Wellington’s false teeth and wolf bones: English Heritage needs help to record vast collection

Charity launches fundraising appeal to care for and document eclectic store of more than 1m artefacts

Animal bones found in the ruins of a North Yorkshire monastery that could, thrillingly, be the remains of England’s last known wolf are part of the collection. As are a celebrated Vermeer masterpiece, the Duke of Wellington’s false teeth, more than 60,000 coins and almost 300 dessert plates.

“It is eclectic,” said Kevin Booth, English Heritage’s head collections curator of the more than 1m objects in the charity’s care. “It is a slightly random collection and is just so intriguing. It is such a broad spectrum of material that has, in some ways, been accumulated, unlike a classic collection where there might be an element of selection.”