Snakestone

3D Model

A legend, dating to 1400 at the latest, holds that the local ammonite fossils were snakes turned to stone by St Hild, the founding abbess of Whitby’s Anglo-Saxon monastery. Enterprising Victorians carved natural fossils with a snake’s head to sell to tourists, and they are still produced and sold today. This Lower Jurassic Dactylioceras ammonite fossil was originally collected from nearby Kettleness, and the snake’s head was carved into it for English Heritage in 2018.

Date: Jurassic period (200 to 145 million years old)

Dimensions: h 75mm x w 70mm x d 15mm

Weight: 120g

Visit the English Heritage website to learn more about St Hild and Whitby Abbey.