One of the world’s oldest animal fossils, found amongst the rocks of Bradgate Park, is the focus of a new animation celebrating England’s geological treasures.
The video tells the story of Bradgatia, a 562 million year old fossil that lived at the bottom of an ancient ocean. Rare fossils like Bradgatia are the main reason that Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood was awarded National Nature Reserve status in 2024.
Bradgatia’s story has been voiced by BBC Leicester radio presenter Ben Jackson, a long term resident of Charnwood Forest. In addition, the video is also available with subtitles in Gujarati, Polish, and Urdu.
The animation also takes a look at the long history of Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood, told from the view of Bradgatia, and takes viewers through stories of ancient deserts, ice ages, and royalty.
The project was supported by Charnwood Forest Geopark, and the animations have been released to coincide with International Geodiversity Day – an official Unesco day to celebrate rocks, fossils, and all the other aspects of geodiversity.
Earlier in 2026 Charnwood Forest was visited by evaluators, reviewing the region’s application to become a Unesco Global Geopark. Unesco is expected to make an announcement on the application in early May 2027.
Bradgate Park Trust Director, James Dymond said: “As one of the country’s newest National Nature Reserves and one that was designated in 2024 primarily for its amazing geology, International Geodiversity Day is a really important day for Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood. We’re really keen to keep telling the park’s geological story to our visitors, and delighted to work with Natural England on the new animation that brings this to life.”
Jack Matthews, Geoheritage Officer at Charnwood Forest Geopark, said: “The ancient fossils of Charnwood Forest are an amazing thing to have here in Leicestershire, but their age and features can make sharing their story difficult. Animations like this one, so wonderfully voiced by Ben Jackson, make it so much easier to promote these fossils.”
This new animation was funded by Natural England as part of a project exploring how we can connect people to nature through geodiversity. The video showcasing Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood is the first of six animations being released this year, the others will celebrate the geodiversity in Sunderland, Bradford, the Humber Estuary, Thetford, and Golitha Falls in Devon. Each animation has been produced by Brickwall Films.
Those wishing to discover more about the geology of Bradgate Park and Swithland can visit one of the many Geopark geosites on site. Many are grouped together as part of the Geopark’s Geology of Bradgate Park Self-Guided Tour.