Brook Bay is one of the Isle of Wight’s most famous dinosaur localities, where teeth, bone fragments, fossil wood and reptile remains are regularly found with careful searching. Most material is worn, but storms and beach scour can reveal fresh specimens. The bay is also renowned for its dinosaur footprints, preserved both in situ and as natural casts on the foreshore, making it a key site for dinosaur discoveries. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦📺 VIDEO
In a peaceful corner of the Isle of Wight, Rocken End is a less visited location with a small inland quarry. It is ideal for anyone interested in ammonites and other molluscs, and also makes for an excellent day out for all the family. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
This famous, but now over-collected location, once yielded a rich variety of plant remains from the Coal Measures. It can be hard to find and the beds are so over-collected that fossils are now hard to find. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
The chalk at Beer Head is very hard, unless you are lucky enough to find boulders on the foreshore from the softer beds at the top of the cliffs. There are a huge variety of echinoid species to be found here and the location is also well known for ammonites, brachiopods and bivalves. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Along the banks of the River Taw at Fremington, rocks from the Devonian age can be seen packed with brachiopods and bivalves. The site is easy to access and makes a wonderful day out. All you need is a good eye and to stroll along the banks. Devonian, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Watton Cliff, part of West Cliff at West Bay and is an excellent location for collecting microfossils. While the site is also rich in other fossils (such as brachiopods, crinoids, fish, sharks’ teeth, crocodiles, amphibians and plants). ihis guide concentrates more on the microfossils, including small mammals, fish, reptiles and ostracods, which are well preserved and abundant. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
From the Zig Zag path to Durlston Head, the western half of Durlston Bay reveals some of the finest and most complete exposures of the Purbeck Limestone Group in the UK. This section is more rugged and challenging, with steep cliffs, ledges and active rockfall zones, but it is also the most productive for serious collectors. The beds here are famous for yielding tiny mammal remains, reptile material, fish fossils and dinosaur traces, offering a rare glimpse into life in the lagoonal and coastal environments that existed at the end of the Jurassic period. While conditions can be difficult, this part of the bay is one of the most scientifically significant fossil localities on the Dorset coast. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
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Chapman’s Pool is rich in Upper Jurassic ammonites, reptiles and shells. It is a very long walk down to the beach, but the fossils are often rewarding. It is best to visit during summer months when the sea is not so rough. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
This varied Cretaceous site offers a refreshing contrast to Dorset’s more famous Jurassic locations, exposing a mix of Chalk, Greensand and underlying Wealden deposits. The foreshore and cliffs can yield a diverse range of fossils, including echinoids, bivalves, brachiopods and occasional ammonites from the Chalk, alongside rarer finds such as dinosaur bone fragments from the Wealden. With multiple formations represented, it provides a unique opportunity to collect across different Cretaceous environments in one location. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
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Just west of Seatown, the quieter stretch of Eype exposes the fossil-rich Beacon Limestone Formation. The foreshore is scattered with fallen limestone blocks, many containing ammonites and other Jurassic fossils. Collecting here can be challenging, as specimens are often locked within hard rock, but with patience and the right conditions—especially after storms—well-preserved finds can still be made. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
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Ammonites, belemnites and reptile remains can all be found in the boulder clay, along with many erratic rocks full of shells. The foreshore sometimes yields fossil wood, seeds and bone from the Forest Bed during times of scouring. This used to be a highly productive site, but the sea defence limits scouring.Pleistocene, Erratics (Jurassic, Cretaceous), Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The pit at Capel Green provides an excellent opportunity to collect shells from the Red Crag. It is next to the road and disused, but has two large, clear faces full of shells. In addition, shells can be collected from the quarry floor or the nearby spoil heap. Evidence of cross bedding is also clearly visible. Pliocene, Part Worked Pit, Rating: ♦♦♦
The Coralline Crag at Broom Pit is extremely fossiliferous and rich in a wide variety of molluscs and bryozoans. You will be sure to come home with plenty of finds. The shells are in excellent condition and some are very large. It is a site definitely worth visiting. Pliocene, Disused Pit, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Folkestone is internationally famous for the ‘Channel Tunnel’, but also for the cliffs of Gault Clay at Copt Point and in the Warren and East Wear Bay. These rapidly eroding cliffs yield a vast range of ammonites, crabs, echinoids, belemnites, brachiopods, bivalves and much, much more. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The Lower Chalk exposed at Samphire Hoe is highly fossiliferous. Brachiopods are most commonly found, with corals, urchins, ammonites, sharks’ teeth and more also present. Microfossils are extremely abundant within the chalk and can be extracted relatively easily from rock samples taken home Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The coastline between Kingsdown and St Margaret’s Bay is made up of towering chalk cliffs. Some spectacular collapses have taken place over recent years, yielding a vast quantity of fresh chalk and flints to look over. However (and unfortunately), the rocks here are poorly fossiliferous. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
This is a popular location for families and dog walkers. The chalk on the foreshore and any fallen boulders or cobbles can be investigated for fossils. Although finds are fairly plentiful, they are often broken. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
At this site, fossils can be found in accumulations of flint. They can also be found in the chalk foreshore and in fallen boulders. They can also be seen in the cliffs. Finds are not particularly abundant, but you should go home with something. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Birchington is generally a poorly fossiliferous location. However, with patience, some specimens can be collected. Finds include Echinocorys, Micraster and Conulus echinoids (sea urchins), as well as bivalves, sponges and belemnites. Cretaceous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Freshwater Bay is the best place on the Isle of Portland to access the Portland Stone. Here mollusc’s and ammonites can be found, although the later is not common, along with trace fossils. You can collect from the cliff-top quarry or from the foreshore. Jurassic, Cliffs, Foreshore, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦
The famous plant beds from the Poole Formation used to be found at Bournemouth, but, after the sea defence was constructed, this bed gradually became obscured and today it can hardly be seen. However, the Poole Formation can be found at Studland Bay, which also yields some plant remains. Eocene, Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The Chalk and Upper Greensand at Seaton is highly fossiliferous and makes for ideal collecting. Ammonites, echinoids, brachiopods and bivalves can all be found. There are plenty of rocks and fresh falls to look through. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Pinhay Bay is both geologically interesting and a less popular location that can provide a good variety of fossils to be found, ranging from Triassic rocks, the Jurassic Lower Lias and from the Cretaceous Chalk. Jurassic, Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshorem, Rating: ♦♦♦
Within the Baggy Beds at Baggy Point, layers of sandy deposits yield corals, bryozoans, brachiopods, bivalves and crinoids. However, these deposits can sometimes be hard to find and the fossils are poorly preserved. Devonian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
The Caistor St Edmund quarry in Norfolk is particularly good for fish remains, which can be found in the lower beds. Echinoids, brachiopods and bivalves are also common here, along with sponges from the flint spoil heaps. Pleistocene, Cretaceous, Working Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦
East Runton is the best location for mammal remains from the Pastonian Stage interglacial. It also is one of the only locations where you can see younger Pleistocene beds below huge chalk cliffs. The chalk was transported here during the ice age and is spectacular to see. Pleistocene, Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Near the lifeboat station on the foreshore, chalk is exposed during scouring conditions. Corals and shark remains have been found at this location at these times, although scouring only happens a few times a year. If you do visit during favourable conditions, you should find some nice specimens. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
There are a few burns around the village of Dalmellington, which have cut into fossiliferous Carboniferous shale. The most common finds are mussels, but plant remains can also be found. This location is best visited after a dry spell, because, if the water is too high, the beds are not exposed. Carboniferious, Stream Cutting, Rating: ♦♦
A small area at Saltcoats yields plant remains. Although much of the rich Carboniferous beds have been washed away by the sea, and fresh beds have not been exposed due to the sea defence, you can still occasionally find plant remains in the shale on the foreshore. However, most of the shale today is unproductive. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
The coastline to the south of Kirkcudbright has low cliffs of shale, which is also exposed along the foreshore. There are several areas where the shales contain fossils from certain zones, although these are very hard to find. Graptolites, cephalopods and crustaceans can all be found. Silurian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
There are many areas to explore near Girvan, including Woodland Bay, Ardwell Bay and Kennedy’s Pass. This guide covers the rocks on the beach at Girvan (Shalloch), but this is not as productive as others in the area and success tends to rely on scouring tides. Ordovician, Foreshore, Rating: ♦
At Kennedy’s Pass, there is a formation that is full of conglomerate units, mudstones, siltstones and sandstones. Within this, you can find a wide range of fossils, including trilobites, graptolites, corals and brachiopods. However, they are not easy to find. The productive beds are lower down, which are mostly covered up by the less productive upper beds. Ordovician, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Elgol offers beautiful scenery, with a view of the Black Cuillin rising 3,000 feet straight out of the sea, and the guarantee of finding fossils. The sheer number of bivalve fossils crammed into certain layers of rock here is staggering. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
West Angle Bay is eroded out of Carboniferous Limestone, which is packed with crinoids. It is an excellent location to take children to – there is a nice sandy beach, a cafe and public conveniences. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
This is a peaceful location where fantastic bryozoans can be seen in Carboniferous rocks. You can also find many slabs of the tracks of trilobites, preserved in the mud over which they crawled. Fish and the trilobites themselves can also be found here. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Marloes Sands is a stunningly beautiful location managed by the National Trust. The scenery is fantastic, the geology is breath-taking and there are many fossils to find, including corals, brachiopods, trilobites and much more. Silurian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The sea regularly erodes a cliff of spoil from the now closed nearby Michael Colliery. This cliff contains many different carboniferous beds, some of which contain highly fossiliferous plant and marine bands, fossils from which can be found scattered along the foreshore. Carboniferous, Spoil, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The cliff section between Pegwell Bay and Ramsgate Harbour is composed of Upper Chalk. There are many fallen blocks to investigate for sea urchin fossils, with other common finds including crinoid stem parts, brachiopods and starfish plates. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The volcanic rocks at Kinghorn are sedimentary from the Carboniferous, with interbedded pyroclastic rocks and basalt flows. Corals and shells can be found within these rocks. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Giant millipede tracks, tree trunks in life position and many other fossils can be found to the southwest of the pretty fishing village of Crail. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
This is a classic location and well worth a visit, subject to the access problems discussed below. Fossils are found both in the chalk and as flint casts. The scenery here is magnificent and it is hard not to be impressed by this stretch of coastline. However, access is now more difficult, the dramatic stairs down the cliff having now been closed. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
There is plenty to see at St Monans, including raised beaches, an excellent example of a syncline, bedding planes packed with trace fossils and whole layers of rock full of fossil corals and crinoids. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Abundant graptolites can be found at Druidston Haven. Like much of the Pembrokeshire Coast, the site is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), which means that, although loose pebbles and smaller rocks may be investigated and collected, large boulders and the cliffs must not be damaged. Ordovician and Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Some excellent Carboniferous plant fossils can be found at Anstruther. This is the case if you can find the right type of rock, and if you have the strength and determination to break them open and carry them off the beach. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The picturesque bay at St. Margaret’s is eroded out of Conacian Upper Chalk. Fossils can be found in the cliffs, boulders and shingle both to the east and the west of the bay. The location is picturesque and there is a very nice pub to relax in after fossil hunting. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Good quality coral fossils are abundant within the rocks at this beautiful little cove. However, most cannot be collected, as they are found within the limestone cliffs and on the surfaces of large boulders. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Set within the rolling Peak District countryside, Parkhouse Hill, near Earl Sterndale, is a beautiful location with various types limestone reef fossils. The view from the top of the hill is nothing short of stunning. Carboniferous, Outcrops, Rating: ♦♦♦
Flodigarry is a very picturesque beach, with amazing views and Oxfordian sediments, containing good pyrite and calcite fossils. The wild seas can add drama to this location, and the wildlife is second to none. This is a great place to spend a day with a picnic and a look for fossils on the low tide. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Walton-on-the-Naze is an unpredictable location, which can be highly productive one day and bare the next. It is the best coastal location for fossils from the Red Crag and is famous for fossil bird remains from the London Clay. It also while yields some of the largest sharks’ teeth in the UK (including the rare Carcharocles megalodon), together with plant remains and much, much more. Pliocene, Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
