Cambridgeshire is best known for its Upper Jurassic fossil sites, particularly around Peterborough, where the Oxford Clay Formation has produced a wide range of marine fossils. This deposit is especially notable for yielding complete skeletons of marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs.
Fossil finds commonly include reptile bones, ammonites, and crinoids, making the area highly significant for Jurassic marine material. The Oxford Clay is one of the most important formations of its type in the UK.
Although many of the historic quarries have been lost to development, a small number of sites remain accessible, still providing opportunities to collect fossils from this important Jurassic deposit.
Most of the old clay pits have been swallowed up by the building of huge housing estates to the south of Peterborough. However, one area at Yaxley has been left as a nature area, with public byways taking you around the rim of the pits, which are now filled with water. On the banks, the Oxford Clay is rich in fossils. Jurassic, Lake Embankment, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Famous for its high number of reptile remains, this location has been the site of some complete skeletons in the past, but also yields fish remains, ammonites, belemnites, bivalves, brachiopods and crinoids. There is also a ‘fossil hunting area’ in the disused part of the pit, which the general public can collect from and which is regularly replenished from spoil from the main pit. Jurassic, Working Quarry, Rating: ♦♦
This is a small disused quarry with a nature trail through the middle of it. There are heaps of oolitic spoil everywhere, which contain bivalves (in particular, oysters) and brachiopods. If you are lucky, ammonites can also be found, although they are uncommon. Jurassic, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦
Grafham Water was formally a shallow valley, now turned into a large lake, with water sports and a nature reserve. Today, plentiful fossils can be found along the banks of the lake and, during summer months when the water level is at its lowest, ammonites, belemnites and much, much more can be collected. Jurassic, Reservoir, Rating: ♦♦
