Great North Museum - Geological Models and Maps
The pre-eminent collection of geological models are those of Thomas Sopwith. Sopwith (1803-1879) was a cabinet maker who also had a career in engineering and surveying. He won the Telford Silver medal for his outstanding wooden geological models over 30 of which are held at the Hancock. Sopwith's firm also made furniture for the museum. There are also archival collections relating to Sopwith include drawings of his models.
Other miscellaneous geological collections include an original copy of the first published geological map of the UK, produced by William Smith in 1815 and entitled "A delineation of the Strata of England and Wales, with part of Scotland; exhibiting the collieries and mines, the marshes and fen lands originally overflowed by the sea, and the varieties of soil according to the variations in the substrata, illustrated by the most descriptive names", and a rare White Watson tablet, a representation in rocks of the strata of the Derbyshire Coal Field area.
For further information on specimens and species within the collection, please contact Sylvia Humphrey.
