North Wales is well known for its Carboniferous Limestone, which yields a range of marine fossils including corals, brachiopods, and crinoids. These deposits are widely exposed across both coastal and inland locations.
Anglesey is one of the most popular areas for collecting, with notable sites at Caim and Great Orme’s Head providing access to fossil-bearing strata. Although the limestone can be hard and difficult to work, coral pebbles can often be collected more easily from beach deposits.
Some locations also include Carboniferous shales, which can yield brachiopods more readily. A mixture of outcrops, scree slopes, and coastal exposures provides varied opportunities for fossil collecting across the region.
The coast below Caim reveals fossil-rich Carboniferous limestone, with weathered colonial corals, horn corals and large brachiopods. The ledges and headlands show how marine shells and corals were preserved within a changing shallow-water environment. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
The wooded slopes of Gallt Yr Ancr, west of Meifod, contain shell-rich Ordovician sandstone associated with old quarries. Brachiopod moulds and occasional trilobite fragments reveal a marine fauna in the rocks beside the Glyndwr’s Way walking route. Ordovician, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦
Prestatyn Hillside combines an escarpment walk with glimpses of Carboniferous marine fossils. Occasional limestone blocks reveal crinoids, brachiopods and corals, while the surrounding rocks record sediment carried from a carbonate platform into deeper water. Carboniferous, Outcrops, Rating: ♦♦
The western shore of Red Wharf Bay exposes coral-bearing Carboniferous limestone, with brachiopod sections and crinoid fragments in its ledges. North towards Trwyn Dwlban, striking sandstone-filled pipes record ancient dissolution and river activity between episodes of marine deposition. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
Great Orme’s Head is a limestone headland above Llandudno, with sweeping views and a remarkable record of life in a Carboniferous sea. At Bishop’s Quarry, large fossil shells and corals can be studied on weathered rock surfaces during a walk across the headland. Carboniferous, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦
