Tower and Town, April 2018 (view the full edition)Natural History At Marlborough CollegeWith the exception of the one at Bootham School, York, the Natural History Society at Marlborough College is the oldest of its type. Founded in 1864 by three boys, A.C. Almack, W.W. Dayman and R.T. Isaacson, its activities were recorded in Reports, the compilation of which excused the editors from Latin Prose for the week. The pages of these Reports, which were published until the 1960s, contain invaluable records of local species of bird, flowers and insects as well as research carried out by students and masters. College boys were systematically weighed and measured, these statistics being passed to the Anthropometrical Society in London. The founders were keen to show exhibits to the Master - "on one occasion when the poet Tennyson was a guest, we brought over a nightingale's nest and a pair of ring-ouzel's eggs." The Reports give a fascinating insight into the changes in birdlife: Corncrake, Cirl Bunting, Woodlark, Hawfinch and Lesser Redpoll all nested - nowadays the occurrence of any of these species would be the cause of great excitement. On the other hand, species such as Tufted Duck and Great Spotted Woodpecker, which now breed in the College grounds, were absent. A small museum was established in 1866 but in 1883 this building was replaced by Museum Block which contained magnificent showcases of animals from all over the world. Field Days were an important feature of the Society's activities; on Saturdays in the Summer Term large numbers of members repaired to some outlying district to forage. In 1885, Rev. T.A. Preston, the founder-President left the College. In 1933, the Society's base was moved to Mount House where the collections survived intact despite The Military taking over the building, installing a machine gun post and concreting the bow window. Today the collections and Reports are housed in the Science Department and Archives who have catalogued and digitised the Reports. In 1977, Beverley Heath established a Nature Trail around the College Lakes and Granham Hill. This was extended in 2002 and much of it is accessible to the public. A guide to the trail can be obtained from the College; as one follows the numbered posts one is given an insight into the natural history that has fascinated generations of Marlburians. Seán Dempster |
His successor, E. Meyrick FRS, was one of the world's leading authorities on microlepidoptera; his British collection of butterflies and moths is housed in the College. Another unique collection is the Wedgwood Herbarium, donated by Mary Wedgwood in memory of her second son, Allen, who was killed at Gallipoli.