The Kimmeridge Trust - A Passion Made Possible, Our History…..
For 40 years it has been the ambition of Steve Etches to donate his collection to a local museum but where, how, when had been impossible questions to answer. There was no turning back, however, as the collection grew to over 2600 pieces and Steve was threatened with eviction from his own house by a determined set of 150 million year old dead animals. For every way forward there seemed to be a step back. Then, two fortuitous meetings happened that acted as catalysts. One at a social event that brought a set of stubbornly creative geniuses together and the other took place at a very sad time after the funeral of Major John Mansel, who was instrumental in helping Steve set up his collection by allowing him access to Smedmore Estate property, to collect the fossils. Steve had a wistful chat with a local farmer and the chairman of the Kimmeridge village hall committee - they realised they could combine forces to create a museum and village hall in one building, in the village of Kimmeridge. Thus the Kimmeridge Trust - a charitable institution, was born and additional Trustees were drafted in, each with the necessary key skills to help drive the project forward. It was a period of ten action packed years - including many setbacks, obstacles, fundraising and joyous breakthroughs before The Etches Collection Museum finally opened - a dream realised.
The Kimmeridge Trust’s Mission…..
“is to advance education and learning by creating and maintaining a world-class Designated and Accredited Museum, that interprets the incredible evolution of prehistoric marine life throughout the geological stratigraphy known as the Kimmeridgian stage of the upper Jurassic.
Our vision is to create, maintain, conserve, and grow the collection, where each fossil tells a unique scientific story that adds to our understanding of the Jurassic world. Our ambition is to encapsulate these incredible wonders in a scientific and community cultural centre where children, families, students, and scientists can come to discover, learn, debate and wonder.“
Board of Trustees
The Current Kimmeridge Trust Board of Trustees are:-
Rob Vearncombe - Local farmer and one of the original trustee members of The Kimmeridge Trust. Rob has been involved with the trust since its formation - he has a wealth of business and finance knowledge having run Swalland Farm for many years and brings to the trust practical hands on experience.
Pete Sheppard - film producer, photographer and media expert - Pete is involved with many productions and is based at the legendary Pinewood Studios and provides us valuable guidance on all things media and digital.
Rose Clarke - Rose heads up the Village Hall committee and represents Kimmeridge Village. Rose is a finance and operations director and assists the Trust with our business strategy.
Nick Ford - Local fisherman, Nick represents Kimmeridge Village.
Sir Richard Lambert is a British journalist and business executive. He served as director-general of the CBI, chancellor of the University of Warwick, editor of the Financial Times newspaper and chairman of the board of the British Museum.
Professor John Marshall from the Department of Ocean & Earth Science at the University of Southampton. Academic link for the collection, Kimmeridge Clay palaeoenvironments, petroleum source rocks, microfossils.
Dr. Neil Frewin BSc. (Hons.) PhD FGS CGeol is a geologist and new business advisor for Shell International Ltd. and President of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (PESGB). Neil provides industry and academic links for the Collection.
Dr Stephen Earwicker is a retired medical practitioner, he is also a Trustee for the Halsway Manor Society and also volunteers at the Swanage Railway as well as assisting with the current COVID vaccination programme across Purbeck. Stephen has been involved with the trust for many years and assists us with Governance and charity administration.
Tim Pennington was a Chief Financial Officer for several major telecoms groups including Cable & Wireless PLC. Currently a non-executive director for MTN Group Limited, one of the largest listed telecoms groups in Africa. Tim helps with the financial management for the museum.
