South Wales offers some of the best fossil hunting locations in the UK, with coastal exposures of Triassic and Jurassic rocks similar to those found along the Somerset coast. These deposits provide a wide range of fossil material with generally less competition from collectors.
Fossils commonly found include ammonites, belemnites, brachiopods, and occasional reptile remains, along with shark and fish material. Llantwit Major is a particularly well-known site, noted for its large gastropods and varied fossil content.
Penarth exposes the famous Triassic bone beds, comparable to those at Blue Anchor and Aust, while many beaches in the region provide accessible collecting conditions with fossils often found directly on the foreshore.
The ‘Canada Tips’ near Blaenafon (so-called because, as part of the war effort during the 1940s, the Canadian army helped to develop the opencast coal mine that produced the spoil dumped here) are a rich source of Carboniferous plant fossils and reminder of the area’s industrial heritage.Carboniferous, Spoil Heap, Rating: ♦♦♦
Remnants of South Wales’s industrial past abound in the area, particularly in the form of colliery spoil heaps (coal tips) like this one. Although landscaped, there are plenty of areas of bare spoil to look through.Carboniferous, Spoil Heap, Rating: ♦♦♦
Situated just outside Trefil, the highest village in Wales, this is a former limestone quarry, which once supplied the Sirhowy Ironworks and contains the remains of a Carboniferous coral reef.Carboniferous, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦
Southerndown is a Jurassic coastal location that closely resembles the classic Lias sites of Somerset. The early Blue Lias is mostly thickly bedded limestones, with thin shale bands. The limestones are full of bivalves, with occasional ammonites. They sometimes also yield reptile remains and fish. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Penarth is the most popular location in Wales for fossil collectors. This is down to both the site being very rich in fossils, together being a major built up area. This site can be over collected but you still should come home with some finds. Jurassic, Triassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Llantwit Major is an excellent place in Wales for Jurassic fossils. The huge cliffs yield a wide range of fossils and unique is the large amount of marine life, for example corals and giant brachiopods and gastropods. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
