Russell-Cotes Geological Terrace
In May 2005 Bournemouth University took possession of the Russell-Cotes Geological Terrace on long-term loan. This exhibit, which used to be located on the cliff-top in front of the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum in Bournemouth, was placed in storage when the Art Gallery & Museum's gardens were restored in the late 1990s. Since then the stones have been unavailable to the public and have been deteriorating in storage.
Over 170 of the original 200 stones have been saved by Professor Matthew Bennett and Brian James working in association with the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum and have been restored to public display on the University's Talbot Campus. The stone blocks, that form the terrace, have been incorporated into a disabled access ramp built as part of a re-design of the Campus entrance to bring it in line with government legislation on disabled access. The inclusion of the geological terrace within these works has been made possible by a small grant from the Curry Fund of the Geologists' Association.
The Russell-Cotes Geological Terrace was the inspiration of Norman Silvester who was the curator of the Art Gallery & Museum between 1932 and 1957. As a keen amateur geologist Norman was committed to the idea of celebrating Britains geological heritage one on the finest in the world. During the late 1940s Norman wrote to quarries throughout the UK asking for hand-cut, stone blocks to place in the terrace. These blocks were freely given and were arranged by Norman in geological age order to create a unique geological exhibit which first opened in 1951. Many of these quarries have long since been abandoned and the terrace preserves examples of our countries natural building stones and provides a showcase for our geological past.
Not only does the terrace provide a visually stimulating display at the entrance to the campus but also more importantly it will provide a focus for community outreach programmes in the School of Applied Sciences and provides an icon of the University's commitment to heritage conservation.
For more details contact Professor Matthew Bennett or Brian James
