A major new exhibition opens at Portsmouth City Council’s Portsmouth Natural History Museum tomorrow (Saturday 23 May), taking visitors on a journey through 200 million years of the South’s history.
Hidden in Stone, opening at Cumberland House in Southsea, is free to visit and has been developed with partners including the University of Southampton and the University of Portsmouth. It brings together fossils, artefacts and life-size models.
The exhibition is organised into five themes, Jurassic Seas, Dinosaurs Roam, Chalk Seas, Tropical Hampshire and Frozen Britain, and features specimens from across southern England, including from Lyme Regis, the Isle of Wight and Hastings.
Visitors can see dinosaur skulls, casts of marine reptiles, and early human tools, alongside shark teeth, ammonites and other finds. Many items come from the council’s Natural History Collection and are rarely on public display.
Councillor Steve Pitt, Leader of Portsmouth City Council with responsibility for culture, said: “Hidden in Stone is a brilliant way to explore the story of our area and the people and wildlife that lived here long before us. It’s also a great example of what we can achieve by working with our university partners.
“We want our museums to spark curiosity, especially for children and young people, and this exhibition does exactly that, bringing science and history to life in a way that feels close to home.”
The exhibition also draws on research from university scientists and features artwork and sculptures created to help visualise extinct animals and environments.
Dr Neil Gostling, from the University of Southampton, who led the project, said: “The exhibition aims to connect people with the deep history of the places they know today.
“We can trace an extraordinary story here, from tropical seas and dinosaurs to ice ages and early humans. It helps us understand how much our environment has changed, and how we became part of that story.”