Oxford University Museum Of Natural History

My god, such a win!
We walked in here on our tour around Oxford, not really knowing what to expect but happy just to see what was inside.
What we found was an INSANE collection of things. Woah!
This is actually two museums in one and I’m going to review the anthropology one separately (but seriously, don’t miss it), but the Natural History Museum has everything you could want. Dinosaur bones as soon as you walk in. Exhibits on animals, alive and long dead. Fossils. Insects. Shrunken heads. Statues of great thinkers. Activities for little kids everywhere and fun for big kids (or adults as they’re sometimes called). What a blast.
What I loved most is that it’s basically all hosted in one giant room, which is as beautiful as it is gargantuan, so it’s just calming and lovely to walk around (even with all the kids and kids activities going on.)
Walk in, it’s free, and head through this and the other musuem. We thought we’d just check it out and were sad when they were kicking us out as it was closing.

Free museum and just great for kids with touchable rocks from 4.5 billion years ago. Fossils galore and out back, The PittsRiver chock-​a-​block with all sorts of cool stuff.

A MUST-​SEE place in oxford! This is an amazing very educational/​fun museum! The dinasours are definitely the highlight and they have other awesome species from all over the world. Make sure to stop by, its definitely free :)
Tip: definitely check out the shrunken heads! Freaky and weird but a must see!

I work as a babysitter and always go to this museum with my kids. They love the dinosaurs!

This is my new favourite museum. I love the architecture, the metal work roof inside is beautiful and there’s columns which you’ll see are also a bit of a geological display. There’s some live insects as well as fantastic collections of preserved specimens, a bee hive where you can watch bees coming and going. Its really interesting to see museum displays that also tell you something about the current work of the University research into zoology and ecology as well. It is a lovely place to dip into or spend hours in.

#456 To be honest, I think the Natural History museum is just fine. It’s not nearly as amazing as the Pitt Rivers Museum and there is far less in terms of what to see. But, the architecture of the building is something to marvel at and it’s more interactive than many other museums that I have been to. It’s also much more family-​friendly compared to Pitt Rivers — not as much to censor for the little ones. I didn’t spend as much time in here as I did in Pitt Rivers, but I plan on dropping by again and giving it another chance. I might have just been rushing through since I had already spent 2 hours in the other museum.

«OH. M. GEE — that is a real. freaking. shrunken. head.» I am whispering because I am kind of afraid it is going to wake up and come chomping out of the display case in some kind of miniature zombie rage. She has giant eyelashes, which might make you think she was attractive. You would be wrong.
My friend Zlatan has his face pressed right up against the glass. «Not all of them are human, some of them are sloth heads,» he says, pointing at one which looks kind of like a deformed baby monkey. I think I just vomited a little in the back of my mouth. But I am also really really excited. There is a stuffed dodo somewhere in here. a. stuffed. dodo. Because it’s extinct it’s like a fictional creature. Except that they kept one. And stuffed it.
We are at the Pitt RIvers Museum at the back of the Museum of Natural History and it is a regular cabinet (GIANT cabinet) of curiosities. The natural history part is amazing. You walk in and are greeted by a vaulted Victorian style ceiling of at least 20-​feet, criss-​crossed by iron filigree and held up by columns with architectural flourishes at the base, one of which appears to be an enormous whale bone. Around the perimeter of the room, statuettes of great thinkers — Newton, Edison and the like — are set into alcoves five or six feet off the ground. The space is dominated by a frozen parade of dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals, skeletons soaring gloriously through the air and marching down the aisles. And marking out those aisles, I’m warning you now, are display cases that would be a taxidermist’s heaven. But if you can get into the enlightenment spirit of exploration you’ll appreciate the curated display of hummingbirds, the small cheetah, and the stuffed dodo that to my surprise looks exactly like the cartoon version in Alice in Wonderland.
Once you’ve had your fill of the world’s dead animal wonders, you can come to the back and play amateur anthropologist at the Pitt Rivers Museum. The place contains 500,000 artifacts, 20,000 of which were gathered by the original founder, General Augustus Pitt Rivers. Although greatly impressed, I was unable to decide whether General Rivers was a charming gadabout who’d kick your dinner party up 10 notches or if he was more the kind of creepy recluse featured on the American TV docu-​drama series: Hoarders. In addition to the afore-​mentioned shrunken heads, there were ghost masks, a large collection of crossbows and guns, penis gourds, huge ornamental keys, head-​gear of all kinds, and every single kind of bizarre clothing article you can imagine.
Don’t come here by yourself. You’ll want someone else to scream with (in either horror or delight, your choice) when you see the hundreds of scary tribal dolls.
A+++++

This museum is a definite must see if you’re in Oxford. I wanted to see where evolution had been defended (there’s a plaque on the second floor to commemorate the event). The museum also houses a collection of specimens from Lineaus that are really impressive and they let you touch some of the stuffed animals! The architecture of the building is also very impressive and it has that great Oxford feel that makes you want to curl up with a heavy text and get nerdy.

Not as big as the (also brilliant) London Natural History Museum, but this one is easier to navigate and has a massive collection of skeletons and genuine preserved specimens

Our Oxford offices think this is a great family day out in Oxford. Visit the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, then investigate the Pitt Rivers Museum, followed by a stroll around University Parks.

I didn’t think much of this when I arrived in Oxford, and I was missing out. What convinced me to go was hearing that Darwin had defended evolution here, and that the first demonstration of radio technology had taken place in one of the lecture halls.
Once there, I realized what a cool place it is. Somewhere between a massive exercise in museum ethnography and an actual modern exhibit, this is a great free stop (would even be worth paying for, but I think people are skeptical of another and smaller museum of natural history.) It doesn’t matter if you are into dinosaur skeletons and stuffed dodo birds, you really have to go just to at least see the building.

If you have never taken your child to a museum or never been yourself then shame on you. Education is an amazing and incredible gift and one we owe to our children. My children have always loved visitin museums and science centres and anywhere that they can gain knowledge, and this is because I made it an adventure to go to these places. The Natural history museum in Oxford is a treasure trove of of natural history spanning our planets lifetime, from fossils to dinosaur bones to bugs in boxes (boys love these) to stuffed animals, gruesome but cool for kids.
Take your kids and make learning exciting, after all to know where you are going it help to know where you came from

This wonderful natural history museum is full of charm and character. The exhibits are displayed with style and a desire to educate. Because of the small scale you can take your time to linger over the individual displays. The architecture of the building is worth a visit and when combined with a visit to its next door neighbor, it makes for a pleasant day out. Parking is impossible, so Park and Ride is a good option.

This is a truely amazing location in the heart of oxford.
its very eduacation friendly and also great for the kids if you wanna bring them along.
Its also free entry and guaranteed to be fun for friends, famliy and tourists.
you will see alot of history here and dinosaurs aswell its great to see lots of history in this musuem.

This was a free & fun way to pass a Sunday morning.
Unlike many places in Oxford the museum actually opens at 10am. The exhibits are well explained, and the dodo one was particularly interesting.

Superb place to visit especially for little one. During the holidays they often have special events on. Peting of stuffed creatures, drawing and many more.
This is one of those museums that allows the touching of many of the exhibits, which for little ones is so rewarding.
There is a bit of everything here, dinosaurs, fossil, geology and present day creatures.
Don’t forget there is an upstairs too!

wonderful place, my son has been going here since he was 4 and he loves the dinosaurs. When I explained to him that they were once alive he decided to jump up and down and shout ‘eat me’ at the T-​rex! it takes many an hour to explore and I’m always discovering something new. The events they run are well worth a try too!

A MUST visit, the museum is located on Parks Road, across from Keble College. Entry is free. Especially interesting for children, there are large displays of animals of all sorts alongwith plants — a dinosaur dominates the entrace. Upstairs there is a section with live insects which you may wish to avoid if you’re scared of creepy-​crawlies. Make sure you don’t miss the Pitt Rivers museum, entry to which is at the back of the museum!

There’s not too much to add the the reviews here already except this:
If your child is under 8 then don’t even bother to take them to the Natural History museum in London — come here first.
Why? Well NHM London is unbelieveably crowded these days, you seem to be in a slow moving line the entire visit and so it’s a very restrictive environment for young children. It’s still got the best collection — but they’ll appreciate these distinctions better when they’re older.
NHM Oxford is a much more suitable environment for smaller children: more freedom to move and to observe or interact. Many of the exhibits can be touched which is so great for little kids (many are very good replicas — but that’s fine for this age group).
My kids love it here — and I can relax and have fun with them.

This is a beautiful Victorian metal and glass building full of dinosaurs, rocks, butterflies and even some live creepy crawlies.
Some of the dinosaurs used to wander around North Oxford (where St. Edwards school is) some are from the gravel pits just north of Oxford. And some of them are just plain big and scary.
There are lots of examples of different sorts of rocks and minerals. Some are in big blocks that you can touch, some are actually holding the roof if you look carefully you’ll see that lots of the columns in the upper galleries are made of different stone and all are named. And there are minerals in cases with explanations of how they were formed and what they are used for today.
If you go upstairs you can see dead butterflies, bugs and shells. Make sure you stop to watch the live bees in the bee display half way up the stairs by the shop. And there are live cockroaches and stick insects in the upstairs gallery. If you pick the right day you might even be allowed to hold them.
There is also a table downstairs of things you can touch and feel (on the right near the shop), some feelby boxes (on the left of the entrance) and a set of drawers with an alphabet quiz. So lots to keep small children occupied with.
Every Sunday there is a family fun day when there are special trails, creative activities and backpacks to borrow. During the school holidays there are special events with lots on to keep the children occupied. If you haven’t got children you might want to avoid Sundays and special events days — Flick can’t have visited on one of these extremely popular days. The museums can get very busy, especially on a wet day so if you’d rather enjoy your geology without hoards of children go on a different day.
It is all free. It is right next to the Pitt Rivers museum so if you get bored of natural history you can go and see the shrunked heads. And there is even a small shop selling cards, and books, small minerals and gems and lots of dinosaurs themed toys.
If you need refreshments after all that educational stuff then head for one of the pubs or the ice cream shop (George and Davis) in Little Clarendon Street which has nice long opening hours even on a Sunday.