The big fish is back

1:09pm Tuesday 7th August 2007

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ONE of Worcester's oldest and most famous exhibits is making a splash with visitors again now that it is back on display at a museum.

The popular 8ft 4in (2.5 metre) sturgeon has returned to prominence at Worcester City Museum and Art Gallery after spending five years in storage.

Collections officer Garston Phillips said seeing all the fish stranded on Worcester Racecourse following the recent floods inspired him to get the 172-year-old sturgeon back out.

Mr Phillips said the sturgeon, which weighs 250-300 lbs (113-136 kg), is one of the most popular exhibits at Foregate Street museum along with a large albatross and a tiger's head.

"People remember them," he said. "People who come into the museum always ask about the sturgeon or the albatross and what's going on with them."

The sturgeon is presented in a perspex case at the top of the stairs.

There are many stories surrounding the sturgeon, which naturally lives in the north Atlantic ocean, and how it came to rest at the Worcester museum.

One story goes that it was captured in the river Severn at Worcester on July 25, 1835 and presented to the museum two years after it was founded in 1833.

Another says it was caught at Diglis in 1843 and formed the template for the chiselled outline of a fish which can still be seen in the south wall of the water gate. However, measurements show the fish on display in the museum is actually 2ft (0.6 metre) longer.