National Poo Museum, Scientific museum in Sandown, United Kingdom
The National Poo Museum presents animal droppings encased in lit resin spheres that make each specimen look like a small sculpture. Every sphere includes labels identifying the source animal and details about its digestive process, allowing visitors to compare textures and forms at a glance.
The display opened in 2016 inside the Sandown Barrack Battery, a coastal defense structure built during the 1860s. The Victorian casemates now house the natural history collection that treats droppings as research material.
The museum's straightforward name reflects its mission to present droppings as objects of study rather than disgust. Visitors engage with specimens through magnification tools and diagrams that explain how digestion varies across the animal kingdom.
The site sits close to Sandown Station and buses 2, 3, and 8 stop right outside the entrance. Opening hours run from 11 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, Monday to Friday, fitting easily into a day trip around the island.
Among the exhibits is fossilized hyrax dung once used in perfume making. Visitors can also watch live microorganisms moving inside fresh mouse droppings through specialized microscopes.
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