Geology collections overview

The geology collection at Bolton Museum consists of 25,000 - 30,000 individual specimens.

The collections were primarily accumulated in the 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1920, the bulk of the extant geology collection was already at the Chadwick Museum.

Both William and Thomas Midgley were keen collectors and they collected or purchased material locally, nationally and internationally. The aim was obviously to build a reference collection that covered all the main areas of the science.

In the 1960s and 1970s the museum had full-time geologists on staff (Jim Nunney, then Alan Howell). Both Nunney and Howell utilised the museum accessions budget to expand the mineralogy collections. They were both keen collectors and visited many of England’s most important sites collecting material for the museum. However these collections make up a relatively minor aspect of the total holdings.

There are several collectors of major significance in terms of the amount or nature of the material donated/purchased:

Matthew Dawes

Dawes was a Bolton solicitor. He was typical of educated men of the time, having an active interest in the natural sciences. Geology in particular seems to have been a passion. Following his death in 1860 1,561 geological specimens were purchased by Bolton Museum. Among these are some type specimens and specimens cited in 19th Century monographs.

Rooke Pennington

The Pennington collection spans several areas of the museum, mainly Archaeology and Geology. He was a Bolton solicitor, but he also owned a museum in Castleton, Derbyshire. He tried to sell his museum from 1883 but it went unsold until after his death in 1887. Bolton purchased the contents of the Castleton Museum in 1888.
The sale catalogue makes it clear his holdings were extensive and it is likely several thousand specimens belong in this accession. Some of the best specimens in the collections came from Pennington.

John Starkie Gardner

Gardner was a geologist who sold his collections off when he moved into metalworking.
Material from his collections was purchased by Rooke Pennington for Bolton Museum some time in the early-mid 1880s. Most were collected and prepared by John Griffiths, a famed Folkestone fossil hunter.

Philip Brookes Mason and George Vine

Mason was a significant collector of the natural sciences. Following his death in 1903 his widow sold off his collections. Bolton purchased various lots from this sale, with the botany and entomology collections particularly benefiting.
Within geology, the accession register lists over 250 specimens of fossil Bryozoa. These were collected by George Vine, one of the most significant figures within Bryozoology. His collections are spread across Britain.

James Lomax

James Lomax was a local coalminer and later a preparator of geological material. He donated, sold and prepared material for Bolton Museum between 1899 and his death in 1934.
In particular it is the extensive slide and thin section collections that are of importance here. Lomax pioneered many methods of sectioning fossil material and slide preparation and is an important figure in the history of palaeobotany.

Allen Holden

Allen Holden was a Rochdale dentist who died in 1912. His widow sold his geology collections, and Bolton purchased the entirety of this. There is not a complete listing, but it is estimated this collection contains several thousand specimens.

Areas of Significance

Scientifically, the local Carboniferous period fossil plants are of greatest significance. All the museums Type specimens are from this aspect of the collections. Research requests are most likely to relate to this area (recent requests came from Birmingham University and Cardiff Museums). Also, this material represents the local geology and is a legacy of the coalmining industry.

The museum has a number of coal balls. These are exceedingly rare (they are only found at one or two sites in the North West of England) and very valuable from a research perspective (a researcher from Oxford University has so far only located any sizable holdings at Bolton).

The cave material from Creswell, Windy Knoll and Kents Cavern is also of great importance and has been extensively studied in the past (notably by Roger Jacobi of the British Museum and Natural History Museum).

The museum holds one of the best collections of Vernon Edwards’ prehistoric animal models in the country (independent scholar Mike Howgate has being researching Edwards and felt we had the best collection he had seen). It is possible some of these were used to illustrate The Dinosaurs in 1934. While the models are not scientifically accurate, they are of historical significance and popular with the public.

The Bolton Meteorite, while not a real meteorite, is one of the most popular display items in the museum.

The museum mineral collections contain many visually stunning specimens and these are valuable for display purposes.