Museum of Natural History
University of Oxford

Open every day 10:00 – 17:00 (Last entry 16:45)

34: The critical raw materials shaping our future

17 June 2026 – 13 April 2027. We hear about critical raw materials almost every day in our news feeds, but how do they actually fit into our lives? What are they? Why do we need them? Where do we get them from? And how will we get them in the future?

Presenting case

Shine On: Treasures from the Archive

27 July - 6 September 2026. The Library and Archive has been developing its unparalleled collection since before the Museum opened in 1860. It contains everything from natural history literature, artworks, sculpture, photographs, maps, manuscripts, original furniture, objects and more.

Community case

Discovering Deep Time

James Hutton was a Scottish scientist, born 3 June, 1726, in Edinburgh. He introduced the idea of Deep Time – the understanding that Earth changes over extremely long periods – so long that even millions of years are a small part. This transformed how people understood our planet.

Touchable minerals are back!

Along with some new specimens, the touchable minerals have returned, displayed on new, contemporary plinths in the Museum's main court.

New interactive display

The Prehistoric Diver

Step inside and dive back in time to the worlds of the Cambrian and Jurassic seas.

Swift Diary 2026

Monday 27 July

The tower was very quiet this morning as we approached and the screaming parties of juveniles not yet mating were notable by their absence. Inside the tower almost half our young have now fledged and are presumably winging their way southwards to Africa with the other juveniles. We now have only 20 nests occupied with 35 young left in them, although somewhat surprisingly we found several boxes that had been empty last week with new adults inside.

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Palaeontology

Our palaeontology collections include one of the world’s most important collections of Middle Jurassic dinosaurs; exceptionally preserved specimens with intact soft tissues; and enigmatic fossils representing the earliest complex multicellular organisms. It features around 400,000 fossils, ranging from the Archean, ~2.7 billion years ago, to the end of the Pleistocene, 11,700 years ago.

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Trilobite Wall

The oceans were once filled with trilobites, ancient animals that are some of the first creatures with hard parts found in the fossil record. A giant slab of rock preserves a natural gathering of three types of trilobite, as well as many brittle stars.

Greenland, with brown rock in background and small iceberg in the foreground.

Discover our research

Research

Oxford University Museum of Natural History has been a centre of world-leading research and scientific debate since it opened in 1860.

Henry Taunt's interior view of the museum, 1870

Find out about our history

History

The Museum building is as spectacular today as when it opened in 1860. Learn more about the world's first purpose-built natural history museum.

A display of numerous insects with labels

About our collections

Collections

The Museum has over seven million historical and modern specimens encompassing the natural world.

Learn with us

Learn

The Museum offers a range of learning experiences for different audiences through online activities, in-museum sessions, and self-guided visits.

A group of musicians playing in the main court of the museum

Enquiries

Venue Hire

Set in the heart of a historic university city, Oxford University Museum of Natural History provides an inspiring backdrop for a wide range of private events. This characterful neogothic building dates back to the 1850s and is home to over seven million natural history specimens.