Shells from Captain Cook’s third voyage ‘lost for 40 years’ are saved from skip

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy An 18th century shell collection from Captain James Cook’s third voyage, thought lost for more than 40 years, has been returned to English Heritage after being saved from a skip in “nothing short of a miracle”. To discover that the shells have not only survived but been kept safe and loved all this time is nothing short of a miracle Dr Frances McIntosh, English Heritage Dr Frances McIntosh, English Heritage’s collections curator for Hadrian’s Wall and the North East, said: “We’ve always known about Bridget Atkinson’s collection but had believed it completely lost. “As well as being a testament to Bridget’s character and contacts, this collection is also a superb record of Britain’s role in global trade in the late 18th century, not to mention human impact on the natural world.” Dr Tom White, principal curator of non-insect invertebrates at the Natural History Museum, who has been helping English Heritage to identify and catalogue the shells, said the collection includes numerous rare species, including the now-extinct Distorsio cancellina and others. He said: “These would have been extraordinarily sought-after in 18th century Britain, during the golden age of shell collecting when single specimens could sell for thousands of pounds.” – The collection will go on display, for the first time in more than 100 years, at Chesters Roman Fort and Museum in Northumberland from Wednesday March 13.