At Tarbat Ness, the Devonian rocks can contain small fish remains. Scales can be seen on ledges at the headland within a pebble bed. Larger fish fragments can also be found, but are less common. Devonian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Where to find fossils and what to find. UK Fossils features hundreds of fossil collecting locations in the UK, with geological guides and fossil hunting events.
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Eathie
This is the official ‘Hugh Miller Trail’. Hugh Miller was one of the most important Scottish geologists of the 19th century. Ammonites and fossil fish can be found here. The footpath down to the shore was created by Hugh Miller himself. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Kintradwell
Kintradwell is difficult to access, but if the ‘Boulder Beds’ are exposed, this site can be highly fossiliferous. Kintradwell’s rocky foreshore can also produce some surprises. However, be prepared for a long walk. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Brora
At Brora, Jurassic rocks are carried down and deposited from further upstream. These lie around the mouth of the river (River Brora) and along the beaches at the town. They can contain ammonites and shells. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Portgower
What looks like an ordinary rocky beach, covered in seaweed, is actually rich in corals, ammonites and shells, although you need to work hard to find them. At Portgower, the rocks exposed are from the Jurassic and, if you split them, can yield flat ammonites and shells. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
John O’Groats
This location is most famously known for being the furthest point in the northeast of the UK mainland. This location is actually highly rich in fish remains (especially large fish scales) from Middle Devonian, John O’Groats Sandstone Group. Devonian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
River Brora
The tall Jurassic cliffs along the River Brora yield ammonites and belemnites. You will need wellington boots as the river runs next to the cliff face. Ammonites can be seen exposed on the ledges and platforms beside the river. Jurassic, River Cliffs, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Balintore
A Jurassic fault along the Balintore foreshore is well exposed here. Fossil oysters are quite common, but belemnites can also be found. In addition, during the right conditions, Jurassic ammonites can be found. The cliffs here consist of Devonian strata. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Bearreraig Bay
Skye features a complete sequence of 400m of the Jurassic history. The entire coast from Portree to Staffin consists of fossiliferous Jurassic rocks. This guide features Bearreraig Bay fossils and some local information. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Elgol
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: ♦♦♦
Faoilean
This is a location that is worth stopping off at for an hour on the way to Elgol. Belemnites can be found here and a few rocks contain bivalves. Some sandstone outcrops also contain fossils. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Flodigarry
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: ♦♦♦
Ben Suardal
Infrequent Cambrian fossils can be observed on the surfaces of dolomitic limestone boulders at the base of Ben Suardal. They are not particularly easy to find and are hard to collect, but their great age should be an incentive to at least try to find them. Cambrian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Camustianavaig
Camustianavaig is not for the faint-hearted, with a long hard walk and a very rugged terrain. However, for the enthusiastic serious collector, it has a few amazing fossils. And the stunning scenery and absolute solitude in this very remote location makes it a wonderful place to visit. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Prince Charlie’s Cave
Famous for its historical past, the shores to the north of Prince Charlie’s Cave (which itself lies to the north of Portree) can provide a variety of common and a few rare collectable fossil specimens, from several recognised zones. Prince Charlie’s Cave is one of the toughest locations Skye has to offer. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Rigg
This is a very dramatic location, but Rigg is one of the least visited fossils locations on Skye. The reason is that this is only for the experienced collector. It has a fascinating coastline of Lower and Middle Jurassic sediments. Rich in fossils, archaeology and local wildlife, Rigg is one of these places where safety and common sense must prevail. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Valtos
Valtos has the dramatic landscape to match its splendid name. This is the place to see some of Skye’s famous dinosaur footprints. As well as these amazing trace fossils, the Bathonian Upper Jurassic sedimentary rocks have yielded dinosaur bones in the past, and they are on display in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Dunans
Dunans has a delightful little secluded beach that has an exposure of soft grey Oxford Clay at the high tide mark. A variety of fossils can be picked from the clay shale lying at the foot of the exposure and patches of fresh clay bedrock are often revealed on the lowest of tides. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Ardnish Peninsula
The Ardnish Peninsula is a place of immense beauty and has amazing wildlife. Several narrow little peninsulas stretch out like fingers, dividing the sandy shoreline into little inlets at low-tide. Very richly fossiliferous horizons are separated by relatively baron ones. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Hallaig
Hallaig is at the southern end of the Isle of Raasay. Fossils can be found along the east shore, and in burns and streams at various places on the island. Raasay boasts geology of international importance, and Hallaig is an excellent location to see it. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Waterloo
The tiny sea front village of Waterloo is a good place to start for a short and easy fossil hunting location on Skye. This is a great place for a family fossil hunt and, for the beginner. Lower Jurassic fossils can be found in patches across most of the easily accessible bedrock. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Glasnakille
To visit the entire Glasnakille stretch of coastline and to see its various bays and headlands, it must be accessed at three different places. The sea here reaches the plunging cliffs even at low tide. However, the scenery is worth the effort, even if fossil numbers are on the low side. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Kilmarie
Various fossils, such as belemnites and bivalves, can be found along the beautiful and unspoilt coastline to the southeast of Kilmarie. Views from the beach are magnificent. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Seafield Tower
To the south of Seafield Tower, which is a sixteenth century castle ruin built of local red sandstone, is a highly fossiliferous section of Carboniferous Limestone. The limestone is packed with beautifully preserved crinoids, bryozoans, corals, shells and, if you are lucky, sharks’ teeth. These are exposed on the foreshore platforms.
Carboniferous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Aberlady
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: ♦♦♦♦♦
Craigielaw Point
To the north of the sandy Gosford Bay beach is an outcrop that is incredibly rich in Carboniferous marine fossils. Corals, bryozoans, crinoids and brachiopods are all very common. They are easy to collect and the location is ideal for children, especially for finding the tumbled coral pebbles. The sandy beach is full of pools of water, making a fun family day out, especially in the summer.
Carboniferous, Foreshore Outcrops, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Haddington
The River Tyne is a long and beautiful river. Its tributaries wind their way down from the glacially eroded Lammermoor and Pentland Hills. The river gains volume as it crosses the alluvial plain, cutting through the carboniferous country rock, transporting minerals and fossils along the way. Carboniferous, River Section, Rating: ♦♦♦
Pentland Hills
This is an area extremely rich in Silurian fossils, but which is also a challenging place to collect fossils from. The locations discussed in the guide are suitable for those who are used to exploring and walking. However, it is a beautiful landscape, with many different types of fossils to be collected. In fact, the area is famous for its rich diversity of fossil species, some of which are unique. Silurian, Cuttings, Outcrops, Disused Quarries, Streams, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Dalmellington Tip
When visiting the village of Dalmellington, you cannot help but see the huge spoil heap. This is now disused, but contains plenty of material to search through, including black shale that is rich in fish remains. Plant remains can also be found. Carboniferous, Spoil Heap, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Dob’s Linn
Dob’s Linn is a famous location for graptolites and, indeed, is one of the best, and you can collect many different species form the shale. However, the location can be hard to find, but it is well worth the trip. Be sure you bring paper to wrap up your specimens. Ordovician, Silurian, Cuttings, Outcrops, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Barns Ness
Spectacular bedding packed with corals can be seen at Barns Ness. This is a fantastic location for corals and there is plenty to be found here, although the fossils are not as well preserved as those from Aberlady. Carboniferious, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Aldons Quarry
The volcanic rocks at Aldons Quarry contain a variety of Ordovician fossils, including trilobites, brachiopods, bivalves, cephalopods, gastropods, graptolites and goniatites. They can be found in mudstones, which can be seen in the scree slopes. Ordovician, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦
Glenmard Wood
This is a very productive little quarry that is easy to access. It is an occasionally worked quarry, which is fully accessible from the trackway. This means fresh faces and scree are available to search through. Take plenty of paper for bags of finds, but, be warned, it involves quite a long walk. Ordovician, Part Working Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Craighead Quarry
Ordovician rocks at Craighead Quarry are very fossiliferous and this disused quarry is often visited by local schools and colleges to study the fossils and geology at this site. While it is now quite overgrown, there is still plenty to be found. The most common finds are graptolites, brachiopods, trilobites and goniatites. Ordovician, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦
Woodland Bay
The rocks at Shalloch (to the south of Girvan) to Whitehouse, including Woodland Bay, contain fossil graptolites and trilobites. Girvan is a well-documented area for fossils and is one of the most popular areas to collect in Scotland. This foreshore location is easy to access, but you will need the correct tools. Ordovician, Silurian, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Annbank
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: ♦♦
Ardwell Bay
Ardwell Bay, south of Girvan, is the best coastal location in the area for finding fossils. Graptolites are the most common, with orthocone fragments and trilobites also being quite common. In addition, brachiopods can be found. The rocks you need to split are easy to identify, being black when weathered. Ordovician, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Joppa Shore
Along the seafront at Edinburgh, Carboniferous rocks yield fossil plant remains, crinoid stems and shells. Most of the best beds have been over-collected, but there are still lots of fossils to be found. Carboniferious, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Auchinleck Tip
This spoil heap is partly still being used and partly disused. Most of the waste material contains limestone and shale that is poor in fossil remains. However if you can find the right rocks, then plant remains can be found. However, these are often poorly preserved, but, as with all tips, you never know what you might find. Carboniferious, Spoil Heap, Rating: ♦♦♦
Bellyford Burn
Following the Bellyford Burn is the disused Pencaitland Railway. This track is now used by cyclists, runners and walkers, and is a lovely walk. The old railway has boards along its way, detailing how coal was mined, and providing information about the old railway. In the middle of the walk are two very large spoil heaps that contain fossil plants from the Carboniferous shale.
Carboniferous, Spoil heaps, Rating: ♦♦♦
North Berwick
The rocks at North Berwick are volcanic tuffs, but cementstones within a small zone of tuff contain fish remains and 23 species of pteridosperms and lycopods. Carboniferious, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Kennedy’s Pass
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: ♦♦♦♦♦
Queensferry
Below the Forth Road and Forth Rail Bridge, Carboniferous fish fragments and plant remains can be found in the shale. It can take some time to find the fossiliferous zones, but once you do, there is plenty to be collected. Carboniferious, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Dalmellington Burns
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: ♦♦
Kirkcudbright
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: ♦♦
Seaton Sluice
Seaton Sluice at the north end of Whitley Bay is an excellent chance to collect fossils from the Carboniferous coal measures. Coal itself can be seen in the rocks which are also rich in plant remains, corals and bivalves. An easy location to access and fossils are common. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Beadnell
Blocks of shale packed with Carboniferous brachiopods and more can be collected at Beadnell. The location is a great one to explore. It has excellent access and is also suitable for children.Carboniferous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Berwick-Upon-Tweed
Many pretty coral fossils can be seen in the rocks on the beach north of where the River Tweed meets the sea. Smaller coral pebbles can be collected, while larger examples in boulders can be observed. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Howick
This secluded location offers a surprisingly varied selection of fossils over a little more than a kilometre of coastline. Trilobites, crinoid pieces, corals, brachiopods, plant fossils, trace fossils and more can be found here. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Scremerston
A good location at which to find a range of Carboniferous fossils, including crinoidal limestone and corals, as well as plant remains and trace fossils in sandstone. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
