10:00am-4:00pm on Saturday 13 September
Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Downing Street, CB2 3EQ
Drop into the Department of Earth Sciences and discover an impressive display of building stones, roofing slates, road stones, flagstones and decorative and ornamental stones that were used extensively throughout Britain and globally during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The display is part of a collection of 2500 specimens given to the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences by John Watson (1842-1918), who worked in the Portland Cement industry.
From Lincolnshire to Bermuda, the specimens are arranged by composition, from igneous rocks such as granite, to metamorphics such as slate, and sedimentary rocks such as limestone and sandstone.
The collection is mostly displayed in its original bespoke Edwardian cabinets, in the Watson Gallery, used as the common room by students and staff of the Department of Earth Sciences.
Free, brief introductory talks will be available, on the hour, on a drop-in basis. Staff and volunteers will be present throughout the day to discuss the gallery.