The Dudley Bug

A trilobite on a coat of arms

How Calymene blumenbachii became the symbol of a Black Country town.

How this site works. Every fact is in our own words and linked to its source, beside it. Where good sources disagree, we show each version in a “Sources differ” box.

The Dudley Bug

Local miners called it the ‘Dudley locust’, and it ended up on the Dudley County Borough Council coat of arms. NHM

Calymene blumenbachii was first found in the 18th century at Wren’s Nest in Dudley. NHM

The BGS lists three nicknames: Dudley Locust, Dudley Bug and Dudley Insect. BGS

Calymene sits at the centre of Dudley’s coat of arms. BGS

Dudley Council says it was so common in 19th-century quarries that it became a symbol of the limestone mining industry. Dudley Council, geology

On the crest it sits between an anchor for the sea and a miner’s Davy lamp. Scientific American blog

The Scientific American blog says the design was adopted in the 1950s, though trilobites are even in the walls of 11th-century Dudley Castle. Scientific American blog

The real fossils are not red; they came out of yellowish rock. Scientific American blog

By the mid-19th century people wore Dudley trilobites as jewellery. NHM

Wren’s Nest

Trilobites are probably the most famous fossils at Wren’s Nest. Dudley Council, geology

Another common Wren’s Nest trilobite is Dalmanites. Dudley Council, geology

Wren’s Nest became England’s first national nature reserve set up for its geology, in 1956. Black Country Geopark

The area was quarried and mined for limestone until 1925. Dudley Council, geology

Sir Roderick Murchison’s 1839 book The Silurian System drew heavily on Dudley: about 65% of the Wenlock fossils it illustrated came from there. Dudley Council, geology

Over 400 million years ago, Dudley was covered by coral reefs and tropical seas. Dudley Council

Over 700 types of fossil are found there: 186 were first described there and 86 are found nowhere else on Earth. Black Country Geopark

The Ripple Beds are ripple marks from the floor of the Silurian sea. Dudley Council, geology

Visiting and collecting

Check Dudley Council’s own pages before you go.

Collecting is allowed from the loose scree at the foot of the rock faces, but not from the faces themselves. Black Country Geopark

Dudley Council asks visitors not to use hammers or other tools on the rock faces, and to take only a few fossils at a time. Dudley Council, geology

It also asks you to record that your fossils came from Wren’s Nest. Dudley Council, geology

The rock faces and mining features are protected by law, as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Black Country Geopark

There are four way-marked walks and geoart sculptures. Black Country Geopark

Wardens run ‘Hunt the Dudley Bug’ guided walks. Dudley Council

There is no visitor centre, café or toilets. Black Country Geopark

Next: trilobites and people →