Bawdsey - Fossil Collecting Guide (UK Fossils)

At East Lane, Bawdsey, coastal erosion exposes Eocene marine clay beneath shell-rich Red Crag. Loose beach material can include mineralised wood, shells and occasional teeth, together with older fossils reworked into the Crag. Changing beach levels and damaged access routes make conditions important to every visit.

FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦♦♦ – Variable; small teeth and fragments need careful searching, and exposed clay changes with beach cover.
CHILDREN: ♦♦♦♦ – Only on a safe open beach under close supervision, away from cliffs and sea defences.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦ – Private parking at East Lane and an established public approach; use only an open, safe beach entrance.
TYPE: – Coastal clay and Crag exposures with loose beach material.

DIRECTIONS

♦ Follow the B1083 into Bawdsey and turn into East Lane. Continue to the car park at its seaward end. Keep sea-wall access clear and follow the landowner’s current parking signs; this is a private car park.
♦ Walk back inland along East Lane and take the left-hand track towards the Martello tower. Where the signed public route remains open, continue beyond the tower towards the end of the cliff and use an existing safe beach entrance. Confirm that both entrance and return passage are open on the day.
♦ Do not climb the granite sea defences or descend a fresh landslip. The old direct coastal path was already closed in the original guide; do not assume an eroded route has reopened. Turn back if the established entrance is closed or unsafe.
♦ Locality reference: TM 35542 39618.

FOSSIL HUNTING

East Lane offers fossils from two very different marine deposits. London Clay material includes mineralised wood and occasional shark teeth and vertebrate fragments. Red Crag contributes shells and older fossils that had already been eroded and reburied before the Crag accumulated.

Shark teeth at Bawdsey include Striatolamia macrota, recorded from the foreshore on a Palaeontological Association field trip and attributed to the Eocene London Clay. Its front teeth have a long, narrow crown; fine lengthwise ridges on the inner, tongue-facing surface can help distinguish them from similar teeth. Teeth from farther back in the jaw are shorter and more blade-like, so different shapes need not represent different species. Examine both faces with a hand lens and keep the root intact where possible.

The same Bawdsey field-trip account records Otodus megalodon and teeth identified as Isurus from the reworked fossil-rich material at the base of the Red Crag. These are older remains incorporated into a younger deposit, rather than an undisturbed shark assemblage living when the Crag accumulated. A tooth found loose on today’s beach has lost that bed relationship: record its precise find spot and any attached sediment, and do not assign its age from the nearest cliff alone. These documented finds show the range of material present, but do not establish how often a visitor will find each kind.

The original field account particularly associates fish, bird and reptile remains with pyritised fossil wood and the surrounding clay. Loose vertebra fragments and small shark teeth can be fragile, and some beach nodules retain better-preserved material. Record these as local field observations rather than a guarantee of finds; look over naturally released material and do not dig or take bulk clay samples without the necessary permissions.

Search loose shingle and naturally weathered material on a falling tide. Small teeth and bone fragments are easily overlooked, while fragile wood may break if forced from its matrix. Photograph a specimen before moving it and preserve its position and associated sediment. Bulk sampling of intact clay is not ordinary beach collecting and needs the relevant permission.

Boxstones are rounded brown sandstone concretions, sometimes containing shell moulds. At Bawdsey they are reworked remnants of older, largely vanished deposits, not evidence of a Miocene bed exposed in the cliff. Many are unfossiliferous, and a weathered surface is often more informative than indiscriminately breaking them.

Significant fossil, geological and conservation milestones at Bawdsey.

22 May 2010 – East Lane examined on a geological field meeting
A Geologists’ Association excursion led by Roger Dixon and Bob Markham examined coastal erosion and the London Clay–Red Crag succession at Bawdsey East Lane.

2012 – East Lane-to-Manor geological guide published
Roger Dixon published a locality-focused account linking the East Lane exposures with the wider Bawdsey coast, making the differences between the sections explicit.

December 2020 – Repeat photographic monitoring begins
A fixed photographic post at East Lane began recording cliff and beach change.

2024 – Community photographs analysed
Burningham, Gong and Tricker published an analysis showing cliff failures throughout the year, reinforcing the need for a year-round cliff safety margin.

References
Dixon (2011), field meeting 22 May 2010, Bawdsey East Lane and peninsula, PGA 122, 514–523
Dixon (2012), The Suffolk Geocoast: Bawdsey East Lane to the Manor, SNH 47, 98–106
Burningham, Gong and Tricker (2024), Contribution of Community and Citizen Science to the Monitoring of Coastal Cliff Erosion, JCR SI113, 266–271

GEOLOGY

At East Lane, much older Eocene London Clay lies beneath the shelly Red Crag. The London Clay is a mud-rich marine deposit, exposed where beach cover allows as clay and a foreshore platform. Mineralised wood, pyrite and harder concretions occur within this older material. Above it, the commonly iron-stained Crag sand records a very different, energetic shallow-marine setting in which currents moved sand and shells into cross-bedded layers. Coarse shell-rich sediment alternates with finer, less shelly sand, and the arrangement changes along the coast as well as upwards through a section.

The boundary between the clay and Crag is an erosion surface representing a long gap in the geological record. At the base of the Crag, flint and phosphatic mudstone clasts form a pebbly concentration historically called the nodule or coprolite bed. Older fossils were recycled into this deposit, and boxstones are also recorded on the East Lane shore. A fossil in Crag sediment can therefore be older than the sand enclosing it; the name ‘coprolite bed’ does not mean every dark phosphatic pebble is fossil dung.

Present-day erosion adds another stage of mixing. Slumps deliver both sand and clay to the beach, while waves move the shingle and periodically uncover or bury the clay platform. Loose finds can consequently come from the Eocene substrate, the younger Crag or older material already reworked into the Crag. Historical measurements from the southern Bawdsey cliffs help explain the regional succession, but they are not a bed-by-bed log of the East Lane exposure.

The supported stratigraphy and its local variations at Bawdsey.

THAMES GROUP

Palaeogene marine deposits beneath the Crag unconformity.

London Clay Formation

Ypresian silty clay/mudstone forms the older substrate and foreshore platform. Mineralised wood, pyrite and concretions may be present. The exact East Lane exposure is described at formation level here, without imposing an uncertain numbered bed or member subdivision.

Erosional surface below the Red Crag

A long hiatus separates the Eocene clay from the younger shell sand. This is the top of the London Clay locally, not its basal boundary.

CRAG GROUP

Younger shallow-marine deposits above the Eocene substrate.

Red Crag Formation

Shelly, commonly iron-stained sand with gravelly horizons. East Lane and the older southern Bawdsey Cliff exposures should be distinguished when comparing logs.

Basal nodule or coprolite bed

The approximately 30 cm basal lag contains flint and phosphatic mudstone clasts. Its fossils include reworked older material; not every phosphatic pebble is fossil dung. Boxstones are also recorded on the East Lane shore.

Cross-bedded shell sand

Cross-bedded coarse shell-rich sand alternates with finer shell-poor sediment. The changes are both lateral and vertical. Older southern Bawdsey Cliff measurements provide comparison, but are not a measured East Lane log.

Modern beach and slipped material

Slumps supply sand and clay to the foreshore. Beach sand and shingle are mobile, mixed deposits rather than another bed in the cliff succession.

References

BGS Lexicon: London Clay Formation
Mathers and Smith (2002), Woodbridge/Felixstowe sheet explanation
Dixon (2011), field meeting 22 May 2010, Bawdsey East Lane and peninsula, PGA 122, 514–523
Burningham, Gong and Tricker (2024), Contribution of Community and Citizen Science to the Monitoring of Coastal Cliff Erosion, JCR SI113, 266–271

SAFETY

The clay shore is slippery and can be deeply soft beneath a thin sandy cover. Retreat well before an incoming tide reaches cliff pinch points. Keep clear of undercut cliffs, fallen trees and unstable blocks, and do not climb rock armour. The beach entrance itself may change after storms, so check it before committing to the walk.

EQUIPMENT

Sturdy boots with grip, a hand lens, a phone, tide information and separate padded boxes are more useful than heavy hammers. Use small containers for loose fragile pieces, keeping finds and locality notes together. Sampling tools should be used only for a specifically permitted activity.

CLEANING AND TREATING

Pyritised wood and delicate bone should not be scrubbed or left soaking. Keep specimens cool and supported until their condition is assessed; dry them slowly away from heat. Once dry, store pyritic material in a dry environment and watch for powdering or cracking. Avoid acids, bleach and routine varnish. Seek conservation advice for important wood or bone rather than trying to stabilise everything with a household adhesive.

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ACCESS RIGHTS

Respect the private car park and neighbouring farmland, using established public routes and current local notices. Bawdsey’s protected geological coast includes scientifically valuable Crag exposures; the southern Bawdsey Cliff research section is distinct from this East Lane approach. Public passage does not authorise digging or bulk sampling. Obtain the appropriate landowner permission and conservation consent before disturbing intact beds.

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