At Lepe, the Stone Point interglacial deposits preserve evidence of elephants, plants and a changing river–estuary environment. Older Eocene bedrock and fossil-bearing imported sea-defence blocks tell separate stories. Sand cover, tides and soft ground affect what can be seen, and protected deposits should be observed without unauthorised excavation. Pleistocene, Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Brownwich Cliff and the adjoining Chilling reach show Eocene marine sediment beneath Pleistocene river gravels and brickearth. Bivalve and gastropod moulds occur in sandy sediment and hard cemented blocks. The terrace geology is important in its own right; a rich local mammal fauna has not been established. Pleistocene, Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Beckton Bunny reveals the upper Barton succession and its transition into the freshwater and brackish Headon Hill Formation. Shells are generally more scattered and broken than farther west at Barton on Sea, although the Chama horizon is notably fossiliferous when exposed. Eroding cliffs and uncertain shore access require careful planning. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Latchmoor Brook, usually spelt Latchmore in geological literature, exposes the Bracklesham–Barton transition in the New Forest’s Studley Wood stream sections. Shells, nummulites and fish remains make it scientifically important, but this is an observation-only locality for ordinary visits. Incised banks and soft ground need care throughout the year. Eocene, Stream, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Walton-on-the-Naze combines early Eocene teeth, wood and rare vertebrate remains with the abundant marine shells of the much younger Red Crag. Tides and erosion continually change the beach, making some visits far more productive than others. Search loose material with care, keep away from the unstable cliffs and plan around the restricted tidal access. Pliocene, Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Butts Cliff on the River Crouch is known for small early Eocene shark and fish remains weathered from the London Clay. Crabs and exceptional bird fossils add to its scientific importance. Search permitted loose material carefully, keeping well clear of soft estuary mud and unstable banks and using the signed riverside route. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Maylandsea’s low banks and foreshore yield London Clay lobsters and small fish remains, often among naturally weathered nodules and shingle. The site records an early Eocene marine environment, while shifting modern silt controls what can be seen. Deep tidal mud makes careful route choice essential. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
The tidal foreshore at Harwich exposes the Harwich Stone Band, a hard, ash-bearing horizon formed in an early Eocene sea. Loose beach material can yield shark and fish teeth, fossil wood and seeds. The most useful patches change as waves move the shingle and sand, so careful searching matters more than covering a large area. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
East Mersea preserves ancient river channels and their fossil wildlife beside the tidal shore at Cudmore Grove. Early Eocene London Clay underlies much younger deposits containing shells, wood and mammal remains. The Middle Pleistocene channel at Cudmore Grove is distinct from younger hippopotamus-bearing deposits farther west, and both need careful protection. Pleistocene, Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Steeple Bay exposes a London Clay foreshore with fossil lobsters, crabs, teeth and crinoid fragments. Finds are often small and are best sought among permitted loose material when tidal silt has cleared. The early Eocene marine fossils must be distinguished from much younger marsh deposits and archaeological material. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Wrabness offers early Eocene fossils along the tidal shore of the River Stour. Teeth, fossil wood and small fruits or seeds can occur among weathered beach material, while the cliffs reveal volcanic ash layers in the Harwich Formation beneath the lowest London Clay. Beach cover changes with the tides, and soft mud and unstable cliffs require care. Pliocene, Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Stansgate’s tidal shore contains a fossil-bearing London Clay platform, often partly hidden by modern silt. Lobsters, crinoid stems, molluscs and occasional teeth record an early Eocene sea. This quieter locality needs patient searching and a safe route around the estuary mud, with access kept separate from working farm and sailing-club land. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Beltinge, near Herne Bay, is one of the UK’s premier locations for collecting fossil shark teeth, attracting collectors from across Britain and Europe. The foreshore exposes the famous Beltinge Fish Beds, which can yield a wide variety of shark, ray and fish remains. While fossils can be found year-round, the site is most productive during very low spring tides, when the richest layers are exposed and large numbers of teeth can be collected under the right conditions.Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
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Warden Point provides access to the fossil-rich London Clay coast of the Isle of Sheppey. Small fossils collect in beach shingle and pyrite drifts, while phosphatic nodules can preserve larger animals. Marine fossils and plant remains record an early Eocene sea receiving material from warm-climate forests. Mud, tides and landslips demand a carefully planned visit. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Folkestone’s Gault Clay at Copt Point and East Wear Bay is renowned for ammonites and a rich marine fauna. The coast also exposes Lower Greensand and Chalk, but fragile fossils and difficult tidal terrain make careful planning essential. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Minster gives access to the western end of Sheppey’s fossil-rich London Clay coast, where fruits, seeds and other small fossils collect among shingle and pyrite. Larger nodules can preserve rarer animals, although reaching the productive shore involves a longer walk than at Warden Point. The coast’s mud, tides and unstable slopes require careful route planning. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
When beach conditions are favourable, Tankerton can be a rewarding place to search the London Clay foreshore. Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and shark teeth occur loose or inside nodules, while scouring can reveal much larger patches of clay. The shore changes continually, and finding productive material depends as much on safe access and recent exposure as on a careful eye. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The designated fossil pit in Lesnes Abbey Woods, southeast London, is famous for its early Eocene shark teeth and shell-rich sediment. Careful sieving can also reveal fish remains and much rarer vertebrate fossils. Follow the site’s limits on digging and material removal, and arrange organised visits with the council before travelling. Eocene, Disused Pit, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The low cliffs and chalk foreshore at Birchington offer a quiet search for echinoids and other Chalk fossils. Finds are scattered, and patience is more useful than expecting a large collection. Cretaceous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Betteshanger Park, formerly Fowlmead, preserves a fossil-hunting area in material from the Kent coalfield. Its Carboniferous plant fossils can be explored through the park’s authorised fossil activities. Carboniferous, Spoil, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
St Margaret’s Bay gives access to a striking Chalk shoreline beneath the South Foreland cliffs. Patient searching of permitted loose material can reveal flint sponges, echinoids and shells, while the bay’s two sides expose different parts of the succession. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Samphire Hoe provides a managed reserve and access to the natural shore west of the reclaimed ground. Its Chalk fossils and cliff succession are fascinating, but the reserve paths and the tidal beach have very different access conditions. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The chalk shore around North Foreland, between Broadstairs and Joss Bay, offers a patient search among fossil-bearing flints and loose chalk. Large flint bands in the cliffs provide a striking record of the Late Cretaceous sea. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The northern shore of Pegwell Bay offers Chalk fossils and a remarkable view of younger sediments at Cliffs End. Echinoids, crinoid pieces and shells occur in loose material, within a sensitive nature reserve where access restrictions must be respected. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The Botany–Kingsgate chalk coast combines sandy bays with fossil-bearing chalk and flint. The original guide follows the Botany-side descent eastwards towards the arch and White Ness, where echinoids and other Chalk fossils reward a careful low-tide search. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
The chalk coast south of Kingsdown has imposing cliffs, flint-covered shore and a succession of important geological markers. Loose flint fossils are often more rewarding than the vast quantities of fallen chalk, but the remote tidal shore is demanding. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Dumpton Gap has sandy beach, flint accumulations and a chalk wave-cut platform where patient searching can reveal echinoids, shells and sponges. Finds are not especially abundant, but the local flint bands give this coast considerable geological interest. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
The broad London Clay foreshore at Seasalter rewards patient searching among muddy pebble and pyrite concentrations. Many fossils remain concealed inside phosphatic nodules, including crustaceans that can need careful specialist preparation. Conditions and exposure change with the tides, making a cautious approach and a good eye more useful than expectations of an easy find. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
The sandy cliffs west of Reculver expose a different fossil world from the clay shores farther towards Herne Bay. This locality is especially rewarding for collectors interested in fragile bivalves from the Thanet Formation, with shell-rich beds and concretions appearing on the foreshore as conditions change. Tide planning and careful support of delicate specimens are essential. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
On the southern side of the Isle of Sheppey, Elmley Hill offers a quiet but demanding introduction to the London Clay. Lobster and fish remains occur in phosphatic nodules, with other fossils in pyritic shingle. Finds can be sparse, the walk is long and the shore is muddy; arrange reserve-manager permission before leaving the marked trail to collect. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Allhallows-on-Sea offers intermittent London Clay collecting on the southern Thames shore beside the holiday-park seawall. Its chief interest is crustaceans preserved in nodules, particularly crabs, although clay and shingle can remain hidden beneath silt. A visit is most rewarding when firm upper-shore material is exposed and the tide allows a comfortable return along the seawall. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Lower Upnor’s London Clay shore is a modest collecting locality beside the Medway, reached by the seawall near the yacht club. Slumped, vegetated cliffs and modern shore deposits often hide the clay, and finds can be scarce. Patient examination of loose upper-foreshore shingle and nodules may reveal marine fossils, provided you stay well clear of deep estuarine mud. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦
The East Cliff and Langdon coast at Dover exposes a classic Chalk succession and a varied marine fauna. Langdon Stairs’ tunnel-and-ladder route offers a demanding approach to the shore, where tides and falling rock require particular care. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The Studd Hill shore extends westwards from Hampton Pier to Long Rock. Patches of London Clay and loose nodules yield occasional fossils, although much of the beach can be covered by sand or pebbles. Its scientific history includes the type discovery of Hyracotherium leporinum, but a modern collecting visit is more likely to involve patient searching for small marine remains. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
The striking red and white cliffs at Aust, on the Severn Estuary, expose the Rhaetian Penarth Group, home to one of the most famous bone beds in the UK. This thin but highly productive layer is packed with teeth, fish remains and reptile material, making Aust the richest Triassic fossil site in Britain. Under the right conditions, the foreshore can yield a wide variety of microfossils, rewarding careful searching and sieving. Triassic, Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
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Hock Cliff near Fretherne exposes an early Sinemurian succession of limestone, shale and mudstone beside the Severn. Ammonites, curved oysters and echinoderm remains record a varied Jurassic sea floor, while the tidal shore, slippery rocks and changing path conditions require careful planning and permission checks. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Sedbury Cliff, beside the Severn near Chepstow, exposes a Late Triassic to Early Jurassic succession with contrasting fossil-bearing rocks. Its limestone and shale record ammonites and bivalves, while older sandy bone-bed material contains fish remains. The tidal shore, soft mud and unstable cliffs make this a locality for careful observation and well-planned visits. Triassic, Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Garden Cliff at Westbury-on-Severn exposes a Late Triassic succession with fish remains, reptile bones and richly patterned sandstone surfaces. The locality gave its name to the Westbury Formation, and its several bone-bearing horizons preserve an important record of changing shallow-water conditions. Visiting the tidal shore requires care around mud, rising water and unstable cliffs. Triassic, Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Soudley Valley’s geological trail crosses a varied part of the Forest of Dean. This guide centres on the plant-bearing coal spoil associated with Eastern United Colliery, near Ruspidge and Staple Edge, while keeping the trail’s older limestone and sandstone exposures distinct. Confirm access and collecting permission before entering the spoil. Carboniferous, Spoil, Rating: ♦♦
Crickley Hill combines wide views, old quarries and a remarkable record of Early and Middle Jurassic seas. The fossil-rich Pea Grit is especially important for small brachiopods, echinoids and coated grains. Explore this country park and nature reserve through observation and photography, using signed paths and current access information. Jurassic, Disused Quarries, Scree, Rating: ♦
Tites Point, on the eastern shore of the Severn near Purton, exposes folded Silurian rocks with shelly fossils and several concentrations of early fish remains. Mud cover can hide most of the section, and a reported access restriction means the route and permission must be checked before planning a visit. Silurian, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Wainlode Cliff beside the River Severn records the transition from late Triassic mudstones to the first Lias beds. Thin fish-bearing sandstones, shelly shales and famous insect-bearing horizons occur high in the succession, although vegetation and the position of the beds can make fossils difficult to observe. Triassic, Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Robinswood Hill’s Early Jurassic quarry exposes a remarkable succession of marine mudstones, silts and fossil-bearing harder beds. Belemnites, bivalves and brachiopods can be recognised in weathered rock, while scientific studies have recorded ammonites and exceptionally preserved sea lilies. This is an observation and photography site: leave fossils and stones where they lie, as requested by the published visitor guidance. Jurassic, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦
Leckhampton Hill’s old quarries expose a classic Middle Jurassic limestone succession, with shell-rich beds, pale building stone and the striking Devil’s Chimney. The hill offers rewarding fossil observation and a varied geology walk above Cheltenham. Use the signed paths and check the council’s current collecting terms before removing any material. Jurassic, Outcrops, Disused Quarries, Rating: ♦♦♦
Cleeve Common’s old quarries reveal a varied Middle Jurassic limestone succession, from pale building-stone oolites to beds rich in shells. Rolling Bank and Pot Quarry are especially important for strata preserved in very few places. Enjoy the fossils, rock textures and wide views through observation and photography; Cleeve Common Trust prohibits removing stone or fossils from the common. Jurassic, Disused Quarries, Rating: ♦♦♦
Gilberts Grave is a wooded railway-cutting locality associated with Clypeus ploti echinoids and fossiliferous Middle Jurassic limestone. Its weathered rock faces illustrate the shelly Clypeus Grit of the Cotswolds. Access must be confirmed before a visit: closure has been reported at Chedworth Nature Reserve, and the current route and collecting terms remain unverified. Jurassic, Disused Railway Cutting, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
A wooded coal-mining spoil heap at Whitecroft preserves a link with the Forest of Dean’s industrial landscape. Its shale has yielded Carboniferous plant impressions, while historical studies of nearby Park Gutter workings reveal a much richer fossil flora. Visiting the heap and removing material require the land manager’s permission. Carboniferous, Spoil, Rating: ♦♦♦
Bracklesham Bay’s Eocene sands and clays yield shells, shark and ray remains when low tide and scour expose the beds. The guide centres on Bracklesham Lane and the nearby Earnley fossil horizons. The broader four-formation Bracklesham Group succession is spread along the bay, rather than exposed together by the car park. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The shore from Holywell towards Cow Gap exposes fossiliferous Cretaceous chalk and an important Cenomanian–Turonian boundary section. Ammonites, bivalves and brachiopods occur in the rocks, but fossils in loose blocks may have fallen from higher beds. Tides, slippery ground and unstable cliffs make careful planning essential. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The Seven Sisters cliffs east of Cuckmere Haven expose flinty Late Cretaceous chalk, with echinoids, shells and other fossils in loose material. Distinctive flint bands trace the bedding through the high brows. This guide follows the east-bank coast; Seaford Head across the river is a separate locality. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
