Abbey Wood
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…
Read the guide →FOSSIL HUNTING BY REGION
Kent
fossil locations
22 location guides
Kent is one of the best areas in the UK for fossil hunting, with a wide range of productive sites across several geological periods. The Isle of Sheppey is particularly well known for the Eocene London Clay, yielding sharks’ teeth, crustaceans, fish, plant remains, and occasional vertebrate material.
Folkestone is famous for its Gault Clay exposures, where ammonites are especially common, along with a variety of other marine fossils. The county is also renowned for its Cretaceous chalk, with the cliffs of Dover providing classic exposures.
Chalk fossils such as echinoids are abundant, and some of the finest examples can be found in Kent, making it one of the most varied and productive fossil regions in the UK.
Explore Kent on the map
22 location guides
22 locations
Allhallows-on-Sea
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…
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Betteshanger
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: ♦♦♦♦♦
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Birchington
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.…
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Dover
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…
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Dumpton Gap
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…
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Elmley Hill
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…
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Folkestone
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…
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Herne Bay (Beltinge)
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,…
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Kingsdown
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…
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Kingsgate
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…
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Lower Upnor
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…
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Minster (Isle of Sheppey)
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,…
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North Foreland
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…
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Pegwell Bay
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…
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Reculver
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…
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Samphire Hoe
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…
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Seasalter
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.…
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St Margaret’s Bay
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…
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Studd Hill
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…
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Tankerton
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…
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Warden Point (Isle of Sheppey)
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.…
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