Westbury beast to come home this summer!

A GIANT six-foot model of the skull of a prehistoric pliosaur, which lived 150 million years ago and was discovered in a Westbury clay pit in 1994, will be displayed in a special exhibition at Westbury Museum this August. 

The skull of the huge ocean-dwelling predator is currently on display in the vertebrate fossil collection of Bristol City Museum. When she was uncovered in Westbury, the pliosaur’s discovery made headlines as she was found to be the world’s only example of a new species of pliosaur, which was named Pliosaurus carpenteri in honour of amateur geologist, Simon Carpenter, who found the fossil. Bristol City Museum has nicknamed her ‘Doris.’  

Sally Hendry chair of Westbury Heritage Society, runs Westbury Museum said, “We are very excited about the replica skull coming back to Westbury for our exhibition and extremely grateful to the staff of Bristol Museum for their brilliant cooperation.  

“The last time it was here in Wiltshire was for the Diamond Jubilee when it was actually seen by the Queen, so it seems really appropriate that it is visiting again in this Royal Jubilee year. 

“There may be many Westbury people who are unaware that this giant, which was top of the food chain, once swam in our warm Jurassic seas and died here, so we are really hoping everyone will come along and find out more about our oldest resident!” 

The exhibition will run from the 1st to 13th August, giving Westbury residents time to get up close to the 150-million-year-old fossil and get a taste of what life was like for the gigantic beasts that roamed the earth. 

To supplement this, there will be talk from Bristol University Professor, Dr Judyth Sassoon, who will uncover the secrets of the pliosaur on Tuesday 26th July.