27 Million Museum Specimens Set for Epic Move in New Government-Backed Facility
If the council signs off on planning permission, a cutting-edge Government-funded centre will soon house around 27 million priceless specimens. This move marks the biggest relocation of the museum’s collection in over a century.
State-of-the-Art Storage to Preserve History
The new building will be designed with top-tier sustainability and energy-efficiency standards. It will also meet strict international guidelines to keep the precious items from deteriorating. Right now, many of these specimens suffer from outdated and unsuitable storage conditions.
Hidden Treasures Finally Get a Home
None of the 27 million items are currently on public display. The collection spans microscopic organisms that survive in extreme environments, deep-sea samples, ancient archive documents, and gigantic whale remains.
Rare Finds with Famous Connections
Highlights include barnacles once studied by Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary theory, and the head of a megaloceros — a huge deer species that roamed during the Ice Age (see picture above, courtesy of the museum’s trustees).
