Impressive catch goes on display

The find, made by fishermen off the coast of West Worthing, had been hidden in storage for 95 years at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery.

The impressive catch was identified by the British Museum and the museum bought the tusks to add to its collection.

But only now have they gone on permanent display at the Chapel Road museum.

Curators were carrying out conservation cleaning on some of the reserve collection earlier this year when they discovered the tusks in a locked cupboard. Research revealed the full the story.

Gerry Connolly, senior curator, said: “We were very excited about the finds and, after some research, discovered their local story, of how they ended up in the museum.

“Of course our first reaction was to display the items and allow them to be seen. The tusks are of interest in themselves but the local story of them being dredged up from the sea bed is fascinating.”

Woolly mammoths roamed the planes of northern Europe, including the South Downs, 400,000 years ago.

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