The Classic Carboniferous Crinoids of Richmond

The pretty North Yorkshire market town of Richmond has a rich history, most notably visible in the large Norman castle perched high above the River Swale.


Carboniferous exposures in the River Swale beneath Richmond's Norman castle. I watched a relaxed kingfisher standing on the rocks here on 3rd August 2024.


Richmond also has an important palaeontological history, being the site of a discovery in the 1850s of numerous beautifully preserved Carboniferous crinoid fossils. The most abundant of these, Woodocrinus macrodactylus, was described in 1854 (de Koninck in de Koninck & Le Hon).


De Koninck's 1854 diagram of Woodocrinus macrodactylus. 'Parmi les nombreux fossiles carbonifères du Yorkshire dont je suis redevable à l’obligeance de M. Edward Wood, de Richmond, il s’est trouvé quelques échantillons d’un Crinoïde remarquable par sa taille et par la parfaite conservation de ses diverses parties.'


Illustrations of Woodocrinus macrodactylus in de Koninck & Le Hon (1854).

These days, I have a single specimen from those 19th century finds, a slab displaying a complete crown (9 cm tall) of Woodocrinus expansus with a smaller crown of  Woodocrinus macrodactylus (top left in the photograph below). The specimen once resided in the collection of John Cummings (1812-1898) of Woburn, Massachusetts. The specimen was much later deaccessioned from the Woburn Public Library collection. It had been supplied to Cummings by Bryce McMurdo Wright (Cooper 1991). There is (in the Yale Peabody Museum collection) an 1871 letter from Wright, which mentions his stock of Woodocrinus specimens, (see below).


Slab of Namurian (Lower Carboniferous) limestone showing complete Woodocrinus expansus crown (9 cm tall) with smaller Woodocrinus macrodactylus crown (top left). The 19th century label is from the collection of John  Cummings (1812-1898) of Woburn, Massachusetts. The specimen had been supplied by Bryce McMurdo Wright.


Portion of a letter from Bryce McMurdo Wright, dated October 3rd 1871 mentioning his stock of Woodocrinus specimens. Peabody Yale collections. Notice similarities in the handwriting with that seen in the Woodocrinus label, especially the drifted crosses of the 't' in limestone and dactylus. The number on the label appears to be in a different hand.


An important monograph on the British Carboniferous crinoids was published by Wright (1950-54). It contains numerous illustrations of the Richmond crinoids, including the one shown below. My copy once belonged to a famous British palaeontologist, Bill Ramsbottom. Bill was a friend of my parents and gave me (a young teenager at the time) two Carboniferous crinoid calyces (an Amphoracrinus and a Platycrinites) from Clitheroe, a successful inspiration given to the next generation! These specimens also had a historical connection, since illustrations of Amphoracrinus were published by Lister in 1673.



Lectotype of Woodocrinus expansus de Koninck & Wood as illustrated in Wright (1953), plate XXIX, Fig. 1. Yorkshire Museum, York, YM108.



Bill Ramsbottom's signature in his copy of Wright (1950-54)


Lister's 1673 illustration of Carboniferous crinoids including calyces of Amphoracrinus. I like the little shadows to the left of each specimen.



This is a very satisfying set of connections, from a famous find of around 175 years ago, to an 1854 publication, to a well known dealer and a well known collector of the second half of the 19th century, to a 20th century monograph illustrating the finds, which once belonged to a noted British palaeontologist, who in the 1970s made me a gift of two Carboniferous crinoids with the idea of inspiring the next generation.


References

Cooper, M. P. 1991. Bryce McMurdo WRIGHT Snr (c.1814-1874) and Jnr (1850-1895). Geological Curator, 5, 232-234.

de Koninck, D.M. in de Koninck, D.M.  & Le Hon, H. 1854. Recherches sur les Crinoǐdes du terrain Carbonifère de la Belgique. M. Hayez, Brusselles.

Lister, M. 1673. A description of certain stones figured like plants, and by some observing men esteemed to be plants petrified: Communicated to the Publisher by the same Mr. Lister, from York Novemb. 4th. 1673. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Volume 8, Issue 100, 6181-6191.

Wright, J. 1950-54. A Monograph on the British Carboniferous Crinoidea. Palaeontographical Society.





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