Dinosaur Isle in Isle of Wight, English Channel, United Kingdom | Museum | Dinosaur Museum

Welcome to Dinosaur Isle in Sandown on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. For nearly a century the Museum of Isle of Wight Geology, above Sandown Library, housed the Island's geology and fossil collections. On August 10th 2001 this changed with the opening of Dinosaur Isle, a purpose built interactive Museum which replaced the old Museum. Dinosaur Isle provides the space and facilities to properly display and conserve the rich geological collections. Dinosaur Isle is managed by the Isle of Wight Council. The new Museum is located on Culver Parade, a short distance from the old building, and was designed by local architects Rainey Petrie Johns in the shape of a giant pterodactyl. The interior was designed by Leicester based Haley Sharpe Design, who employed an array of sub-contractors to make everything from showcases to rock re-constructions to full sized fleshed dinosaurs!The new Museum displays over 1000 of the best fossils from the collections, and the dedicated Museum staff and volunteers have spent much time preparing the specimens for the new displays. An introductory exhibition gallery covers the geology and fossils of the Island in a walk back through time, taking the visitor from the Ice Age of the recent past, back to the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs lived. This leads to the large dinosaur gallery, which has exciting displays including real fossils, skeletal re-constructions, life sized fleshed re-constructions and two animatronic dinosaurs. The picture is of the original staff in 2001, shortly after we opened to the public.
As well as the displays, there is a working laboratory on view, and a room set aside for learning sessions. Full disabled access is available, and the facility has a large shop. Browns cafeteria is immediately next door to the site. We are located next to the sandy beach at Sandown, within a short distance of the excellent geological exposures at Yaverland.