• Did you know that dinosaurs lived in Wales over 200 million years ago?
• 220 million years ago a desert covered the area that is now south Wales. However, sea levels were rising, and by 200 million years ago the deserts had been replaced by tropical seas.
• Dracoraptor is a small Welsh dinosaur from the Jurassic. It was found by fossil hunters in 2014 and is now on display in Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales.

Fossils represent the remains of animals and plants that lived millions of years ago and can inspire people of all ages. Recent discoveries of beautifully preserved, 200-million-year-old dinosaur fossils in south Wales have increased our understanding of these iconic reptiles and the environments in which they lived. The very oldest Welsh fossils date back to just over 560 million years ago – but that is another story.

When did dinosaurs first appear?

Dinosaurs first evolved around 240–235 million years ago. At that time life on earth was just recovering from the largest mass extinction of all time, known as the Great Dying, and many new groups were evolving to fill empty niches left by extinct animals. During this time, a period we call the Triassic, all of the continents that we know today were joined together as a massive supercontinent, Pangaea, which provided a hot, dry climate that Dinosaurs and other reptiles benefitted from. Dinosaurs and the flying pterosaurs belong to a group of reptiles called archosaurs, of which crocodiles and birds are the only living members today.

What did early dinosaurs look like?

The very earliest dinosaurs were all small, lightweight, bipedal animals which walked upon two legs, and it was only much later that they evolved into the extreme sizes, shapes and lifestyles that we are so familiar with today.

When were dinosaurs first discovered in Wales?

Anchisauripus, the first dinosaur footprints to be found in Wales, in 1879

The first evidence of dinosaurs in Wales was found in 1879 when a Welsh artist and natural historian called T.H. Thomas was exploring villages near Porthcawl in the Vale of Glamorgan. He noticed an unusual slab of rock near the church at Newton. The flat, 2m-square rock contained a trackway of five indented footprints, each with three straight toes. Local legend said that these were the devil’s footprints, but Thomas recognised them as matching with dinosaur footprints found in America. He arranged for the rock to be removed to the Cardiff Municipal Museum (forerunner of National Museum Cardiff as it is known today).

The same year, a second slab was found nearby with three different dinosaur footprints. One of these footprints was larger and broader, with four curved toes.

Can you still find dinosaur footprints in the rocks of south Wales?

Yes, there are a few Welsh sites where you can still find footprints today. It is important to remember that these are all protected by law, as they are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and hammering or collecting footprints could lead to a huge fine.

Bendricks Bay, near Barry, is the best place to view some of the footprints. You need to visit when there is a low tide and look very carefully in the flat rock ledges. It is easiest to see footprints if the sun is low in the sky, or after rain when the little hollows are full of water.

What type of dinosaur footprints have been found in south Wales?

There are at least four different types of footprints that have been found in south Wales. There are two larger types and two smaller ones; however, they probably represent far more than just four varieties of dinosaur. There are also a few prints that might have been made by other types of reptiles.

What types of dinosaurs made these footprints?

Footprint of a small dinosaur found in 2020

It is almost impossible to say exactly what dinosaurs made any footprints, as many types have similar feet. Instead, palaeontologists use names that represent the size and shape of the footprint without trying to match it to any one animal. We compare the size and shape of the footprints with the fossilised foot bones of reptiles that lived at around the same time to work out the general group of dinosaurs that might have made them.

Three-toed footprints of about 20cm in length with a long middle toe are given the name Anchisauripus (An-chi-SAW-rip-uss). We think that Anchisauripus footprints were made by theropod or meat-eating, dinosaurs that were about 2m tall, and maybe up to 5m long. These would have been the top predators in the area.

The broader, four-toed (or sometimes three-toed) footprints are called Eosauropus (Eo-saw-RO-puss). Eosauropus footprints would have been made by plant-eating herbivorous dinosaurs, possibly about 2–3m tall.

There are also smaller three-toed prints called Grallator (GRAL-a-tor). These are about 8–12cm long and have a long middle toe. They were probably made by small theropod dinosaurs.

The fourth type is Evazoum (Eva-ZO-um). These are about 10–12cm long, and have either 3 or 4 straight toes which are all pretty much the same length. They were probably made by small herbivorous, sauropodomorph (saw-ro-POE-doe-morph) dinosaurs. The little footprint found by Lily Wilder in 2021 was of this type and can now be seen in National Museum Cardiff.

How long ago did these dinosaurs live?

The dinosaurs that left the footprints in south Wales lived here 220 million years ago. This was in the upper part of the Triassic period (the Norian Stage). The reddish rock in which they were preserved is called the Mercia Mudstone.

What was Wales like in the Triassic period?

220 million years ago Wales was just one small part of the huge supercontinent called Pangaea. There was no Atlantic Ocean or North Sea as Wales was joined to America and Europe. This meant we had a very hot dry climate, and much of south Wales was covered in hot deserts.

Occasional storms caused floods of muddy water and rocks to tumble down from the surrounding hills and spill over the desert floor. This created shallow lakes and streams which evaporated rapidly leaving wet mud. Dinosaurs left footprints as they walked thorough this mud which then baked hard in the sun, preserving the prints before they were covered by the next flood.

Have any bones of these Triassic dinosaurs been found?

Zanclodon – the jaw of a theropod dinosaur found in 1897

In 1897, a single jawbone was found at Stormy Down, near Bridgend. This was preserved in rocks that are just a few million years younger than the footprints. The jawbone was found in a rock called the Quarella Sandstone, of late Triassic age. It shows very clear impressions of several curved, backwards pointing teeth, indicating that this was a meat-eater. The dinosaur was given the name of Zanclodon (ZAN-clo-don), meaning ‘hollow-tooth’. It is thought to have been the same general type of dinosaur that left Anchisauripus footprints.

More recently, a finger bone and a toe bone of similarly sized dinosaurs have been found from the Triassic (Rhaetic bone bed) at Penarth, which is of a similar age. These remain in private ownership at the moment.

Have there been any other dinosaur discoveries in Wales?

Two small, fossilised dinosaurs were found in a quarry near Cowbridge, south Wales. They were excavated in the 1950s when quarries were worked by hand, rather than by explosives. These two dinosaurs were both juveniles, or young dinosaurs, and were both very small. They stood about 50cm tall. One of these is a sauropodomorph dinosaur called Pantydraco (Pant-ur-DRAY-co) whilst the other is a little theropod called Pendraig (Pen-DRY-g). It is almost impossible to give exact dates for these dinosaurs as they were found in the remains of ancient caves, where they had been washed into small cracks and deep fissures. It is thought that they were probably from the very latest part of the Triassic period – about 200–205 million years ago. These fossils belong to the Natural History Museum, London.

Are there any Jurassic dinosaurs in south Wales?

In 2014, the partial skeleton of a meat-eating dinosaur called Dracoraptor (Dray-co-RAP-tor) was found at Lavernock Point near Penarth. This was found in several blocks after a cliff fall. The bones are semi-articulated, with one block containing elements of the hip and upper leg, another had the left arm and hand bones, a third contained the skull, whilst another had bones of the left foot. This skeleton didn’t fall apart before it was fossilised, but floated out to sea, where it then sank and was covered by mud.

What did Dracoraptor look like?

Dracoraptor was a small dinosaur. It would have been no more than 2.5m long and probably only about 50–70cm tall. It was a slim animal that could have moved swiftly to catch its prey. It had many sharply jagged teeth, which pointed backwards in its jaw. It walked and ran on its back legs, possibly using its arms to grab at its prey. It had a very long tail, and a long neck.

Skull of Dracoraptor, the small theropod dinosaur found in 2014

An artist’s impression of Dracoraptor

How long ago did Dracoraptor live?

Dracoraptor lived around 201 million years ago. We know this because we can see the exact layer of rock from which the fossil fell. The rocks at this point have been logged and measured in detail so we know their age. This was the very start of the Jurassic Period.

What did Wales look like in the early Jurassic Period?

This was a time of climate change and sea-level rise in Wales. The super-continent of Pangaea started breaking apart in the late Triassic and the Atlantic Ocean began to form. The Triassic deserts were slowly flooded by the rising seas, and the climate turned much wetter too. By the start of the Jurassic, south Wales was mostly covered by warm, shallow seas, which were an ideal habitat for many marine animals. Some of the previous hills were now islands, sticking up out of the seas, and these islands were inhabited by early mammals, dinosaurs and other reptiles.

Where can I find dinosaur fossils in Wales?

Dinosaur fossils are incredibly rare, and you really aren’t likely to find one yourself. There is nowhere in the UK where you could go and find guaranteed dinosaur fossils. However, there are many other fossils to be found, as long as you follow sensible safety rules and take care not to damage or try to remove any in solid rock surfaces.

If you do find something you are uncertain about, then it’s best to contact National Museum Cardiff in order to get your finds checked out. Do remember to let us know where you found your fossil, and what size it is. When we reply, you can then send us photos of your find.

Also check out our Spotter’s Sheets to help with identifying your own finds.

In this series of Strike Stories we hear the highs and lows of that life changing year through the eyes of miners, families, police officers and politicians as they recall what life was like in 84–85.

The Strike Stories form part of the Streic 84–85 Strike exhibition which is on display at National Musem Cardiff until April 27 2025.

© Amgueddfa Cymru

Rhian

We were some of the lucky ones, because Dad had a trade. He’d been a builder, before he went to work at cwm coke colliery so he went out looking for work around our community. Our neighbour was amazingly kind and found him some jobs in his house and with other family members and that helped tide us over and my brothers, who were bigger than me, still talk about how tough it was and they’d mix cement and do other bits and bobs after school and on the weekends, to help him.

The garden became really important – vital to us keeping food on the table.

I was only little – four – and my biggest memory of it all was of having the best Christmas I could ever have imagined. In our family we talk still about it being the best one ever. What we didn’t know at the time was that the whole community pulled together to make sure every family had a lovely Christmas. I had the Sindy house, furniture including kitchen bathroom, bedroom, and dining table and sofa. And a horse, cart and dog – and a My Little Pony! They pulled out all the stops.

Betty

My husband had spent 28 years working at the colliery, in Beddau. During the strike, each week, Friday, we’d get a box delivered – with flour, corned beef, and other groceries to help us get through the week. The whole community in our valley pulled together to provide for every family.

We were lucky. A family with three kids, we certainly felt the impact. My husband had a trade before the colliery – he was a bricklayer – and thanks to the kindness of our neighbour, who hired him to work, firstly on his house and then on his mother in law’s, we had some income to tide us over.

We had to manage on what we had. Everyone did. But it didn’t stop us having the best Christmas my kids ever had. Friends gathered together and bought gifts so the kids had presents on Christmas morning. We still talk about it.

We pulled through. After the pits closed some of the men never worked again – there was nowhere to work and then other factories and things went, too, like Revlon, Silent Channel and Louis Edwards – all gone. So, the valley emptied as people left find to work elsewhere, Bridgend, Cardiff, or further afield.

There was a lot of upheaval. We were devastated by the strike, we had no idea it’d last that long. The devastation in this valley is permanent. Despite it all, my children have done well – but it was a very sad time and even now, there’s nothing. Nothing has been replaced in all these years since it shut down. There’s nothing left. They promise the world – and nothing changes, nothing ever gets done. The Valleys are completely shut off.

When Margaret Thatcher died, my husband hung a Welsh flag from a post outside our house. There were a lot of them, hung all across our valley.

Rhian and Betty Philips, mother and daughter of a striking miner, Maesteg.

In this series of Strike Stories we hear the highs and lows of that life changing year through the eyes of miners, families, police officers and politicians as they recall what life was like in 84–85.

The Strike Stories form part of the Streic 84–85 Strike exhibition which is on display at National Musem Cardiff until April 27 2025.

© Richard Williams

There was never any such thing as an immortal colliery. Everyone ever connected to the mining industry recognised that reality. But like any sensible being, I wanted change involving closures to have been thought through, grounded in fact, justified in real economics and geological analysis with a rationale behind it all. That was a strategic view which took account of the energy needs of our country and the well-being of communities. The Government accepted none of these purposes. Nationalised British coal was a financial burden and the Miners’ Union a militant impediment to a closure programme. Both had to be eliminated.

There are instances of developed countries organising the shift away from extractive industries and heavy manufacturing by preparation and compensation, consultation, local planning, re-training, encouraging inward investment. None of that meaningfully occurred in the UK. Closure of industry meant abandonment of community. Levelling down of security, incomes, physical and mental fitness, social capital, cultural vigour.

Apart from the overall national significance of the coalmining industry, the issues were political and personal for me. In 1984 there were 6,000 coalmining workers in my Constituency and they included several friends. My Dad, extended family members in Tredegar and Aberdare, both of my Grandfathers, six of my Uncles, were all miners at some time. One was a face captain in Tower Colliery which became the last one to close in South Wales. Employment around both towns related to coalmining, including steel and much of engineering. Mam, who was a District Nurse, brought me up to believe that miners were the greatest men and that areas like ours were the most productive and strongest communities.

There had always been pithead ballots – although, over the decades, national strikes hadn’t been a common way to resolve issues. From the 1926 General Strike to 1972 there hadn’t been a national miner’s strike. The 1974 national strike, the one that’s said to have brought down the Heath Government, was preceded by a national pithead ballot. In 1984, however, Scargill managed to avoid putting a strike Resolution to the Special National Conference of the NUM, therefore by – passing a democratic ballot. This was because he thought that he’d be beaten if he allowed a vote – he’d already been defeated in ’83. He was determined to rely on mass picketing instead.

I – and a lot of miners – knew that was a huge risk: not having a ballot would definitely divide the workforce and it also reduced the likelihood of sympathetic support from other workers in transport, power stations and docks. When I and others put this reality to Scargill our views were ignored.

Scargill was an intelligent man and a brilliant mob orator. All of history, realism, common sense said that it was stupid to rely on the confrontation of mass picketing. But when he simplified the dispute by putting the challenging question ‘Whose side are you on?’ it was impossible for people – especially young miners whose livelihoods depended on a future for coal – not to be caught up in the enthusiasm, especially when they were told that coal stocks were almost exhausted and the Government was wilting.

Arthur Scargill issued demands and orders from the platform and from his office in Sheffield – but there was no strategy. After the strike had started – ironically by accident – he offered the confident semblance of a deliberate, cogent process, but it didn’t exist except in his mind. Scargill had no plan. By searing contrast, Thatcher’s government very definitely had a strategy, and the means and mind to put it ruthlessly into effect.

• The Prime Minister appointed Ian McGregor as the chair of the National Coal Board. He had a “tough guy” reputation, built as a corporate boss in the USA and reinforced during his time Chairing the British Steel Corporation.
• Her government enacted legislation that removed benefits from the families of strikers.
• She co-ordinated British police forces in a way that was unprecedented, using the Home Office and Association of Chief Police Officers to produce a national organism never seen before or since in the UK. 
• And, vitally, she ensured a stockpile of coal at record levels – about 40% larger that ever before and deposited at power stations, coke works, and docks.

She had made these preparations for disruption to the power supply following her reluctant settlement of a coalmining pay dispute in 1981 and on the basis of the “Ridley Plan” compiled by one of her Ministers following the fall of the Heath Government in 1974 – a defeat which had left the Conservatives with an aching ulcer of resentment.

The government were well-prepared for a prolonged dispute. But they could never have anticipated two development that favoured them very strongly: First, they never assumed that the Miners would strike without a ballot, secondly, they never dreamed that a coal strike would begin in early spring. Both were elements that would clearly work against the miners. The Government had resources at their fingertips and, as extra advantages, they were given the weather and division in the mining workforce. The miners had endless courage and determination and a practical Case for Coal – but nothing else. Picketing miners versus working miners, with the police, often in huge numbers with regimental organisation, cavalry and dogs holding the ground in between. They described themselves as ‘The meat in the sandwich’.

Given the intensity of feeling and the attitude of some police units, conflict was inevitable. In traditional mining towns and villages, where the policemen had been seen as dependable people who were part of the community, the relationship was smashed. Families, and in some areas neighbourhoods, were divided. “scabbing” was treated as a mortal sin. In some localities where majorities continued to work, striking was regarded as treachery. As the strike wore on for a year - and for years in the wake of it - there was debt, destitution, high unemployment, mental anguish, division and deep anxiety. People sought to overcome all of this with immense fortitude. Families pulled together and communities became closer. But that was not universal. Family break-up, foreclosed mortgages, delinquency and suicides increased.

One positive development that emerged on the coalfields was that was that, during the strike, women took leadership roles. Collectively, they ensured the things that mattered were sustained: every family had a meal, every child had something to unwrap at Christmas, no- one had to feel like a recipient of charity because everyone was contributing something.

Over a relatively short time, soup kitchens evolved into community organisations that were properly organised around strategic thinking and financed from donations by local people, other trade unions at home and abroad and incessant fundraising. Some women travelled throughout the UK and, often, abroad to actively make the case for coal and communities.

They flourished in these roles, frequently providing a quality of leadership that was not offered by some of the men in their communities.

In July and September 1984, together with Stan Orme, who handled Energy in the Labour Shadow Cabinet, I compiled proposals to manage pit closures through a process of independent expert examination and economic evaluation. The National Coal Board accepted them. Scargill personally turned it down flat without showing it to any of the NUM Executive. As Stan (a lifetime trade union activist) said “Arthur’s not a trade unionist – he doesn’t believe in negotiation”.

Ultimately, the strike is a story of heroism - and of the abuse of that supreme quality.

Neil Kinnock, politician, MP for Bedwellty and Islwyn 1970-94, Leader of the Labour Party, 1983 – 1992.

Thank you to all the schools who are diligently taking their weather readings, even in the rain and snow! 

Weather records for this term finish on 20 December. Please upload all readings taken to date by then. Remember to enter 'no record' for dates that you weren't in school and to add your observations in the comment section. 

Have a fantastic break Bulb Buddies. I'll see you in 2025!

Your Comments:

Scarva Primary School: There was a lot of rainfall over the weekend with Storm Darragh.
Professor Plant: Hello Scarva Primary! Storm Darragh certainly brought plenty of rain. Your bulbs will love the extra water! Let’s hope for some sunshine soon to balance it out. Keep up the great observations.

Pil Primary School: It is still cold outside and we have had a lot of rain this week.
Professor Plant:  Thank you for the weather observations Pil Primary.

Gavinburn Primary School: There was a lot more rain this week.
Professor Plant: Hi Gavinburn Primary, thank you for the update. Keep up the great work.

Ysgol Tycroes: We had a lot of rain. Our plants have started to grow shoots.
Professor Plant: Hello Ysgol Tycroes. Shoots already, that’s wonderful news! Your bulbs are making great progress thanks to all the rain. Keep watching them closely.

Meldrum Primary School: Decent rainfall for this week, temperature seems good.
Professor Plant: Hi Meldrum Primary, it sounds like your bulbs are enjoying a balanced week of rainfall and warmth. Keep an eye out for shoots—they might appear soon!

St Mary’s Primary School: Storm Darragh came on Friday.
Professor Plant: Hello St Mary’s Primary, thank you for updating us. 

Bwlchgwyn Primary School: We have got two plant pots with shoots. We think that having a blanket of snow on them may have fooled them into thinking it was a bit warmer than it was.
Professor Plant: Hello Bwlchgwyn Primary! It’s exciting that you have two pots with shoots already. Keep monitoring their progress—they’re off to a great start!

Rhayader Primary: Our plants have started growing - about 5.
Professor Plant: Hi Rhayader Primary. Five plants already, that’s fantastic news! Your bulbs are thriving—keep taking care of them and tracking their growth. Well done!

Cornist Park C.P: Today it is cold and dark with rain clouds all day.
Professor Plant: Hello Cornist Park. A cold and rainy day might not feel cheerful, but your bulbs are loving the extra water. Keep checking—they’re sure to grow more soon!

Ysgol Porth Y Felin: The bulbs have got bigger.
Professor Plant: Hi Ysgol Porth Y Felin. How exciting to hear your bulbs are growing bigger! Keep up the great work!

Doonfoot Primary School: Lots of rain and a storm.
Professor Plant: Hello Doonfoot Primary. Thank you for your update, keep up the great work.  

Stanford in the Vale Primary: Quite a rainy week. Unfortunately, no snow. We wish you all a merry Christmas.
Professor Plant: Hi Stanford in the Vale Primary! Rain is great for your bulbs, even if snow would have been more fun for you! Thank you for the Christmas wishes—I wish you all a merry Christmas too!

Our Lady’s RC Primary: I did this alone :)
Professor Plant: Hello! Doing this alone is impressive—well done! Your observations are very valuable, so keep up the brilliant work. Great job!

Meldrum Primary School: Rainfall a bit low after Monday, temperature seems a bit all over the place right now.
Professor Plant: Hi Meldrum Primary. It's great that you are noticing differences in your daily and weekly weather readings. I look forward to your next observations. 

Pil Primary School: There was so much rain when we checked on Monday and the weather is chilly. Our spring bulbs have started to shoot up.
Professor Plant: Hello Pil Primary! Shoots appearing already? That’s wonderful! The rainy weather is helping your bulbs to grow. Keep watching closely—great job!

Pil Primary School: It was very cold this week.
Professor Plant: Hi Pil Primary. The cold might slow us down, but your bulbs are tough. Keep up the excellent work!

Pil Primary School: There was hardly any rain to measure this week.
Professor Plant: Hello again, Pil Primary! Even with less rain, your bulbs should still have enough moisture from earlier weeks. Keep tracking the weather and checking for growth—you’re doing brilliantly!

• John Gwyn Jeffreys was a famous Swansea-born Welsh naturalist and a pioneer of deep-sea exploration in the 1800s.
• At Amgueddfa Cymru we hold shells he collected in deep-sea expeditions, his stunning shell cabinet on display at St Fagans Castle and letter archives from 1840–54. We even have the blotting paper he used when writing his letters!
• Find out about his life, his influences and the discoveries he made about molluscs and the deep sea.

John Gwyn Jeffreys (1809–1885) was one of Britain's most eminent 19th-century conchologists (mollusc shell experts) with a passion for dredging and deep-sea exploration. From his early beginnings exploring Swansea Bay in a rowing boat, he went on to lead deep-sea expeditions in British and European seas, finding life at previously unknown depths. We owe much of our knowledge of deep-sea life to the pioneering work undertaken by Jeffreys and his fellow explorers of the time.

“There is a magnet-like attraction in                       
These waters to the imaginative power                       
That links the viewless with the visible,                       
And pictures things unseen”

(Poem quoted in a Jeffreys lecture, 1881)

Who was John Gwyn Jeffreys?

Early years of inspiration

John Gwyn Jeffreys was born in Abertawe on 18 January 1809 and was a descendent of one of the oldest families in Wales. From a young age, he was interested in natural history, and it was at Swansea Grammar School that he had his first lesson in shell collecting, putting him on a path that he would not deviate from for the rest of his life.

At the age of 17, Jeffreys was apprenticed to a Swansea solicitor, but he continued to develop his passion for shells and collecting by being active in the local natural history community. Here he met Lewis Weston Dillwyn (1778–1855), well known for Swansea pottery production but also a keen natural historian. It was under his influence that Jeffreys was encouraged to produce his first scientific paper, when he was 19 years old.

Jeffreys was successful as a solicitor in Swansea for many years and this allowed him to indulge in natural history during his spare time. He devoted his holidays to finding new species and varieties of molluscs, initially dredging from a rowing boat and later from his yacht, the Osprey. His desire for unusual and new species took him north, especially to Shetland where he could dredge the deeper waters close to shore. This hands-on approach gave him a valuable insight into more than just shells, but also how they lived, the habitats they survived in and how different species lived together and interacted.

Retiring to research

In 1856, Jeffreys and his family left Swansea so that he could become a barrister in London, where they remained for 10 years. At 57, Jeffreys made the decision to retire from Law and moved to Hertfordshire, so that he could finally fully dedicate himself to his primary passion of natural history.

Priory Ware, the Hertfordshire home to which Jeffreys retired in 1866

Letters from afar

Jeffreys communicated with almost every European conchologist of his time, and kept a meticulous record of each letter that he sent out. In 2009, Amgueddfa Cymru acquired two volumes of his early letters, written between 1840 and 1854 when he was living in Swansea.

The letter-books reveal the intricate business of conchology at work, including plans for future voyages and scientific discussions. This is well illustrated by the 51 letters to Edward Forbes, a fellow passionate dredger and one of the founders of British marine biology. Although great friends, they were also potential competitors, both aspiring to publish the definitive book on British molluscs.

Many of the famous naturalists of the day are included in these books; there is even a letter written to Charles Darwin! However, Jeffreys was never able to accept the theory of evolution, believing that species do not change over time.

Jeffreys’s blotting paper

Jeffreys shared his knowledge!

“The dredge surpasses all other methods of investigating the fauna of the ocean”

(John Gwyn Jeffreys, 1862)

During his life, Jeffreys published around 200 scientific papers, but his most significant publication was British Conchology. This series was issued in five volumes between 1862 and 1869, featuring 132 plates of beautiful shell illustrations.

It is an important work, as it gives descriptions of each species with accounts of their biology and where they are found, both in British waters and elsewhere. It is still a standard reference today.

Jeffreys used this series to try to popularise the study of shells; he made the pages pleasant reading and non-technical where possible. However, this did cause the series to be longer than necessary, more costly and therefore, too expensive for many working conchologists.

Within everything Jeffreys wrote on shells, he described 41 new genera (named groups of closely-related species, such as Homo, our own genus) and 585 new species.

Jeffreys’s British Conchology series

A selection of Jeffreys’s other publications

Jeffreys’s shell collection

“I know the collection to be unrivalled and as perfect as probably any … can be; and I have not spared pains or money to complete it … The arrangement of the collection would occupy you probably two or three years and when arranged it would be ‘a sight fit for a King’”

(Jeffreys to William Clark, 4 February 1849)

An unrivalled collection

Jeffreys amassed a large and comprehensive shell collection. It was described as unrivalled for British marine molluscs at the time of his death. The collection contained examples of over 700 mollusc species, averaging 50 specimens per species!

It held examples of every new species described by Jeffreys in his work British Conchology and in his subsequent papers. It also contained the original collections of other early British naturalists such as William Turton, Joshua Alder and William Clark, whose collections he had acquired.

The sale of the collection

At the age of 40 years old, Jeffreys considered selling his collection. At this time, he estimated its worth at £1000, the equivalent of around £150,000 in today’s money!

Letter from Jeffreys to Clark regarding the sale of his collection, 4 February 1849

In his later years, Jeffreys offered his collection to the Natural History Museum, London, but the offer was not accepted – due to a lack of space, not because they didn’t want it.

The collection was eventually sold to the American collector William Dall for £1050, who then sold it on to the Smithsonian Institution. This sale was described as “a grievous loss, not only to Britain but to European conchologists” and as “a national tragedy”.

An expression of sadness at the loss of Jeffreys’s collection

The Jeffreys collection is still at the Smithsonian Institution, USA, although some shells from most of the expeditions he worked on are held at the Natural History Museum, London.

At Amgueddfa Cymru, there is a small collection of Jeffreys’s Welsh freshwater molluscs, which were donated to us by the Smithsonian Institution in 1970 and 1971. The Melvill-Tomlin collection also contains specimens collected by Jeffreys from several of his deep-sea expeditions.

A selection of species named after Jeffreys in the Melvill-Tomlin collection

Jeffreys’s shell cabinet

The cabinet

Whilst living in Swansea, Jeffreys commissioned a cabinet to be made to hold his extensive shell collection. This cabinet was acquired by Amgueddfa Cymru in 2004 and is currently housed in St Fagans Castle at St Fagans National Museum of History.

The main body of the cabinet has double doors, which open to display two columns of glass-topped mahogany collection drawers.

Jeffreys’s shell cabinet

The entire cabinet is expertly hand-made from Cuban and Honduran mahogany, including the use of book-matched pieces for the veneer that give a symmetrical, fiddle-back appearance.

On the cabinet top is an ornate wood carving, heavily pigmented to form a dramatic silhouette. A scallop shell forms a fan at the centre and the shell of a female paper nautilus sits at either end, giving just a hint to what might once have been inside.

Where and when was the cabinet made?

The provenance of the cabinet is unclear. It was sold at Sotheby’s in 2001 and Christie’s in 2004, as a Victorian Gillows piece. This would place its production in London. However, our Amgueddfa Cymru furniture conservator has identified it as a possible William the Fourth or early Victorian cabinet, dating from the second quarter of the 19th century, and suggests it may be an important piece of Welsh furniture.

There is evidence that both Jeffreys’s cabinet and collection had a 5 year stay at the Museum of the Royal Institution of South Wales (now the Swansea Museum). Jeffreys wrote to Dr Nicol, the Honorary Secretary, in 1854 explaining that it would reside there “…until I return to this neighbourhood or have other reasons for desiring its removal” and he went on to say, “When I return I hope to have leisure to complete the arrangement, and then the collection will at all times be accessible to the members of the Institution.”

A train label on the underside of the cabinet tells us more about its history and reveals that it travelled from Swansea to Jeffreys’s London residence in 1859, where Jeffreys was working as a barrister.

Details of the train label

Is there life at the bottom of the ocean?

“I detest the sea for its own sake, but put up with the discomforts for the sake of science or natural history”

(John Gwyn Jeffreys)

The belief that sea life did not exist below 550m was known as the ‘Azoic theory’ and was proposed in the 1840s by Jeffreys’s friend Edward Forbes. The theory was commonly believed for nearly three decades.

In the 1860s, the feasibility of exploring much greater depths using deep-sea dredging evolved and the British pioneers W. B. Carpenter and C. Wyville Thomson requested support from the Royal Society and the Admiralty “with a view to ascertain the existence and zoological relations of animals at great depths”.

In 1868, they were granted use of the HMS Lightning for an experimental cruise and, although blighted by bad weather and cut short, a successful haul was brought up from 1189m.

A year later, they extended their research on the first HMS Porcupine expedition. Jeffreys was the scientific leader for the first leg of this historic voyage, which included dredging to 4289m in waters south-west of Ireland. This was by far the deepest dredge haul ever attempted and, by bringing up a mass of mud containing many kinds of animals, they blew Forbes’s Azoic theory out of the water!

Dredging cartoon by Forbes in Natural History of the European Seas (1859)

Jeffreys continued to take part in many deep-sea expeditions, notably Porcupine II (Atlantic and Mediterranean, 1870), Valorous (Greenland, 1875) and the French Travailleur expedition (Bay of Biscay, 1880). He also identified, and wrote scientific reports on the molluscs from the following expeditions:

Josephine expedition, 1869

A Swedish expedition, mainly dredging among the Azores and in the West-Indies.

Shearwater expedition, 1871

Carpenter led this expedition from England to the Red Sea, via the Mediterranean. He was particularly interested in continuing his research into deep-water oceanic currents between the Atlantic and Mediterranean, which he had started on the Porcupine II expedition.

Travailleur and Talisman expeditions, 1880–1882

In 1880, by invitation of the French government, Jeffreys and his colleague, Dr Norman, went together to dredge in deep waters off the Bay of Biscay. This was part of a series of French expeditions working in the area from the Bay of Biscay to the Sargasso Sea, and south to Senegal.

Washington expedition, 1881

An Italian expedition in the Mediterranean, operating off the west coasts of Italy and Sicily, in depths from 60m to 3630m.

Triton expedition, 1882

This expedition was commissioned to investigate the Wyville-Thomson Ridge, in the Faroe-Shetland Channel.

This article has been brought together using material from the Hurrah for the Dredge! exhibition curated by Harriet Wood, Jennifer Gallichan and Anna Holmes in 2009.