Crackington Haven is a small cove with folded Carboniferous sandstone and shale on both sides of its sandy beach. Rare goniatites and bivalves have been recorded here, but the clearest rewards are its sedimentary structures and dramatic folds. Visit to observe and photograph, leaving fossils, stones and pebbles in place.
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦ – Fossils are uncommon, commonly distorted and best recorded in place. The geological structures are more readily seen.
CHILDREN: ♦♦♦ – The central beach is popular with families; the sharp, tilted and slippery rocks at its sides are unsuitable play areas.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦ – Village parking and a short approach to the main beach. The rocky side exposures have separate tidal and footing difficulties.
TYPE: Cove, cliff and rocky foreshore in the Crackington Formation; an observation and photography locality.
DIRECTIONS
♦ From the A39 at Wainhouse Corner, take the road signposted to Crackington Haven. The road winds down steep hills to the cove; drive carefully on the narrower bends.
♦ Use the signed village car park at the bottom of the road, close to the beach. The National Trust walk starts at this non-National Trust car park, grid reference SX143968. Follow current parking signs and allow for busy periods rather than relying on a space being available.
♦ The beach is a short walk from the car park. Toilets, a café and a pub are in the village. Stay on established access routes and separate a family beach visit from any inspection of the tidal rock platforms.
♦ The earlier guide places the southern fossil occurrence about 90 m south-south-west of the stream mouth and the northern occurrence about 215–220 m north-west. These are historical exposure references, not instructions to approach a cliff base or cross an unsafe tidal corner.
♦ Original locality reference: 50.74291°N, 4.63472°W. Check the local tide, swell and weather before considering either side of the cove.
FOSSIL HUNTING
The most useful way to explore Crackington Haven is to compare the resistant sandstone ribs with the finer, darker shale between them. Rare ammonoid shells and bivalves have been recorded in the finer intervals and associated concretions, but sand cover, weathering and rock deformation can make them difficult to recognise. A rewarding visit can be made by examining and photographing naturally exposed surfaces without collecting a specimen.
The southern side has the clearest independently documented ammonoid record: Isohomoceras cf. subglobosum. The qualification “cf.” is important: the material resembles that species, but its identification is not fully certain. The earlier guide placed the occurrence around 90 m south-south-west of the stream mouth. It is a historical field reference to a folded exposure, not a promise that a fossil-bearing surface will be visible or safely reachable on each visit.
Goniatites are coiled ammonoids. Look for a coherent shell outline, curved ornament and, where preserved, chamber or suture detail. Compression can flatten or stretch the coil into an oval, and part of a shell may disappear into cleavage or weathering. A circular stain, isolated groove or quartz-filled crack is not enough for a species identification. Photograph the whole exposed impression and a close view with a scale; low-angle light often makes relief more visible.
On the northern side, the earlier UK Fossils guide reported Reticuloceras circumplicatile and the bivalve Dunbarella sp. in dark nodules roughly 215 m north-west of the stream mouth. The exact northern species record has not been independently confirmed in the checked synthesis: it records relevant ammonoid assemblages along the wider Crackington–Millook coast without documenting their complete species composition. Treat the northern names as historical reports rather than assured identifications of any shell found in this cove.
A bivalve impression should show consistent shell curvature and ornament; straight or repeated sedimentary grooves do not by themselves establish a shell. Both shale impressions and concretion surfaces may preserve only fragments. Do not split nodules, chip around an impression or lift a fossil-bearing pebble: retain the surface and its geological context in place.
The sandstone surfaces are also excellent for distinguishing fossils from sedimentary structures. Flute and groove casts formed when moving sediment scoured or dragged across soft mud and the hollows were filled by sand. Load casts and flame structures record soft sediment deforming under an uneven load. These marks are not automatically animal tracks. Record the orientation and surrounding layers with any interesting feature, and keep well clear of overhangs and recent falls.
A chronological record of fossil discoveries, geological research and site history at Crackington Haven.
1958 – Crackington Measures named
Ashwin introduced the name Crackington Measures for the succession associated with this coast, establishing the historical terminology behind the present Crackington Formation. This was a stratigraphic naming milestone.
1972 – Coastal geology and ammonoid evidence described
Freshney and colleagues published the geological account of the Tintagel–Bude coast used by subsequent syntheses. Its fossil evidence included the southern Crackington Haven occurrence, while the wider section helped establish correlations between structurally separated outcrops.
1990 – Coastal geological protection revised
Boscastle to Widemouth SSSI was re-notified on 21 September. The protected coast includes Crackington Haven and recognises the importance of the folded succession, sedimentary structures and rare ammonoids used to unravel its stratigraphy.
1996 – Stratigraphic value and uncertainties synthesised
Cleal and Thomas brought together the Crackington Coast evidence in the Geological Conservation Review. They highlighted the south-cove ammonoid and sole markings while explaining how deformation limits species identification, continuous logging and thickness estimates.
2018 – Pebble-removal concerns highlighted
Cornwall Wildlife Trust highlighted the conservation concerns associated with removing pebbles from Crackington Haven. This drew attention to the importance of retaining the beach material in place.
GEOLOGY
The cove exposes the Crackington Formation of the Holsworthy Group, a Carboniferous succession of sandstone, siltstone and dark mudstone or shale. Much of the sand arrived in sediment-laden underwater flows, while finer material settled during quieter intervals. Repeated sand-and-mud couplets produce the characteristic ribbed shore: sandstone stands proud, while less resistant shale is worn into recesses and sand-filled gaps.
The bottoms of sandstone beds can preserve the shape of the muddy surface over which a current passed. Scours filled by the next sand deposit became flute casts; objects dragged across the mud produced groove casts. Loading of still-wet sediment generated lobes of sand and upward-projecting muddy flames. Together with changes in grain size and lamination, these structures record how individual depositional events began and waned. They also help identify the original top and bottom of a bed after it has been tilted or overturned.
Later Variscan compression folded, faulted and locally inverted the succession. On the southern side, the original observations describe beds dipping northwards at about 20–35°, with sole markings demonstrating overturning. On the northern side, the earlier account describes sheared shale, low-angle faults, drag folds and polished slip surfaces called slickensides. Those observations concern particular exposures; they should not be applied as one dip direction or fault pattern across the entire cove.
The ammonoids provide age information that the lithology alone cannot supply. The southern Isohomoceras cf. subglobosum record belongs to the Chokierian discussion in the Geological Conservation Review. Younger ammonoid assemblages occur along the broader Crackington coast, but this does not make the small haven a complete, uninterrupted record of the formation. Distortion also makes some proposed identifications near Crackington uncertain.
The two sides of the cove are therefore best read as separate structural windows into the same formation. No complete measured local column or total thickness is established here, and the height of a cliff is not a measurement of stratigraphic thickness. The wider Rusey–Wanson coast is important for reconstructing the formation, but the distinctive fossil horizons at Foxhole and Wanson belong to their own sections and are not added to this cove.
Detailed geology and stratigraphy of Crackington Haven, including the limits of local correlation.
This account covers Crackington Haven and the immediately adjoining northern and southern exposures. The wider GCR Crackington Coast extends from Rusey towards Widemouth. Its full fossil-zone range must not be compressed into a single measured column for this small cove. The source explicitly states that tectonic disturbance prevents a reliable complete log and full thickness for the wider coastal succession.
HOLSWORTHY GROUP
The parent group of the Crackington Formation. Its regional succession contains mudstone, sandstone and subordinate siltstone, but its aggregate thickness is not a local measurement at Crackington Haven. Historical “Culm” terminology describes the broader regional geological association.
Crackington Formation
Rhythmically interbedded dark mudstone or shale, fine sandstone and siltstone form the cove exposures. The sandstones commonly have sharp soles and turbiditic sedimentary structures. “Crackington Measures” is the historical name introduced for this succession; it is not an additional member. No formal member division has been established for the two cove panels described below.
Southern panel: sandstone, siltstone and shale
Sand-rich beds alternate with finer sediment on the southern shore. Erosion highlights their different resistance, but the resulting ridges and recesses are modern landforms, not separate named beds. Neither the GCR account nor the earlier guide provides a complete numbered local succession or measured total for this panel.
Southern panel: sandstone soles and soft-sediment structures
The GCR specifically illustrates sole markings on the south side of Crackington Haven in Figure 3.5. Flute and groove casts preserve current action at the bases of sand beds; load casts and flame structures in the coastal succession record deformation before full consolidation. Their facing evidence must be distinguished from later tectonic cleavage and fault surfaces.
Southern fossil occurrence: qualified Isohomoceras record
The GCR records Isohomoceras cf. subglobosum on the south side of the haven in its discussion of Chokierian ammonoids. The earlier guide places crushed goniatites about 90 m south-south-west of the stream mouth, among the sandstone–siltstone and finer-grained exposure. This locates the historical occurrence without inventing a measured fossil-bed thickness or a secure species identification for every distorted shell.
Southern panel: inversion and historical dip measurements
The earlier field description gives northward dips of about 20–35° for the sandstone, siltstone and shale and identifies the beds as overturned from their sole markings. These are local historical measurements, not a rule for the whole haven. Present-day downward dip therefore cannot be assumed to point towards progressively younger strata.
Northern panel: shale and sandstone ribs
The earlier guide describes predominantly black shale with sandstone beds around 0.45 m thick at the base and top of the northern cliff exposure. Those are individual reported bed thicknesses, not a complete formation measurement or a continuous log tying the north shore to the south. Sand and fallen material can conceal parts of the lowest exposures.
Northern panel: dark nodules and historical fossil report
Dark nodules near the northern cliff base, historically placed about 215 m north-west of the stream mouth, were reported to contain Reticuloceras circumplicatile and Dunbarella sp. The GCR supports relevant Reticuloceras zonal assemblages on the wider Crackington–Millook coast, but says their species composition was not documented. The precise northern-cove association is consequently retained as an earlier-guide report, without assigning it a new formal zone or thickness.
Northern panel: low-angle faults, drag folds and slickensides
The original description records low-angle north-dipping faults, sheared shale, drag folds and slickensides in the northern exposure. Drag folds reflect bending beside a moving fault; slickensides are polished or striated slip surfaces. These observations explain why apparent layer repetition or omission cannot be converted directly into extra beds. No displacement magnitude was established in that account.
Uncertain nearby Alportian identifications
The GCR discusses queried Homoceratoides and Homoceras assigned to the H. undulatum interval near Crackington, together with Dunbarella. It stresses severe distortion and uncertain identification. These proposed records neither establish an additional named cove bed nor warrant an expanded list of confidently identified local fossils.
Sedimentary setting and later deformation
The formation is interpreted as a marine turbidite succession, subsequently folded and faulted during the Variscan deformation. Regional palaeocurrent and facies reconstructions explain the basin setting, but are not measurements of the direction or environment of every bed in the haven. Sole structures, graded beds, folds and slip surfaces preserve different stages of this history.
Correlation and thickness limits
The northern and southern panels are not joined here into an uninterrupted vertical stack. Neither a total local thickness nor numerical thicknesses for the fossil-bearing intervals can be supplied from the checked evidence. The much wider coast spans several ammonoid zones; Foxhole, Wanson and other distant measured or fossil-bearing intervals remain outside this exact-locality inventory.
References
Cleal & Thomas (1996), Crackington Coast, British Upper Carboniferous Stratigraphy, GCR 11, pp. 41–44, especially Figure 3.5
BGS Lexicon: Holsworthy Group
BGS Lexicon: Crackington Formation
SAFETY
The rocky sides of Crackington Haven are more demanding than the central beach. Tilted sandstone forms sharp, slippery ribs, with seaweed, loose shale and pools between them. Avoid crossing steep wet bedding or scrambling onto unstable blocks, and keep children on safer ground away from the side platforms.
Headlands and side exposures can become cut off. Check local tide predictions, swell and weather together, keep a clear return route and turn back well before water approaches it. Atlantic swell may reach well above an apparently calm waterline; no fixed number of hours around low tide guarantees safe access.
Stay well away from cliffs, overhangs and recent falls. Do not enter the cliff base to look for a reported fossil bed. A helmet or geological experience does not make an unstable exposure safe. On the coastal paths, keep back from unfenced edges.
The main beach has seasonal lifeguards; check the current RNLI information. Patrols are not year-round supervision of the rocky fossil exposures.
EQUIPMENT
Take grip-soled footwear, suitable weather protection, drinking water, local tide information and a charged phone. A camera, small scale, hand lens and notebook allow useful observations without disturbing the rocks. Record the location and orientation of a possible fossil as well as its close-up detail.
This is a leave-in-place visit. Hammers, chisels and collecting bags are unnecessary; do not remove a loose pebble as a sample or alter a surface to improve a photograph.
CLEANING AND TREATING
Photograph fossils and structures as they are exposed. Do not scrape, wash with chemicals, chip or excavate the foreshore to reveal detail. Changing the angle of the light is a safer way to see a faint impression.
For an existing legitimately held shale specimen, support the matrix, retain any counterpart and begin only with gentle dry brushing. Thin compressed shells can be destroyed by soaking, forceful splitting or pulling away their matrix. Avoid varnish and leave potentially significant material unprepared for specialist advice.
IDENTIFY YOUR FINDS
Need help identifying a fossil? Share clear photos, where you found it and its size with the community.
FURTHER READING
Jens Lehmann (2020), Fabulous folds: Variscan tectonics in southwest England, Deposits Magazine; regional background
Cleal & Thomas (1996), Crackington Coast, British Upper Carboniferous Stratigraphy, GCR 11, pp. 41–44, especially Figure 3.5
BGS Lexicon: Crackington Formation
Natural England: Boscastle to Widemouth SSSI citation
National Trust: Crackington cracker walk, visitor starting point and facilities
ACCESS RIGHTS
Crackington Haven lies within Boscastle to Widemouth SSSI. Use established public access and follow current site notices. The scientific value lies in the rocks and their relationships as well as in individual fossils.
Visit to observe and photograph. Leave fossils, stones and pebbles where they are, and do not hammer or excavate the cliff or foreshore. Public beach access does not give permission to remove material. Check current local restrictions rather than relying on an old description of the beach’s legal status.
Original guide’s designation document (historical copy; check current notices and the official site record above): SSSI Information – Crackington Haven
It is important to follow our ‘Code of Conduct’ when collecting fossils or visiting any site. Please also read our ‘Terms and Conditions‘
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