BBC Radio 4 Extra

Dinosaurs in the Drawing Room

Factual: History

Factual: Science & Nature

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Dinosaurs in the Drawing Room

How the Natural History Museum packed its collections off to country houses during WWII.

4 Extra Debut. How country houses saved the Natural History Museum’s collections during the Second World War. With Giles Dilnot. From 2014.

During the Second World War, the Natural History Museum evacuated its collection to the nation's stately homes, and with it some of its curators, with often intriguing results. 

Giles Dilnot raids the Museum's archives to discover the letters these curators wrote back to the museum. He hears about the fractious relationships, unexpected friendships and matters of life and death that these scientists encountered as guests of the aristocracy, all of which were played out against the backdrop of some vital war work. 

He also wonders what would happen to the collection if such a threat were to occur now?

Producer: James Crawford

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.

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