Atherfield Point brings together lagoonal Wealden rocks and the earliest marine Lower Greensand on the Isle of Wight’s south-west coast. Its fossiliferous Perna Member forms a distinctive rocky ledge, with shells, corals and small vertebrate remains recorded from the local succession. This is a rewarding place to study an ancient change from coastal lagoons to open sea, but the exposed shore and unstable cliffs demand careful planning.
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦♦♦ The amount of rock exposed changes with beach cover.
CHILDREN: ♦ Difficult access and an exposed, uneven shore with unstable cliffs make this unsuitable for a casual family visit.
ACCESS: ♦ Difficult as of 2026; the Whale Chine and Shepherds Chine beach accesses are closed because of erosion.
TYPE: Lower Cretaceous cliffs and foreshore; this guide concentrates on the Point and its immediate surroundings.
DIRECTIONS
♦ Park at Whale Chine car park beside Military Road (A3055), Chale. Parking here does not provide a permitted beach descent through Whale Chine; the path and steps are closed.
♦ Postcode for car parking: PO38 2JE, as listed by the Isle of Wight Council.
♦ What3Words Collecting Area: ///dozen.blunders.detonated
♦ Atherfield Point lies where the Brighstone Bay and Chale Bay coastal sections meet. Plan around a falling tide, check the current footpath closures and follow signed diversions, keeping well back from cliff edges. Do not use closed paths or assume that a safe beach descent is available; read the access notes below.
FOSSIL HUNTING
The most distinctive fossil-bearing rock at the Point is the Perna Member, traditionally called the Perna Bed. Examine naturally detached pieces and exposed surfaces without damaging the ledge. Its lower part contains numerous bivalves, including records of Panopea, Aetostreon and Mulletia; the upper sandstone has a broader marine assemblage including brachiopods, corals, burrows and occasional ammonites. Look for repeated shell outlines and curved growth lines within the rock rather than expecting every fossil to be a complete, loose specimen.
Corals are also recorded here. Holocystis elegans is documented from Atherfield Point in taxonomic research. Examine the colony’s surface with a hand lens: the arrangement and internal structure of its individual corallites are more useful for identification than an overall rounded shape. Weathered surfaces can conceal these details, so retain the specimen’s matrix rather than trying to scrape every depression clean. A lump resembling coral is not sufficient for a species identification.
The basal Atherfield Bone Bed is a thin concentration of coarse sediment and reworked material. Fish teeth, bone fragments and phosphatic nodules occur here, and some fossils were eroded out of older rocks before being redeposited. The Geological Conservation Review records small fish remains from the lower clay and bone bed near the Point. A tooth or dark fragment needs close inspection: colour alone cannot distinguish fossil bone from an iron-rich or phosphatic pebble. Record the matrix and whether the find was loose or still associated with a particular bed.
The Chale Clay above the Perna Member also contains fossils, including bivalves and pyritised wood. Search only safe, detached material well away from cliff faces and active mudflows. Keep finds from different rock types separate. Beach movement and landslipping can mix material, and a specimen found beneath one bed may have come from elsewhere. Rare vertebrate remains deserve photographs, a precise location record and expert attention before preparation.
The younger Lobster and Crackers members belong to the wider Atherfield Clay succession extending into Chale Bay. Their famous crustacean and ammonite finds should not be treated as guaranteed finds at the Point itself. For the broader coastal stretch, see the separate Shepherds Chine & Whale Chine guide.
Significant discoveries and geological milestones at Atherfield Point and its immediate vicinity
1847: the classic coastal succession. William Henry Fitton published his stratigraphical account of the coast from Atherfield to Rocken End. This was work on the wider coast, including the Point, rather than a discovery confined to a single collecting spot.
1985: a modern subdivision. Martin I. Simpson’s study established the widely used member-and-bed framework for the Atherfield Clay type succession. It remains central to descriptions of the Perna and Chale Clay members at Atherfield Point.
2006: coral revision. Hannes Löser’s review of Holocystis documented specimens of H. elegans from Atherfield Point, placing the locality within a wider study of this Early Cretaceous coral.
2013: Vectidraco daisymorrisae described. Darren Naish, Martin Simpson and Gareth Dyke named a small pterosaur from material collected by the Morris family immediately west of Atherfield Point. The partial pelvis and associated vertebrae were attributed to the Chale Clay Member; the original find spot had already been lost to erosion. This is an exceptional discovery, not an indication that pterosaur bones are common beach finds. Read the original paper.
GEOLOGY
The Point lies on the southern side of the Brighstone Anticline, within a coastal section where the upper Wealden succession passes into the Lower Greensand. The Vectis Formation records lagoonal conditions, whereas the overlying Atherfield Clay Formation records the Early Aptian marine inundation. The contact is a break in deposition, rather than a continuous progression through identical sediments. Older material was incorporated into the base of the new marine succession, explaining why the bone bed contains reworked fossils.
Differences in rock strength help shape the modern shore. The Perna Member includes resistant, calcareous sandstone and forms the distinctive ledge at Atherfield Point. Softer mudstones weather and slip around the harder beds, obscuring some contacts and bringing detached blocks onto the shore. A fossil found in a fallen block therefore needs to be linked to its rock type as well as its collection position. The geological sequence is reliable; the visibility of individual beds changes as the coast erodes.
The Atherfield Clay Formation belongs to the Lower Greensand Group, but it is not simply a thick green sand. At its Isle of Wight type section it consists mainly of mudstone with variable sand content, together with sandstone beds and concretions. The Point provides the important basal part of the succession. The full formation and the younger Ferruginous Sands extend beyond the immediate locality, and their total thickness should not be mistaken for the height of the cliff at the Point.
Detailed geology: the upper Vectis Formation, Perna Member and Chale Clay Member at Atherfield Point
WEALDEN GROUP
Vectis Formation
Shepherd’s Chine Member
This member extends from Atherfield Point north-westwards towards Barnes Chine. It contains repeated thin sand–silt–mud units, generally becoming finer upwards, and represents the upper part of the lagoonal succession. Its whole-member thickness is approximately 50 m on the island; this is not a thickness wholly visible in one face at the Point.
Upper shell-rich limestones and beef bed. Thin shell concentrations occur high in the member, together with fibrous calcite historically called “beef”. BGS places a distinctive shelly limestone and associated beef bed about 4–5 m below the upper boundary. The top of the member is eroded and burrowed beneath the incoming marine beds. These are useful stratigraphic markers where exposed, but landslips may interrupt the section.
LOWER GREENSAND GROUP
Atherfield Clay Formation — Early Aptian
The formation’s five commonly used members describe its type succession, although BGS cautions that they have not been adopted as independently mappable units across the island. Here the emphasis is on the Perna and Chale Clay members at the Point, not a claimed complete exposure of all five.
Perna Member
Lower Clay and Atherfield Bone Bed (Simpson Bed 1). Shelly sandy mudstone overlies the Vectis Formation. At its base, coarse quartz-rich sediment contains phosphatic material and vertebrate debris. The basal concentration records erosion and reworking at the arrival of marine conditions; a fossil from it need not be the same age as the enclosing deposit.
Upper Sandstone (Simpson Bed 2). Hard, greenish, coarse calcareous sandstone overlies the lower clay. This is the resistant shelly part of the member, associated with the ledge. BGS’s 2015 island account gives approximately 1.5 m for the complete Perna Member at Atherfield Point. Published thicknesses differ between measured sections, so values from Sandown or the wider type section should not be transferred to this ledge without qualification.
Chale Clay Member
BGS identifies the steep cliff at Atherfield Point as the member’s specific type section. The member is approximately 18–19 m thick in the type succession and overlies the Perna sandstone.
Bed 3. Chocolate-brown mudstone begins with a slightly gritty basal interval above the Perna Member.
Bed 4. Pale-blue sandy mudstone contains bivalves, pyritised wood and clay-ironstone nodules.
Bed 5. Brown mudstone has a cementstone at its base.
Bed 6. The main upper interval is pale bluish-grey, poorly laminated mudstone containing small irregular nodules and red clay-ironstone concretions. The overlying Lower Lobster Member begins at Bed 7, beyond the basal succession emphasised here.
Historical names. “Atherfield Clay” has had different meanings in older publications. Fitton’s narrower usage approximates to the Chale Clay Member, whereas the modern formation includes the Perna, Chale Clay, Lower Lobster, Crackers and Upper Lobster members. Check an author’s usage before assigning an old specimen label to a modern unit.
Sources. BGS: Shepherd’s Chine Member; BGS: Perna Member; BGS: Chale Clay Member; Hopson & Farrant (2015).
SAFETY
Cliff falls, landslips and soft mud are major hazards here. Keep clear of cliff bases and fresh falls, and never climb the slopes or work beneath overhangs. Do not cross a mudflow to reach a fossil. The ledges and loose boulders can be slippery and unstable, particularly where covered by seaweed. The near-vertical rope sometimes used at Whale Chine is not recommended: the drop is sheer and very high. Do not use it to bypass the closure. The reported landslip descent near Atherfield Point is unsuitable in winter or after heavy rain; dry weather alone does not establish that it is safe.
Check local tides and weather before setting out, and maintain an escape route throughout your visit. A low tide does not guarantee safe conditions: waves and swell can still reach the shore. Turn back early enough to regain your access point comfortably. Tell someone your route and return time and carry a charged phone; do not depend on mobile reception.
EQUIPMENT
Sturdy footwear, weatherproof clothing, drinking water and a small first-aid kit are more important than heavy collecting tools. A hand lens, notebook, pencil, camera, small rigid boxes and wrapping material help you examine, record and protect loose finds. Do not bring tools with the expectation of excavating the cliff or breaking the bedrock ledge.
CLEANING AND TREATING
Photograph finds and their matrix before cleaning. Keep fragile pieces supported in a box, retaining any matching fragments. Use only light, cautious cleaning until the fossil and its matrix have been assessed; hard sandstone, soft clay and pyritised material require different treatment. Avoid acids, vigorous brushing and indiscriminate soaking. Seek preparation advice for delicate shells, coral colonies or possible bone, and do not apply a surface coating simply to make a specimen look shinier.
IDENTIFY YOUR FINDS
Need help identifying a fossil? Share clear photos, where you found it and its size with the community.
FURTHER READING
BGS Lexicon: Atherfield Clay Formation
BGS Lexicon: Perna Member
BGS Lexicon: Chale Clay Member
BGS Lexicon: Shepherd’s Chine Member
BGS: Geology of the Isle of Wight (2015)
Geological Conservation Review: Brook–Atherfield reptile and stratigraphic section
Geological Conservation Review: Brook–Atherfield Point fossil fishes
Naish, Simpson & Dyke (2013): Vectidraco daisymorrisae
Löser (2006): taxonomy and distribution of Holocystis
ACCESS RIGHTS
Access update — 2026. The council’s notices, checked on 16 October 2026, list the Whale Chine C34 path and steps as permanently closed because of ongoing landslips, with no alternative route at the chine. At Shepherds Chine, part of BS1, including the beach steps, is closed because of landslips and damaged steps; the signed coastal-path diversion uses the Military Road grass verge. Follow the current signs and notices rather than a closed coastal-path segment.
A visit report from 2026 describes a landslip near Atherfield Point that then allowed an easier descent from the coastal footpath. This is a changeable observation, not a recommended, maintained or confirmed permitted route. No approved descent has been verified. Erosion may remove it or make it unstable; it is unsuitable in winter or after heavy rain. If a safe, lawful route cannot be established, do not attempt to reach the beach.
The Point forms part of the Compton Chine to Steephill Cove Site of Special Scientific Interest. Its designation citation explains the importance of the geological succession and coastal habitats. Public access does not itself confer unrestricted collecting rights. Follow current landowner and site requirements, leave the bedrock and cliffs intact, and obtain the appropriate permission before any proposed excavation or other disturbance. Report potentially important finds with photographs and a location record to a museum.
Please follow the UK Fossils Code of Conduct and read our Terms and Conditions.
LINKS
♦ Fossil Discussions
♦ Fossil Articles
♦ Buy Fossils, Tools and Equipment
♦ Buy Crystals, Meteorites, and Artefacts
♦ Join Fossil Hunts
♦ UK Fossils Network
