Fossil Grove Glasgow

Glasgow. Fossil Grove. Glasgow’s Victoria Park.

David Webster of The Fossil Grove Trust at Fossil Grove, Glasgow.

The Fossil Grove building is in urgent need of repairs and the trees are in serious danger of damage. Glasgow City council are reluctant to fund leaving the Trust to open the building to the public and fundraise.
Welcome to the Fossil Grove in Glasgow, Scotland

A unique earth heritage site with eleven fossil tree stumps from the Carboniferous Period. They are about 330 million years old, and preserved where they grew.

In late 1887 a path was cut as part of a new park through an old disused roadstone quarry when the first of the fossil tree stumps was uncovered. Their uniqueness, rarity and importance was quickly recognised. A building was quickly erected over the site – which is still there today.

The site is owned and operated by Glasgow City Council’s Parks Department. The Fossil Grove Trust work with the Council to help present and conserve the fossils and find new sources of funding to improve the overall visitor experience.

The Fossil Grove is currently owned by Glasgow City Council and currently operated by the Council’s Land & Environmental Services Department.

The site is a statutory SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and its status and condition is closely monitored by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Although the building itself is not listed, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) have taken an active advisory role in the building and the fossil conservation and are currently carrying out a number of vital conservation tasks.

The Fossil Grove Trust exists to raise funds and provide advice and support to the Council.

The Current Trustees are: Walter Semple (Chair), Campbell Forrest, David Webster, Neil Robertson, Elizabeth Brown (Whiteinch Community Council rep), Michael Herrigan (Friends of Victoria Park rep), Cllr Felgal Dalton, Cllr Ade Aibinu, and Cllr Maggie McTernan

The Trust has setup an Advisory Group which is led by Scottish Natural Heritage, comprising specialist scientists and curators from Historic Environment Scotland, the Geological Society of Glasgow, Strathcylde Geoconservation Group and Glasgow Museums.

The Trust is a member of the Victoria Park Action Group. Link here

This website is produced and maintained by the Fossil Grove Trust.

The original Trust Deeds can be viewed here Download

Minutes of the Trust meetings can be found here

The Future of the Fossil Grove

History of the fossil grove
In 1885 the Commissioners of the Burgh of Partick leased 46 acres of Scotstoun estate to form a public park. In late 1887 a path was being cut as part of the landscaping works through an old disused roadstone quarry when the first of the fossil tree stumps was uncovered.

By March the national newspapers were reporting on this important discovery. The Scotsman mentions “half-a-dozen tree-fossils” believed to belong to the family Lycopodii. The Partick Commissioners were told t