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Blue Anchor
Blue Anchor exposes a thin but highly productive Rhaetian bone bed within the Penarth Group, yielding abundant reptile, shark and fish remains, similar to the famous Aust site on the Severn…
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Somerset
fossil locations
16 location guides
Somerset is dominated by Jurassic and Triassic rocks, with additional Devonian and Carboniferous deposits present in the western part of the county. These formations provide a varied range of fossil hunting opportunities.
The coastal areas around Watchet are particularly productive, with ammonites, belemnites, crinoids, and occasional reptile remains commonly found. Blue Anchor is well known for exposures of the Triassic bone bed, which also occurs at Aust along the River Severn.
Other locations such as Weston-super-Mare and Portishead yield fossil corals from older strata, making Somerset a diverse region for collecting fossils from multiple geological periods.
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16 location guides
16 locations
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Kilve
Kilve’s limestone reefs and dark Jurassic shale reveal ammonites, changing seafloor conditions and remarkable ancient methane-seep structures. The shore east of Kilve Pill is the main route described here, with loose…
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Watchet
Watchet is a highly productive Jurassic location, well known for its reptile remains and abundant ammonites. The foreshore also reveals impressive geological features, including spectacular faulting and large ammonite casts, making…
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Brown’s Folly
Brown’s Folly’s old Bath Stone quarries reveal a varied Middle Jurassic seafloor, from mobile ooid sands to coral growth and shell-rich mud. Corals, brachiopods, bivalves and crinoids make this wooded Avon…
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Chilcompton
Chilcompton’s old New Rock colliery spoil contains shale and sandstone brought up from deep Carboniferous workings. Plant stems and fern-like impressions can be seen in suitable loose shale, but the steep,…
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Clevedon
Clevedon Beach, beside its famous Victorian pier, exposes a remarkable sequence of rocks from the late Devonian to the Triassic. The main fossil-bearing strata are the Early Carboniferous limestones and shales…
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Helwell Bay (Doniford)
Helwell Bay at Doniford is one of the best locations in Somerset for collecting iridescent ammonites, a highlight of the Blue Lias. The extensive foreshore also yields small white ammonites, reptile…
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Hinkley Point
Hinkley Point is a productive coastal site where fish and reptile remains, including ichthyosaur vertebrae, are commonly found loose along the foreshore. The beach also yields ammonites and marine shells, often…
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Kingstone
The ploughed fields around Kingstone and Moolham can reveal ammonites weathered from Lower Jurassic limestone. Dactylioceras, Harpoceras and Hildoceras are recorded in the local collecting account, but visibility depends on cultivation…
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Lilstock
Lilstock is a productive coastal site where reptile remains and loose bones can often be found along the foreshore, alongside Jurassic ammonites, bivalves and fish remains. At the eastern end of…
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Middle Hope
Middle Hope, on the headland north of Weston-super-Mare, is one of the most important Early Carboniferous coastal geology sites in south-west England. The foreshore exposes fossil-rich limestones together with the remarkable…
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Portishead
Portishead offers two contrasting fossil-hunting areas on the Severn Estuary. At Portishead Point, also known as Battery Point, Early Carboniferous marine limestones contain corals, crinoids and brachiopods. South-west along Woodhill Bay,…
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Quantoxhead
Quantoxhead is a quiet and expansive stretch of the Somerset coast, where tall Jurassic cliffs and a wide wave-cut platform provide excellent fossil exposure. The foreshore regularly yields ammonites and occasional…
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St Audries Bay
St Audries Bay is a quieter stretch of the Somerset Jurassic Coast, where Blue Lias cliffs and wave-cut platforms expose fossil-bearing beds. The foreshore can yield ammonites, reptile remains and marine…
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Worlebury Hill
The rocky shore beneath Worlebury Hill forms the southern edge of Sand Bay. Carboniferous limestone exposures and weathered beach material reveal corals, crinoid fragments and shell impressions. The uneven foreshore, mud…
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Writhlington
Writhlington’s conserved colliery-spoil rock store preserves a remarkable late Carboniferous wetland community. Plant impressions and rare terrestrial arthropods have made it internationally important, but this finite scientific resource is visited through…
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