“The Rutland Sea Dragon is an amazing discovery – something completely unexpected and unique to the county. We already have a huge amount of local history, which is a great source of pride for people living here. Oakham Castle is the most complete example of a Norman Great Hall in England, which we have restored thanks to a £2.14m grant from the National Lottery.  The incredible mosaic found late last year has been called the most exciting Roman discovery in last century. We can now add the Sea Dragon to this list as the biggest and most complete skeleton of any large prehistoric reptile ever found in the UK. “Needless to say we are all incredibly excited by these recent discoveries and I’m delighted that we have been able to secure grant funding to kick start the work to plan their future, to enable these discoveries to be displayed in Rutland for all to enjoy. I would like to thank the Pilgrim Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for their brilliant support.  Now the work will start in earnest to raise the funds needed to provide the settings these amazing discoveries deserve, and of course to boost visits to our wonderful County.”

Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Cabinet Member for Culture and Heritage