500 million years of history in a single fossil

Fossils from the Dennis Wyatt Collection which have been donated to East Norfolk Sixth Form College. Photo: East Norfolk Sixth Form College (Image: Archant)

A-level geology students at East Norfolk Sixth Form College will be able to dig back 500 million years with fossils from the late Dennis Wyatt's collection.

Following his death several years ago Mr Wyatt's sister-in-law received his collection of fossils.

Now she has passed on the collection, which includes fossilised sharks' teeth and trilobites dating back 500 million years, to help students at the school benefit from the history they hold.

Geology teacher at East Norfolk Sixth Form College, Reuben Woolnough, said: 'We are extremely grateful to receive this amazing fossil collection, which is of museum standard.

The late Dennis Wyatt who lived in Carlton Colville spent a lifetime finding and identifying a very extensive collection of fossils. This impressive resource has kindly been donated to the geology department at EN by Mr Wyatt's sister-in-law. Picture by Jon Dack (Image: Jon Dack)

'Having such a high quality resource in college will revolutionise the study of fossils by our geology students.'

Mr Woolnough said the collection involved fossils from across the world including the US and Europe.

He said: 'Mr Wyatt clearly travelled for his hobby and found a lot over the years.'

The fossils will be known as the Dennis Wyatt Collection.

Trilobites, of which there are a number in the Dennis Wyatt Collection, are from hard-shelled, sea creatures that existed over 520 million years ago.

They went extinct before the dinosaurs came into existence and today palaeontologists have identified over 20,000 different types of trilobites.