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200 years ago, William Smith published the first ever geological map of an entire nation, laying the foundations of the modern geological map. Now this first geological map of England and Wales goes on display at National Museum Cardiff from Saturday 26 September to 28 February 2016 as part of celebrations surrounding the important bicentenary of its publication.

William Smith's 1815 depiction of the geology of England, Wales and part of Scotland was a ground-breaking piece of work and the exhibition Reading the rocks: the astonishing map by William Smith tells the remarkable story of Smith and his large, beautifully coloured map, an icon of geology.

Perhaps fewer than 150 copies of this map are in existence today, a number of which are part of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’ collection which has the most comprehensive collection of Smith’s maps in the world. Three different editions of the museum’s copies will be on display in the new exhibition, along with other maps, archives and specimens to tell the story of the remarkable maps of William Smith (1769 – 1839).

Dating from 1815, the large, hand coloured map is over 8 feet high and 6 feet wide and is the work of a canal surveyor and land drainer called William Smith. While working in Somerset in the 1790s, Smith realised the rock layers always occured in a regular sequence and that each layer contains distinctive fossils. Travelling around the country, he saw that this applied over much of England and Wales.

Smith hoped his map would help landowners find coal and other raw materials and help agriculturalists to understand the soils on their land. He also hoped that he would make money from the sale of his innovative map but Smith ended up in a debtors’ prison in London in 1819.

Today the Smith map is an icon of the science of geology, and the principles he established are still applied by geologists in the search for oil, gas and other raw materials around the world today.

Smith expert, Tom Sharpe, guest curator of the exhibition, said, “This is a great opportunity, in this bicentenary year, to see some of Amgueddfa Cymru’s wonderful collection of Smith’s maps.

“Nowhere else can you see how the map changed as Smith’s ideas evolved. It is testimony to the foresight and expertise of the museum’s staff over the years and we’re fortunate too to be able to display original material kindly lent by other institutions, such as some of Smith’s own fossil collection, now in the Natural History Museum, along with Smith’s 1815 diary and papers from Oxford University Museum of Natural History.”

Richard Bevins, Keeper of Natural Sciences, Amgueddfa Cymru, said,

“Smith’s legacy continues today. His map revolutionised our understanding of the geology of England and Wales. This is a vibrant and colourful display which I’m sure will fascinate visitors to the museum as well as the scientific community.”

A learning programme for this exhibition has been funded with thanks to SRK Consulting.

The geology exhibition opens at the same time as National Museum Cardiff and Cardiff University welcomes the Earth Science Teachers Association’s 48th Annual Course and Conference to Cardiff 25^th - 27th September with the theme ‘Exploration and Resource Geology’.

National Museum Cardiff’s exhibition and activity programme has been supported by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Please see the ‘What’s On’ pages of the museum’s website for details of associated events, including lunchtime talks. (www.museumwales.ac.uk/whatson).

Entry to National Museum Cardiff is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Government.

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales operates seven museums across Wales National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

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