Anderby Creek is a large sandy beach, ideal for children. At low tide, rocks washed down from the Holderness coastline can be found. They can be Carboniferous, Jurassic or Cretaceous in age and can contain various fossils, such as ammonites and shells.
DIRECTIONS
♦ Anderby Creek can be found north of Chapel St Leonards, along a narrow coastal road. There are four car parks along the route. The first is just outside Chapel St Leonards and is referred to in our Chapel Point guide. The fourth (and last along the route) is the best one for Anderby Creek and also has toilets. Park here, from where you will find easy access to the shore. The fossiliferous rocks can be found during low tide.
♦ Ref: 53.25960°N, 0.32503°E
PROFILE INFO
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦ – Fossils are found in boulders, which have been washed down from the Holderness coastline. These are a mixture of Carboniferous, Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks. However, unlike at Holderness locations, they are limited in number.
CHILDREN: ♦♦♦♦♦ – As with nearly all the beaches around Skegness, this location is ideal for children. This location is perfect, having a huge sandy beach, with toilets at the car park and very easy access.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦♦♦ – There is free parking with very easy access. As soon as you reach the beach, you can start looking for the rocks (if they are not covered up). Make sure you visit on a low tide.
TYPE: – Fossils are found in rocks and boulders along the beach. Most of these can be seen in the channel at low tide at Anderby Creek. It is best time to visit is after scouring tides. If you visit on a high tide, the rocks will probably be under water.
FOSSIL HUNTING
Lincolnshire is not a great place for finding fossils, and most of the best locations are quarries. However, parts of the coastline, especially around Skegness, are some of the most popular tourist areas along the east coast of England. Therefore, we tend to get the most questions about the existence of fossil sites near Skegness and, in spite of the lack of cliffs or foreshore bedrock, fossils can indeed still be found, albeit not as frequently as at other locations.
At Anderby Creek, rocks can be found in a channel at low tide. These have come from Holderness, but did not originate from there. The fossils are erratics. In other words, they do not come from the actual deposits that they are found in. The fossils were brought down during the last ice age, dragged from the north trapped in giant ice sheets, to be dumped along the Holderness coastline.
You can find almost anything from the Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks of Yorkshire, and also a number from the Carboniferous. Fossils include ammonites, belemnites, echinoids, corals and bivalves. While this makes it more exciting, you can never properly date these fossils, as it is impossible to tell exactly from which bed they are from.
GEOLOGY
There are no cliffs or bedrock at Anderby Creek. Rather, rocks have been washed from along the Holderness Coastline (from the Quaternary Boulder Clay, left after the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age), which have been moved down the coast by the process of long shore drift. They tend to get dumped along certain parts of the Lincolnshire Coastline and Anderby Creek is one of those places. Rocks of Jurassic and Cretaceous age can be seen at low tide along the foreshore and can contain a variety of fossils.
SAFETY
Common sense when collecting at all locations should always be used. The beach at Anderby Creek is an ideal place for children. It is extremely hard to get cut off by the tide and there are no cliffs to worry about. The only danger is the water outfall area, where there are some large granite rocks protecting the outlet.
EQUIPMENT
A good eye is all you need, but a hammer and safety goggles will come in handy for splitting open any large boulders you find.
ACCESS RIGHTS
There are no restrictions at this site.
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
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♦ Deposits Magazine
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♦ UK Fossils Network