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Volume 7, Issue 2 (072412)
Geoconservation Research (GCR)
https://doi.org/10.57647/gcr-2024-si-pt26
Anya Pearson1
1Mary Anning Rocks, Longbarn House, Spadger Lane, West Stafford, Dorchester, DT2 8UB, UK
Corresponding Author’s E-mail: [email protected]
Received:
16-Aug-2024
Revised:
14-Oct-2024
Accepted:
05-Nov-2024
Published:
27-Nov-2024
© The Author(s) 2024
The Mary Anning Rocks charity started as a campaign to raise a statue for the noted early paleontologist and fossil collector Mary Anning in her hometown, Lyme Regis. Now, after the statue was raised, the campaign is still a vibrant and engaging example of how to connect with communities, especially with school-age children. This inclusive and creative campaign ignited far-reaching engagement across a multitude of demographics, but in particular, young women who saw themselves represented in the field of geosci- ences for the first time. By leveraging Anning’s legacy this way, Mary Anning Rocks has helped numerous museums and educators by drawing footfall and helping them open their doors to new audiences. Through the creative use of art, social media, and commu- nity engagement, they have harnessed Anning’s story to encourage interest and learning in the geosciences, forging connections between scientific discovery, cultural heritage, and local communities.
Keywords: Education; Geoconservation; Engagement; Jurassic; Marine reptiles
On May 21st, 2022, with the help of my daugh- ter Evie Swire, I unveiled a bronze statue of the early 19th-century paleontologist Mary Anning in Lyme Regis. Over two thousand people crowded the sea defenses where the statue waited under a bright unveiling cloth. People had gathered all day (Fig. 1), and as the area began filling, some clam- bered up the grassy bank to get a better view. Hundreds wore our campaign T-shirts, ‘Mary An- ning Rocks’ emblazoned across their chests and journalists pushed and shoved with cameras on booms, trying to get the best shot.
I’m a fashion design academic and lecturer at the Arts University Bournemouth, specializing in eth- ical and sustainable practices. I am not a geologist or paleontologist. When I started this campaign six
years ago, I had no clue about the Earth sciences. I liked fossils but wasn’t a huge fan of dinosaurs, mud, cold beaches, or Jurassic Park. I was, how- ever, a huge fan of this incredible, working-class woman who lived in Lyme Regis two hundred years ago. The ground-breaking Mary Anning was remarkable in many ways. Yet, she was underval- ued in various ways from the moment she made her first discovery at the age of eleven, even in the town of her birth, Lyme Regis.
Mary Anning was born in 1799 and spent her life unearthing marine reptiles, including ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, as well as all the other fossils typ- ical of the English Lower Jurassic, including fish- es, ammonites, and belemnites (Lang 1939; Tor- rens 1995; Sharpe 2021; Taylor & Benton 2023).
Figure 1. The Mary Anning Rocks statue unveiling in Lyme Regis, Dorset, on the 21st of May 2022, with patron Professor Alice Roberts and founder Evie Swire. Photo © Mary Anning Rocks 2024.
However, some of these gentlemen scientists, like Buckland, de La Beche, and Murchison, developed friendships with Mary Anning that were as close as the patriarchal restrictions and social etiquette of the time permitted between men and women. (Torrens 1995; Sharpe 2021). It is also well docu- mented in the androcentric historical narrative that Buckland, along with others, provided financial support to Mary when needed through print sales and auctions and campaigned for her to receive a government pension in 1838 in recognition of her work.
After she died in 1847, Mary Anning fell into near obscurity. However, by the 1990s, her name had gained considerable recognition among pro- fessional paleontologists, and in the small town of Lyme Regis, she was celebrated as one of the
town’s most prominent figures. The Philpot Mu- seum (now known as The Lyme Regis Museum) has honored her legacy since its establishment in 1921, and an impressive surge of literature (e.g., Cadbury 2000; Pierce 2006; Davis 2009; Skeers 2020; Sharpe 2021) and a film (‘Ammonite’ in 2020) have also highlighted her story. She is fea- tured in textbooks and, in 2013, was added to the UK national curriculum and discussed alongside prominent historical figures such as Elizabeth I, Rosa Parks, Emily Davison, Mary Seacole, and Florence Nightingale.
However, despite this growing recognition, it is essential to acknowledge that, from an external perspective, especially in academic circles, An- ning is often viewed as a well-remembered figure internationally and in Lyme Regis. While she may have a road named after her and a presence in the local museum, her global impact and recognition do not compare to those of her contemporaries in- cluded in the national curriculum. Although there has been notable attention surrounding her life recently, significant work remains to be done to elevate her status to that of the globally known everyday names that join her on the roll call of historically important women.
What is truly remarkable about Anning is that she is an awe-inspiring role model for children today, as shown by numerous books (e.g. Anholt 1998; Walker 2000; Pierce 2006; Skeers 2020). Anning did what she did from a poor, working-class back- ground with limited education. She was primarily self-taught and unflinching in her drive to under- stand and learn more about the fossils she dug from the cliffs. She dissected squid and fish she bought from the local fisherman so she could un- derstand more about the biology of the long-dead animals she found. Nothing got in her way, and Mary never gave up.
Figure 2. Mary Anning’s life and quarter bronze statue faces out towards Black Venn and is situated at the junction of the old cart road and Long Entry. Photo © Mary Anning Rocks 2024.
While experiencing menopause and after reading Caroline Criado Perez’s book ‘Invisible Women’ (Criado Perez 2009), I conceived the idea of creat- ing a statue of Mary Anning. The statistics and the glaring lack of female representation, particularly in visual culture, were deeply troubling. As a vi- sual artist, I found this disparity particularly chal- lenging to reconcile with my work and perspec- tive. With no guidebook on how to raise statues, I turned to the local fossil community in Dorset. Once I had a team of modern-day fossil collectors and both amateur and professional geologists on board, things progressed quickly. We launched a crowdfunding campaign just as the government announced the second COVID-19 lockdown,
which gave people more time to reflect and en- gage in creative, hands-on projects. We also orga- nized a local school’s community art project, al- lowing local children to design how Mary should look. I dedicated a great deal of time and effort to branding and marketing the campaign and lever- aging social media to spread the word.
I reached out to the celebrities of the earth scienc- es community, writing lots of emails and letters. Support quickly grew, with notable figures like novelist Tracy Chevalier, Sir David Attenbor- ough, and Professor Alice Roberts backing the project. Though the campaign was delayed due to Covid-19, we eventually raised the £150,000 needed to commission our chosen artist, Denise Dutton. After eight months of work, Mary’s clay rendering (Fig. 3), created at a ‘life and a quarter’ scale, was ready to be sent to the foundry in Wales for casting in bronze. This larger-than-life-size was necessary to counter the optical illusion that
Figure 3. Mary’s Life and a Quarter clay rendering with artist Denise Dutton for scale. Photo © Mary Anning Rocks 2024.
often makes statues in open spaces appear smaller than they are. The ‘life and a quarter’ scale ensures the statue maintains its full presence and looks ap- propriately proportioned once installed outdoors.
Mary finally arrived in Lyme Regis four days be- fore the unveiling on the back of a flatbed truck and was cemented permanently into her new home, marching out to the beach with basket and hammer in hand and Tray, her dog trotting by her side.
Mary was in the right place at the right time for me to find her. If I still lived in Newcastle, I’d cham- pion Mary Astell (Kinnaird 1979). If I were still living in the East End of London, I’d raise a mon- ument to the Match Girls (The Match Girls Me- morial n.d.). In Edinburgh, it would be Elsie In- glis (McLaren 2022; Elsie, Statue for Elsie Inglis n.d.); in Canterbury, Aphra Behn (Ferguson 1991; About Aphra Behn n.d.). The sad truth is that these women may be known to campaigners and schol- ars, but they are not more widely appreciated.
These forgotten women now have incredible cam- paigns championing them. Over the years, many have sought my advice because of the consid- erable publicity generated by the Mary Anning Rocks campaign. As a collective, we now have twelve campaigns and counting (Fig. 4). We are a mentoring and support group called VISIBLE-r WomenUK (Visible Women (n.d.); Invisible Women n.d.). These championed women are the lucky ones. There are so many more to discover and celebrate.
But why are civic monuments and statues import- ant, especially in the digital age? Representation in statues and monuments within our landscapes is vital because public artworks show us how to visualize our shared history. They represent peo-
Figure 4. From top left to right: Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Pankhurst, Elizabeth Elmy, Mary Clarke, Henriette Lacks and Aphra Behn. Photo © Mary Anning Rocks 2024.
ple we all agree are significant and worthy and should be remembered. There are many statues in the UK of men (Fig. 5), and making women an equal part of that experience is essential. Whether it is a monument or a statue, the values and be- liefs celebrated with a publicly displayed piece of art reflect what the people of that town, like Lyme Regis, are choosing to remember and honor.
The symbolic annihilation of women (Gerbner and Gross 1976) in public discourse has been an immense problem. Some female scientists from the past are being rediscovered, Mary Anning was always there, in the minds of geologists at least, whereas other female scientists of the time were
overlooked completely, such as Elizabeth Bennet and Mary Moreland (Buckland’s wife). However, organizations like TrowelBlazers (TrowelBlazers 2019) are now championing their contributions in the ‘digging’ sciences: archaeology, geology, and paleontology. These efforts are helping to restore the recognition they long deserved.
A noted case of symbolic annihilation of women comes from a consideration of civic monuments in the UK. Only 4% of statues in the UK are of named women, most of which are of royal women. Accord- ing to the Art Online database for the UK (Art UK n.d.), there are 4,912 publicly owned sculptures, of which 892 are named individuals. For these, each
Figure 5. Who are we putting on pedestals? 85% of statues in the UK commemorate the deeds of men. Photo © Mary Anning Rocks 2024.
artist and the named individual was assigned a gen- der, with all others classified as ‘unknown’. It turns out that there are more statues of men called John
(82) than all named non-royal women – among these, John Lennon has eight statues.
The Mary Anning Rocks campaign started with a statue but continues with a significant outreach program. First, with the help of the Geologists’As- sociation (GA), the artist’s maquette of the statue went on tour, visiting numerous museums and gal- leries throughout 2023 and 2024, with bookings right into 2025. We also receive requests to host her from museums and organizations in Europe and the United States, and following this strong interest, we have commissioned two copies of the maquette from Denise Dutton so we can start plan- ning further ‘road trips’ with the GA very soon.
Mary has been hosted by some of the most impres- sive museums, large and small. The impact of this is she has now been seen by thousands of people who would never be able to make the trip to Lyme Regis and hundreds more who have been learning about her for the first time (Fig. 6).
For me, it’s been the little wins. Last summer, I at- tended the Girls in Geoscience (GiG) event at the University of Plymouth with Mary’s Maquette. GiG is an important initiative because women still only comprised 26.3% of the UK STEM workforce in September 2023 (Workforce Statistics 2023). I was approached by a first-year student studying geology who told me that when she was fourteen it was our social media campaign that allowed her to ‘see herself’ for the first time as a geologist. This was life-affirming proof of the importance of out- reach initiatives and giving everyone the chance to have diverse role models to look up to.
In 2025, we officially hand Mary Anning’s statue and the learning legacy to Lyme Regis Museum (LRM). We always intended to pass the baton on to a worthy custodian, and we couldn’t think of
Figure 6. Mary Anning on tour. From top right to left: GiG Girls into Geosciences, University of Plymouth, The “Road Trip' map so far, the Yorkshire Museum poster and Hastings Museum and Art gallery publicity photos. Photo © Mary Anning Rocks 2024 (3 girls looking at Mary photo: Photographer: Rod Morris (i:roadfactoryfilms)
a more deserving and wonderful organization to partner with than LRM. This summer, we fund- ed an information board by the statue and sig- nage around the town, and in the last few weeks, we have created free teaching materials that can be accessed and downloaded from our web- site (https://www.maryanningrocks.co.uk/free- stuff). Beautifully illustrated, ‘Mary’s Map’ lets you trace Mary’s footsteps around Lyme Regis, exploring where she lived and worked, and dis-
covering the key buildings and landmarks in her story. It also highlights the significant people who supported Mary throughout her life. We also have ‘Mary’s Timeline’, a fun and graphic artwork that is a visual timeline highlighting Mary’s remark- able milestones, including some of her most fa- mous accomplishments and perhaps a few you might not know.
The most significant change for the charity is, however, a project we launched in Dorchester,
Figure 7. The opening of the Mary Anning Unit at Dorset Hospital with myself, Evie Swire and staff at the ribbon cutting ceremony. Photo copyright Mary Anning Rocks 2024
Figure 8. Initial sketches of Sylvia Townsend Warner by sculptor Denise Dutton
Dorset, at the beginning of the summer. We had an agreement from the Charities Commission to change our name and objectives, allowing us to focus on another marginalized, forgotten woman of history. This November 2024, we are excit- ed to announce that our next statue project will honor Sylvia Townsend Warner (Fig. 8) —an extraordinarily witty writer and poet, one of the most remarkable authors of the last century, and an LGBTQ+ pioneer (Sylvia Townsend Warner Society). Townsend Warner will be Dorchester’s first non-royal woman commemorated with a stat- ue, joining six men, a horse, a dog and a Queen. While Thomas Hardy and William Barnes are tra- ditionally celebrated as Dorset’s literary icons, by raising a statue of Sylvia, we will permanently add her diverse and remarkable voice to the county’s rich literary heritage.
I am grateful to two anonymous reviewers for many suggestions that improved this review.
I have no conflicts of interest to declare
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