Mappleton is one of the best locations along the Holderness coast to collect fossils. Consisting of glacial tills, you never know what you might find. Ammonites, belemnites, echinoids, corals and molluscs are the most common. Most of the erratics are Carboniferous, Jurassic and Cretaceous in age.
DIRECTIONS
♦ Mappleton can be found along the B1242. Once you reach the town, you will find a road which is signposted to the beach/MOD.Mappleton
♦ There is a free carpark at the end of the road, and it is on the site of old MOD land.
♦ You will find a slipway from this free car park taking you directly onto the foreshore. At the bottom of the slipway turn right onto the beach (there are no fossils to the left) and you will find fossils as soon as you start looking.You will find a slipway from this free car park taking you directly onto the foreshore. At the bottom of the slipway turn right onto the beach (there are no fossils to the left) and you will find fossils as soon as you start looking.
♦ Ref: 53.87571°N, 0.13378°W
PROFILE INFO
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦♦♦ -Due to the rapid erosion along this coastline, fresh material is always being washed out and therefore you always have a good chance of making some good finds.
CHILDREN: ♦♦♦♦ – This location is suitable for children, but keep them away from the cliff face and ensure they don’t touch anything in the old MOD base.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦♦♦ -There is free parking at the top of the cliff, with easy access slipway taking you right on the foreshore. You can immediately start finding fossils as soon as you enter the beach. Be aware that this is an old MOD site and there are plenty of warnings to avoid touching anything along the route to the beach.
TYPE: – You can find fossils in the scree, in the foreshore exposures and in the cliff face. The sea often washes out fresh material, so there is always plenty to look through. Often, especially after high tides, the sea will sieve the clay for you, taking all of the fine clay material away and dumping rocks and fossils along the foreshore, making it easy pickings for fossil hunters. The best fossils are found by splitting rocks.
FOSSIL HUNTING
The Holderness Coastline is famously known for its rapid erosion and, as such, the topic for many school projects in geography lessons. Attempts to slow down the rapid rate of erosion have failed and, in some cases, has made the situation much worse. Due to this erosion, access is only possible at some locations.
At Mappeton, the cliffs are currently being eroded faster than anywhere else along this coastline, so there are many more rocks to look through on the beach. These rapid erosion rates make this area an excellent place to collect fossils regularly, knowing that almost every time you visit, fresh material will be available to search through.
The fossils are erratics. In other words, they do not come from the actual deposits that they are found in. In fact, they were brought down during the last ice age, dragged from the north trapped in giant ice sheets and dumped along the Holderness Coastline. You can find almost anything from the Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks of Yorkshire and also a number of Carboniferous rocks. Fossils include ammonites, belemnites, echinoids, corals and molluscs (which are the most common), but you can also find reptile remains if you are luckily. While this makes it more exciting, you can never fully date these fossils, as it is impossible to tell exactly what bed they originally came from.
Search the scree, in the slipped material and on the foreshore for fossils. Often, the sea will do most of the work for you, acting like a giant sieve and dropping the fossils along the foreshore. However, they can be well hidden, trapped in the clay and under rocks. Some of the best fossils are inside the rocks, so it is ideal to take a hammer and safety glasses to break these rocks apart. Look for the signs of fossils. For example, there are a number of rocks full of worn ammonites on the outside. If you split these rocks using a splitting chisel, you will find many complete ammonites in excellent condition inside.
Keep an eye out for large pieces of oak, which would have fallen when the ice sheets came down, flattening everything in their path. As the ice sheets pushed south, pulling the earth with them, fossils and other hard rocks became trapped around these pieces of oak, and sometimes ended up being inside them to be later infilled with clay.
GEOLOGY
Mappleton is part of the Holderness Coastline and due to its rapid erosion rates, is often the subject for study in school geography lessons. Holderness is underlain by Cretaceous chalk from the Flamborough Chalk Formation (White Chalk Subgroup) but along this coastline, it is so deeply buried beneath the glacial deposits that it is never exposed on the beach. The chalk probably lies at around 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 m) under the sand, gravel and clay beds and possibly deeper.
The cliffs are primarily Boulder Clay; deposits of till with erratics, deposited during the Devensian glaciation period (of Pleistocene age). Within these deposits, you will find many erratics and it is these that contain the Carboniferous, Jurassic and Cretaceous fossils.
SAFETY
Common sense when collecting at all locations should be used and knowledge of tide times is essential. The Holderness coastline, and especially the area at Mappleton, has strong currents. The sea often reaches the base of the cliff, so this area experiences rapid erosion. Only visit on a falling tide. This is an old MOD site, so do not touch anything near the old base or anything suspicious on the beach.
EQUIPMENT
A pick is handy for the clay, but generally, all you need is a good eye. Remember to wrap your finds. A hammer and eye protection may also come in handy to break any rocks. Trainers or walking boots will be fine, unless you are visiting after exceptionally high tides, when the clay may be quite sticky.
ACCESS RIGHTS
There are no restrictions at this location, but you should always collect sensible and safely, please see our code of conduct below.
This location is on old MOD land, parking is free at the top of the cliff.
It is important to follow our ‘Code of Conduct’ when collecting fossils or visiting any site. Please also read our ‘Terms and Conditions‘
LINKS
♦ Buy Fossils, Crystals, Tools
♦ Location Discussions
♦ Deposits Magazine
♦ Join Fossil Hunts
♦ UK Fossils Network