Sea Urchin Cornish Carnival

Fascinatingly intricate and more robust than their tropical cousins, the vibrant colours of these natural sea urchin shells reflect the summer time carnivals for which the West Country is famous. Our shells are hand dived from Cornish waters and cleaned with care in local workshops.

Urchins are found in many environments throughout the oceans of the world and in depths of water over 1000 metres. These unique and colourful shells demonstrate a distinctive five fold symmetry, which is characteristic of the species and can be found as fossils in rocks dating back through geological time to the to the Ordovician period some 400 million years ago.

These specimens are found in the Western Approaches to the English Channel and are a much sought after both for their roe as a Japanese delicacy and as specimen shells prized by collectors world wide.