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You wouldn’t want to eat it with chips, but this 80-million-year-old fossilised fish head is proving quite tasty to some natural history experts.

Until a few weeks ago the relic was part of a garden rockery until a chance conversation led to it being viewed by Dr Ed Jarzembowski, Maidstone Museum’s keeper of natural history.

He said: “I have never seen one of these before. Quite simply it’s priceless.”

The cod-like creature, which stares eerily from its prison of rock, probably roamed the open ocean at around the same time as tyrannosaurus rex still lived on what would become North America.

The head was owned by Maidstone councillors Peter and Daphne Parvin, who believe they found it on a beach about 15 years ago.

Since they moved to their home in Meadow Walk, Maidstone, the stone has been sitting in their rockery, giving visitors its creepy stare.

Cllr Daphne Parvin said: “It has been a talking point.

“It’s always been in our rockery and we always just called it the fish head. By chance we got talking to a volunteer at the museum who was dealing with seashells and Peter mentioned the head.

“We took it in to be looked at and when we said it was part of our rockery they just laughed at us in amazement.

“Dr Ed said it was 80 million years old – which makes the 15 years we’ve had it seem like the blink of an eye.”

At the time the fish was swimming in the sea during the Cretaceous Period (145m to 65m years ago), Kent would not even have existed. The nearest land would have been what is now Northern Ireland or Wales.

According to Dr Jarzembowski, global warming was “rampant” with a European climate similar to the Bahamas of today.

The fish would probably have also had some serious marine predators to look out for.

He said: “The sea would have been clear, open and warm and there would have been sharks and marine reptiles aplenty.

“Dinosaurs were in their last few millions of years and America was still split down the middle by a great stretch of water.

“The fish is what is known as an advanced bony fish, meaning it’s related to the sort we might have for dinner today. It’s stuck in flint and so is virtually indestructible.

“I’m told there are a few of these in private hands but I’ve never seen one before. It’s quite a privilege.”

The Parvins have resigned themselves to the fact the fish head won’t be returning to their rockery. They are now considering donating it to the museum.

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