Abereiddy Bay
Abereiddy Bay is a classic place to see Ordovician graptolites in dark shale. The southern foreshore is especially known for the paired branches of the tuning-fork graptolite, while folded sediments and…
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Wales - Southwest
fossil locations
13 location guides
Southwest Wales is an important area of geological interest, with many sites designated as SSSI due to their significance. These locations provide access to a range of fossil-bearing strata, particularly along coastal foreshores.
Fossils such as graptolites can be collected at sites like Abereiddy, while other locations yield corals, brachiopods, and trilobites from older deposits. The coastal exposures regularly reveal fossil material through natural erosion.
Sites including Marloes Sands and West Angle Bay offer accessible collecting opportunities, with a mixture of rock types and fossil content across the region, making it a productive area for fossil hunting.
Explore Wales - Southwest on the map
13 location guides
13 locations
Druidston Haven
Druidston Haven combines graptolite-bearing Ordovician shale, younger Carboniferous rocks and a remarkable record of Ice Age deposition. The broad beach offers opportunities to observe loose fossil-bearing material and see how faulting…
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Fishguard
Fishguard combines rugged volcanic scenery with reports of graptolites and trace fossils in occasional shale. This guide focuses on Pwll Landdu, the small cove east of Fishguard Fort; the fossil photographs…
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Freshwater East
Freshwater East combines a broad sandy beach with Silurian marine fossils and an internationally important record of early land plants and animal traces. The rocks around the bay record a transition…
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Little Haven
Little Haven’s steeply folded Carboniferous sandstones and shales reveal a former coal-bearing landscape. The coves beside the village offer striking geological features and occasional plant fossils, from frond impressions to ribbed…
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Lydstep Point
Corals in Carboniferous limestone are the main attraction at Lydstep, where weathered boulders and sea-washed stones reveal the remains of an ancient tropical sea. The small cove below the headland is…
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Manorbier Bay
Manorbier Bay combines fossiliferous limestone pebbles with spectacular, steeply tilted Old Red Sandstone cliffs. Crinoid fragments are reported in grey stones around the stream, while the surrounding red beds preserve ancient…
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Marloes Sands
Marloes Sands combines Silurian fossils with spectacular folded cliffs and the volcanic rocks of an ancient coastline. Corals and brachiopods are the main attraction, with trilobites, crinoids and other marine remains…
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Nolton Haven
Nolton Haven’s Carboniferous sandstones and shales preserve plant remains from ancient river and coal-swamp landscapes. The main bay and the coast towards Rickets Head offer different views of this history, including…
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Porthgain
Above Porthgain’s harbour, loose slate waste records the village’s quarrying past. Fossils are uncommon, but occasional graptolites reward a careful look at natural surfaces, while the cliffs and surviving stone hoppers…
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Presipe
Presipe’s steep red-and-grey cliffs reveal ancient river deposits, fossil soils and traces of animal activity. Burrows and tracks occur on some bedding surfaces, while cracks, ripples and calcrete structures help explain…
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West Angle Bay
West Angle Bay exposes folded Lower Carboniferous limestone and shale, with crinoid stems, brachiopods and other marine fossils visible on weathered rock surfaces. The sandy beach is a good starting point…
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Whitesands Bay
The northern rocks at Whitesands Bay expose steeply inclined Cambrian beds beside a broad sandy beach. Fossils are sparse, but careful observation of loose rock surfaces may reveal dark impressions of…
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