Clints Quarry
Clints Quarry is a Carboniferous limestone nature reserve near Egremont, where corals and crinoid fragments can be seen in weathered rock. Its fossil-rich beds and ancient solution hollows record changing conditions…
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Cumbria
fossil locations
9 location guides
The Lake District is not one of the most productive fossil hunting areas in the UK, but it still offers a range of locations for collectors. The only coastal site at Whitehaven is particularly notable, producing well-preserved Carboniferous plant fossils.
Inland Cumbria is largely made up of Ordovician and Silurian rocks, where fossils can be found in disused quarries, scree slopes, cuttings, and stream sections. Trilobites are present in these deposits, although they are relatively uncommon.
While fossils can be limited, the Lake District remains an important area for older material and also provides excellent opportunities for collecting minerals.
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9 location guides
9 locations
Coniston
Around Coniston, Ashgill Quarry, Ashgill Beck and Torver Beck reveal a varied succession of Ordovician and Silurian marine rocks. Trilobites and brachiopods occur in shell-bearing beds, while younger mudstones preserve graptolite…
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High Fell Quarry
High Fell Quarry, above Tilberthwaite, reveals the volcanic origins of Lakeland slate. Quarry working restarted under a new tenant in 2023. Climbing advice warned of intended renewed blasting and advised people…
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Hodgson How Quarry
Hodgson How Quarry, near Portinscale, is a historically important Ordovician graptolite locality. Its Kirk Stile Formation mudstones preserve flattened fossils including Azygograptus lapworthi. Steep, unstable rock and uncertain current access make…
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Parton Bay
Parton Bay, just north of Whitehaven, has Carboniferous fossils in loose beach stones, including plant remains in shale and corals in limestone. The shore also contains sea glass and other reminders…
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Saltcom Bay
Saltcom Bay in this guide is South Beach beside West Pier, immediately south of Whitehaven harbour. Historical finds include Carboniferous plant remains in mixed colliery spoil. Beach access was reported prohibited…
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Stockdale Beck
Stockdale Beck in Longsleddale is known for Silurian graptolite-bearing mudstones. The small exposure described near the old barn and bridge is separate from the more extensive Browgill reference section upstream. This…
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Stockdale Quarry
The hillside quarries above Stockdale Farm in Longsleddale expose Late Ordovician fossil-bearing rocks of the Stile End Formation. Their scientific importance includes type material of trilobites, although loose spoil commonly preserves…
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Whitehaven
Whitehaven’s northern coast preserves Carboniferous plant fossils beneath the Countess Pit Sandstone. Access update, October 2026: foreshore access has been reported closed. The precise extent of the restriction and any reopening…
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