Visit to the Lapworth Museum of Geology Archives

Visit to the Lapworth Museum of Geology - collections and archives behind the scenes.

Wednesday, 29 July 2026, 11.00–17.00 hrs.

An opportunity to  to view and discuss a range of historically significant objects/material and meet with other HOGG members.

The Lapworth Museum of Geology is named after Charles Lapworth, who was the first Professor of Geology at the University of Birmingham.

The Museum has some really splendid public galleries, with displays of rocks, fossils and minerals, plus some historical diagrams.

It also holds a significant  collection of archive material - fossils,  early geological maps, maps, charts and much significant historical material..

This special HOGG tour, arranged by courtesy of the Director, will be an occasion to meet with other HOGG members and will provide the opportunity to view and discuss the Museum’s collection, including objects and materials not usually on public display.

The Museum is very accessible - it is a short walk away (10 minutes) from the University railway station, which is typically  5 to 6 minutes from Birmingham New Street Station with frequent trains at about 10 minute intervals. Car parking is available on the university campus - for a charge - see link above for details.

The HOGG visit will start at 11.00am with an hour to explore the public galleries at your own leisured pace  (i.e. not guided). Those who wish to arrive early top give more time for viewing may do so - the museum opens at 10.00am.

Tea/coffee and biscuits will be provided but participants will make their own lunch arrangements - there are a variety of food outlets available on campus. 

The afternoon programme will be dedicated to viewing material held in the museum collections and archives. It will comprise:

• A session in the archive, featuring material relating to Lapworth and his work (including associated specimens)
• An introduction to the historic map collection (including Greenough, Murchison, MacCulloch, Walker, and F.S.Shotton's D-Day maps)
• A selection of other historical highlights from the collections.

We are aiming to arrange commentary on aspects of the material by Museum volunteers (and HOGG members) who actively work on the archive, in addition to occasional input from the Director (availability depending).

The session aims to finish by 5.00pm.

Numbers for this event are limited to 20 members -  in order to offer reasonable viewing by all in the behind the scenes spaces. 

For members there is no HOGG fee for this visit (using the member code), but those attending are asked to make a donation to the Museum by clicking the link here - and please use the Gift Aid facility if you can (this increases the donation at no cost to you). We ask a minimum of £5.00, but members are very welcome to give a more generous donation should they wish,

The HOGG visit to the Lapworth Museum is an opportunity not to miss - REGISTER NOW!