Swindon dinosaur still the largest of its kind ever found

Swindon's "very own dinosaur" was found in a brick pit in 1874

A dinosaur found almost 150 years ago is still the largest and most complete stegosaur ever found in the UK.

The "monster" fossil was discovered in a quarry pit in Swindon in 1874.

Palaeontologist Neville Hollingworth, said: "[Swindon's] got a really rich geological heritage and I don't think it's been publicised enough."

The skeleton was found in a quarry by staff of the Swindon Brick and Tile Company and is now on display at the Natural History Museum in London.

"The specimen was recovered in several large lumps of hardened clay which weighed about three tonnes each," Mr Hollingworth said.

The stegosaur is named Dacentrurus armatus, meaning spikey tail

Stegosaurs were large, armoured, herbivorous dinosaurs that lived roughly 150 million years ago.

The Swindon Advertiser described the discovery at the time, as from "the race of monsters".

"It was quite a large animal and it had a long tail which was covered in very sharp spikes," said Mr Hollingworth.

"Its name was Dacentrurus armatus, meaning spikey tail."

The stegosaur is the largest ever discovered in the UK

Prof Paul Barrett, from the Natural History Museum in London, said the fossil was the "road map for understanding what stegosaurs looked like".

Dr Susannah Maidment, a principal researcher and curator of dinosaurs at the museum, said it was the "first skeleton of a stegosaur ever found".

"It is the largest of any stegosaur I've measured and I've measured most of them."

It is hoped that casts of the bones will go on display at the Swindon's new museum, next year.