and lush outdoors from across continents. The many hand painted and gilded decor especially the ceiling depicts plants from the 1600’s that are medicinal, health giving and universally important in various fields.
Images of nature- this superb gallery preserves over 500,000 works of art including photography with some superb ones on display. Artists who have captured nature in watercolour, oil, acrylic paints and other mediums too hold a special place in history. Natural History Art is a vital tool so very imperative for scientific study and in understanding the pigments from a plethora of flora or, analysing the discerning features of our natural world that are so well preserved, or those that might evolve over centuries, or change, or might be extinct.
Besides science this gallery is an artist’s delight too!!
The extensive “Mammals” gallery is very popular with the young and not so young, there are life size models of animals and sea life including the blue whale, elephants, deers, rhino, hippos and so on, an attracting learning feature with interactive tools for little minds …
The Natural History museum is an attractive and impressive feature of London with helpful and knowledgeable staff to guide visitors. With superbly maintained galleries, tech interactive features and detailed informed facts it forms the basis of learning for younger minds, a continuum of study for scientists and an inspiration to all.
We left there feeling enriched and thankful to this museum’s admirable ancient collectors, our scientists and the generous donors alike, this London museum has a lot to offer!
⁃ Jeannette D’Souza (3rd June 2022)
© Jeannette D’Souza 2022
