For the first time, thanks to a loan agreement between our two museums, visitors to the Novium in Chichester this summer will be able to see bones from Horsham’s own dinosaur, the Horshamosaurus, on display as part of their new exhibition, Dinosaurs: Hungry Hatchlings.
Since the 1980s A unique collection of fossils has been housed at Horsham Museum, named by William Blows in 2015 as Horshamosaurus Rudgewickensis, a previously unnamed and undiscovered dinosaur. These bones were first put on display in 1993, before having been properly identified, and have been a star display at the museum ever since. However visitors to our fossils and flints gallery this summer might notice that the Horshamosaurus is missing.
The Novium museum in Chichester have just launched their new exhibition, Dinosaurs: Hungry Hatchlings, open until the 9th of November 2024. This exhibition tells the stories of iconic dinosaurs on their journeys from egg to adult, and also features local Sussex dinosaurs like the Iguanodon and Horshamosaurus, which has gone to them on loan for the duration of the exhibition.
Before the fossils are sent on loan, an agreement is drawn up and detailed condition reports are made for each piece by Museum curator Nikki Caxton. These documents contain notes and annotated photographs that precisely record their condition before they go out on loan. They are then carefully packed in a crate for the Novium’s team to transport to Chichester. Upon arriving at The Novium Museum the fossils are soon set up to be displayed in their new case, ready for the exhibition to open.
The Horshamosaurus was a large herbivorous dinosaur belonging to a group of dinosaurs called Ankylosaurs. Fossils on display are two of the spine bones (vertebrae) part of the hip structure (ischium), a rib, the end of a humerous and an armour plate from the animal’s back. This collection represents the only fossils known to have come from the Horshamosaurus.
Details of the exhibition can be found here: https://www.thenovium.org.uk/dinosaurs
Published: 15 May 2024