Cuckfield Museum tells the story of Gideon Mantell, a scientist who made one of the planet’s most unique discoveries; the existence of dinosaurs.

The story goes that in 1821 while waiting for her husband to visit a patient in Cuckfield, Mary Ann Mantell found some fossil teeth in a pile of roadside rubble.

The teeth were eventually traced back to the stone quarry at Whiteman’s Green and so it was that Dr Mantell gave the name Iguanodon to the first dinosaur known to science.

A number of the dinosaur fossils from Cuckfield can be found in museums throughout the world including the UK, New Zealand and the USA. Cuckfield Museum also have a number of the fossils on display. And more of the Iguanodon (dinosaur) teeth and thumb spikes, originally found in Cuckfield (Whiteman’s Green) can be viewed at the Natural History Museum in London.

Right now, Cuckfield Museum has a new dinorama display which is aimed especially at younger visitors. The scene created by local prop-maker Christopher Sutton recreates the Cretaceous period when the famous iguanodon roamed the landscape. They also have new dinosaur activities for children with dinosaur rubbings and fossil handling.

For further information about the display, please visit www.cuckfieldmuseum.org/dinosaurs