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Foreward

The Museum is not at present open to the public due to lack of suitable premises in which to display the collection, but its work continues by maintaining and supplementing the numerous specimens we hold and by publishing information on the geological sciences both in print and through our website www.stonemuseum.org.uk

Our website has continued to grow dramatically over the past year and space on a third fileserver has kindly been provided by the Virgin Group to accommodate our needs. This has allowed us to extend our photo-galleries to incluide specimens from our botanical collection.

Our income was down 17.5% over 2001/2002 but this was more than offset by a corresponding decrease of 27.6% in our costs. Running costs are up by 8%, mainly attributable to the Museum changing over from paraffin heating to an electric heating/cooling system for the Botanical Department. Justification for the change being that this will safeguard the collection and reduce die-off.

Fixed assets, together with assets held in trust, continue to grow with a year-on-year increase of 3.8%.

Brian R J Glover
Curator

Department of Palaeontology

Acquisitions by Donation

• a specimen of fossil limestone from the island of Rhodes and containing shell fragments was donated by Miss Carol Shipton of Gidea Park, Essex;
• a specimen of bryozoa from Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire was donated by Mr Bernie Smith of Dagenham, Essex.

Acquisitions by Purchase

The Museum acquired a number of specimens from rock and fossil fairs around the south east including:

• a specimen of the tree fern Annularia from Chislet Colliery in the now closed East Kent coalfields;
• a fine cluster of sand dollar sea urchins from Brittany in France;
• a cervical vertebra from a mammoth dredged from Pleistocene sands at Brown Bank in the North Sea;
• a partial mammoth tusk from Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire.
• a complete Astacopsis crayfish from the Eocene of Western Australia was acquired from G Butler of Tunbridge Wells.

Department of Geology

Acquisitions by Field Trip

• a sample of Pliocene red sand was obtained from the Lenham Beds of Kent. There are only a small handful of sites in Great Britain dating from this period and this area close to Maidstone is the only one in the south east.

Acquisitions by Donation

• a fine selenite crystal from Tunisia together with a specimen of marble from the island of Rhodes were donated by Miss Carol Shipton of Gidea Park, Essex;
• five whole mexican geodes were donated by Mrs Marion Glover of Dartford, Kent.

Acquisitions by Purchase

• a fine specimen of ruin marble from Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd of Earls Court, London;
• a rare specimen of green acicular gypsum crystals from Silesia, Poland were acquired from Isis Minerals, Bexley Fossil & Mineral Fair);
• a fragment of the Henbury meteorite of Northern Australia was acquired from Crystal Vine at Bexley Fossil & Mineral Fair.

The Museum Web-Site - http://www.stonemuseum.org.uk

The website contains descriptions of the Museum, its aims and the scope of its collection, but more importantly, contains sections on where to go to see geological and palaeontological attractions and sites, where to go to collect rocks and fossils and also lists world news of earthquakes, volcanic activity, mining developments and major fossil finds.

There are special pages devoted to background and reference information on geology and pages including write-ups of Museum field trips and expeditions together with reports on the research that we undertake.

The website also contains numerous useful links to museums, institutions and commercial organisations around the world that display, exhibit, promote or exploit the science of geology.

Major additions in the last year have been the introduction of photo galleries of the major rocks, fossils and minerals in the collection and extra details on the places to visit we list.

Library & Resource Centre

Our library holdings continue to be the fastest growth area of the Museum with materials currently available including:-

Books	119
Information Leaflets	238
Scientific Papers	26
Magazines & Publications	359
Maps	14
U.K. Newspaper Extracts	131
Video & Audio Tapes	12
College Prospectuses	74
Newsfiles (held electronically)	5618
Miscellaneous	4
TOTAL	6595

Electronic Newsfiles

We are grateful to the various news agencies around the world that supply us with up to the minute information on fossil finds, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, including Reuters, Associated Press, PR Newswire, Français Press Association and Deutsche Press Association.

Looking to the Future

The Trustees top priority remains the acquisition of new premises and as a first step towards this goal will be actively seeking partnership funding from grant-in-aid sources and from local concerns over the coming year.

Our appeal will continue to run for funds to acquire a dinosaur fossil from the United States and for a seismograph for the Bangladesh Earthquake Monitoring Station in Chittagong.

Field trips are planned to explore and document some of the less well known geological sites in Kent.

We shall also be majoring on development of our library holdings extending the range of geological resource materials available, particularly a complete set of Ordnance Survey maps of Kent & Sussex.

Notes to the Accounts

1. Museum Expenditure

As a non profit making organisation, the Museum aims to spend the minimum possible on administration and overheads so that funds can be channelled into curation of the collection and the acquisition of display equipment and new specimens.

2. Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Fixed assets at 31st March 2003 are stated at the lower of (a) cost, less provision for depreciation - if originally purchased by the Museum, or (b) net realisable value, less provision for depreciation - if the asset was originally donated free of charge.

Depreciation is provided on a straight line basis, and is calculated on historical amounts, after providing for any permanent diminution in value. The period of depreciation being the estimated life of the asset subject to the maxima shown below and commencing when the capital expenditure was incurred or on acquisition of the asset by donation.

Type of asset	Maximum period
Computer equipment	10 years
Laboratory and display equipment	20-40 years

Estimated lives and residual values of individual items are reviewed periodically and amended when circumstances change. Asset values shown represent the estimated replacement cost of the collection with specimens of similar quality and size.

3. Disposals

No specimen in the collection is considered to be a disposable asset - the Museum's charter provides strict safeguards and restrictions on disposals of the specimens themselves.

The nominal amount shown for disposals is an assessment of the value of plants lost through die-off from the Museum's Botanical Department.

4. Interest Receivable

Interest is received gross of tax each April 5th.

Balance Sheet

Position as at 31st March 2003

EXPENDITURE
Acquisitions	475.58	660.35
Purchase of Fixed Assets	74.90	390.97
Operating Costs	616.04	559.82
TOTAL	1166.56	1611.14

BALANCE

757.74

721.20

WORKING CAPITAL
Interest Received	0.01	0.00
Cash in Hand	51.85	1.85
Stock in Hand	705.88	719.35
TOTAL	757.74	721.20

STATEMENT OF ASSETS

Position as at 31st March 2002

OPENING BALANCE	3365.34	2724.19
plus Acquisitions	121.90	660.73
Prior Year Adj.	0.00	436.18
less Disposals	38.34	61.06
less Depreciation	382.30	394.70
CLOSING BALANCE	3066.60	3365.34

Working Capital	757.74	721.20
Value of Collection	12508.34	11645.84
Current Assets	25.18	25.96
Fixed Assets	3066.60	3365.34
TOTAL ASSETS	16357.86	15758.34