Take a peek into our collections! – The Herbarium

Go to slide:

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

The Herbarium is a collection of dried plants, algae, moss and lichen specimens which were collected throughout the Victorian era. These specimens were collected as educational tools on the natural world and how it was changing.

Our Herbarium collection dates back to the early 1800s, showcasing plants of all families; some of which are now endangered or at risk due to changing environments and some which tell stories of humans and their activities.

One such item is Purple Lavar, an edible seaweed which is eaten across the world, including Wales where it is used to make Lavar bread doused in vinegar, Cornwall where it’s eaten cold, or Japan where it’s enjoyed as Nori.

There is another story to this seaweed, that of a young woman from Leigh called Dr Kathleen Drew Baker. Born in 1901, Kathleen studied this seaweed at the University of Manchester, making crucial discoveries to the life-cycle of Porphyra Umbilicalis. Her discoveries made a lasting impact on the production of Nori in Japan, previously known as ‘Gamblers Grass’ due to the unpredictable nature of harvesting the seaweed crop. Dr Bakers work enabled cultivators to better understand the life-cycle of the seaweed and create suitable conditions for harvesting which led to the scale of its consumption today. The impact of her work is demonstrated by an annual Japanese festival, in which she is celebrated as ‘the Mother of the Sea’.