Adopt an Object: available objects
The Adopt an Object scheme allows members to help Reading Museum care for its collection by adopting one of its objects for a year – either to show your own support, or as a special and unique gift.
Adopters receive a certificate including an image and description of the object, and their name will appear on its label in the gallery.
The adoption fee includes membership of the Friends of Reading Museum and as such entitles the adopter to a 10% discount on any purchase from the museum shop or website.
Objects available for adoption are all on display in the galleries of Reading Museum and are from all the collections from ceramics to hand axes to natural history and biscuit tins.
To adopt an object click the button next to the item and complete the online form.
CLICK HERE AND READ BEFORE ADOPTING
Natural World
Adopt an Object: available objects
The Adopt an Object scheme allows members to help Reading Museum care for its collection by adopting one of its objects for a year – either to show your own support, or as a special and unique gift.
Adopters receive a certificate including an image and description of the object, and their name will appear on its label in the gallery.
The adoption fee includes membership of the Friends of Reading Museum and as such entitles the adopter to a 10% discount on any purchase from the museum shop or website.
Objects available for adoption are all on display in the galleries of Reading Museum and are from all the collections from ceramics to hand axes to natural history and biscuit tins.
Natural World
Bittern
These secretive brown herons came close to extinction in Britain and are still very rare. Locally they are making a slow comeback – each year a few spend the winter in reedbeds at the edges of former gravel pits around Reading.
Object ref: REDMG:1926.58.4
Buzzards
This case was set up by local taxidermist G.A. Topp, whose premises were then at 19 London Street. The birds’ wings are raised at a dramatic but unnatural angle to fit into the case. Buzzard numbers are increasing locally and they can be seen around the outskirts of Reading.
Object ref: REDMG:1957.308.1=2
Fossil shark teeth
Teeth of Lamna, a mackerel shark related to the modern porbeagle and mako, from the base of the Reading Beds at Wheeler’s Pit, a clay pit in Coley. They are over 60 million years old. The Reading Formation was the source of much of the clay for local brickmakers.
Object ref: REDMG:1964.318.1=19
Leaf fossil
This complete fossil leaf, from the Reading Leaf Bed at Waterloo Pit, Reading, is about 60 million years old. The Reading Formation is a mix of sand and silty clay deposits, showing that it was laid down in a braided river estuary. Leaves like this were preserved in the mud.
Object ref: REDMG:1964.226.2
Mammoth jaw
Lower jaw of a young mammoth, with milk molar teeth present, found in gravel deposits at Grovelands Pit. Hundreds of mammal bones and early stone age tools were found at the workings near Elm Park. This fossil was heavily restored in 1907-1908.
Object ref: REDMG:1963.166.4
‘Mushroom’ sponge
This strange fossil may look like a mushroom, but it’s actually a sponge! It was preserved in flint from the chalk seas – over 65 million years ago. Flints formed from a silica gel which oozed into cavities in the sea floor, including those left by decaying animals.
Object ref: REDMG:1998.171
Pike
This pike is part of a representative collection of Berkshire fishes made by Mr G.H. Baxter. It was caught in the River Kennet in 1905 and weighed 18lb when it was landed.
Object ref: REDMG:1995.144.44
Roe deer (doe)
The Museum has a representative collection of Berkshire deer, from the dog-like muntjac to the magnificent red. Most of the deer seen in Reading are muntjac, but the more graceful roe deer will also come into gardens, where their love of roses makes them unpopular!
Object ref: REDMG:1995.144.36
Scarlet Tiger Moths
These beautiful day-flying insects can be seen around May and June in Reading gardens as well as along the banks of the Kennet - the red colour is brighter on live specimens. The hairy, black and yellow caterpillars feed mainly on comfrey.
Object ref: REDMG:1998.200.198/199
Skull of an ichthyosaur
This is part of the fossilised skull of a dolphin-like marine reptile that lived in the early Jurassic period, about 200 million years ago. The lower jaws, teeth and other small bones are also preserved in the block, which probably came from the Dorset coast.
Object ref: REDMG:1964.701.1
Stag beetles (male)
Stag beetles are quite common in parts of Reading, although nationally rare. Only the males have the ‘antlers’ which they use to fight over females. They spend most of their life as larvae, developing for three to five years in dead wood.
Object ref: REDMG:1998.186.1=5
White-clawed crayfish
The native white-clawed crayfish is threatened by a fungal disease introduced along with the escaped American signal crayfish. It can still be found in a few ponds around Reading.
Object ref: REDMG:1998.114.4