Fossils from the Dengie will be unveiled tomorrow (Friday, 20 August) in a new exhibition at Maldon Museum in the Park.

Volunteers of the museum will be joined by Jon Greaves, author of Fossils of the Dengie Peninsula, to reveal the museum's new display of Eocene fossils.

Organiser Jennie Donnelly, who is also a Burnham-on-Crouch town councillor, said: "I collected all of the fossils locally, mainly from Creeksea.

"I have been collecting Eocene fossils for about 12 or 13 years now, and the first guide book I ever bought on them was Fossils of the Dengie Peninsula, which is why I am so pleased to be able to use Jon's artwork in the display to help tell the story of life in Essex 50 million years ago."

Jennie has previously installed fossil displays in the Burnham-on-Crouch Museum and once for the Maeldune Centre, as well as hosting talks on fossils and taking groups out to fossil sites in Burnham-on-Crouch and the Dengie.

The shoreline around the Creeksea area is particularly popular with seasoned fossil hunters such as Jennie, with finds dating back to the Eocene period.

Jennie joined Maldon Museum in the Park in 2019, where she was running children's history-based craft sessions before Covid-19 hit.

She said: "Because Covid has interrupted our usual activities, we were looking for a safe and fun activity to do.

"We started the monthly fossil tours and, thanks to the Parlour Café allowing us to use their car park, we have been taking a walk to the fossil site for a talk on the Eocene and its fossils.

"Then there is a break for people to look for their own fossils or have a picnic packed lunch before we head back.

"This sort of prompted me to offer to donate my finds to the museum and they fantastically managed to find space in a new display board out at the front of the museum to add this new older chapter of the area's history to their display."

The display will be unveiled at 1pm on the lawn in front of the museum, and will feature artwork from Jon's book Fossils of the Dengie Peninsula.

Maldon Museum in the Park can be found at 47 Mill Road in Maldon.

To find out more information on the museum, you can visit its website using the link here.