Easton Wood Fossil Hunting

Below Easton Wood, south of Covehithe, intermittent exposures of Norwich Crag have yielded shells and important Early Pleistocene mammal remains. The fossil beds may stay hidden beneath beach sand for long periods, but the coast offers a rewarding geological walk when tides and access are favourable.

FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦ – Highly variable; productive beds may remain hidden beneath beach sand.
CHILDREN: ♦♦♦ – A longer coastal walk with cliffs and tidal restrictions, requiring close supervision.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦ – Public paths from Covehithe followed by a southward beach walk; the wood is private.
TYPE: – Coastal cliffs, shell beds and foreshore.

DIRECTIONS

♦ From the A12 crossroads at Wrentham follow the road towards Southwold, then take the signed left turn to Covehithe. Continue to the corner before the ruined church, where the main road turns back on itself and the restricted road continues ahead.
♦ Use only roadside parking currently permitted before this junction; the original guide’s small parking area was between the marked restrictions. Keep passing places, gateways and residents’ access clear. Do not drive beyond restrictions or assume that old parking capacity remains available.
♦ Walk towards the church and take the signed public footpath on the right to the beach, following the field-edge route. On reaching the beach turn right, southwards, towards the cliffs below Easton Wood. Do not take private tracks through Easton Wood or descend an eroding cliff.
♦ Check current erosion diversions and the tide before walking south. The severed old road is not a beach entrance. Locality reference: 52.362720, 1.701078.

FOSSIL HUNTING

Easton Wood is most productive when natural erosion temporarily exposes the shelly Norwich Crag beneath beach sand. Long periods can pass with little visible material; a fixed ten-year scour cycle should not be expected. Look along accessible firm shingle and the strandline for naturally released bones, teeth and shells after conditions have settled. Small mammal teeth from this exact locality have been important in research: Mimomys glendae, Mimomys tigliensis, Mimomys praepliocaenicus and the lemming Lemmus kowalskii are documented.

Marine shells include Arctica islandica, represented in recent dating research. UK Fossils also records larger mammal fragments, fish material and an albatross wing bone, but these are occasional finds rather than routine expectations. A bone lying loose on the shore cannot automatically be assigned to one of the buried shell beds. Photograph important material with a scale, record its exact position and matrix, and seek specialist help before attempting recovery of an embedded or associated skeleton. Bulk sediment removal and excavation require the relevant permissions; an SSSI is not permission to sieve wherever desired.

The original UK Fossils account attributes an albatross wing-bone find to A. Cruickshanks and records its donation to the Natural History Museum.

A chronological record of geological research and significant discoveries at Easton Wood.

1990 and 1993 — Major scours reported
The original UK Fossils account records major beach-scouring events in these years. They are historical observations of temporary exposure, not evidence of a regular or predictable scour cycle.

2006 – A documented natural scour
The first-person Deposits account describes shell beds exposed in March 2006 and finds including larger mammal remains. Its 2023 publication date should not be mistaken for the date of the event.

2010 — Scour and small-mammal sampling
The original guide reports another major scour and an opportunity to sample the small-mammal beds, which it links with the material subsequently described as Mimomys glendae. This is the local account of fieldwork; the formal species publication followed in 2013.

2013 – New vole and revised age interpretation
Mayhew formally published Mimomys glendae from Easton Wood and used its small-mammal assemblage to correlate the site at about 2.25–2.35 Ma, questioning younger interpretations.

2020 – Regional review retains Easton Wood’s significance
Preece and colleagues reviewed Easton Wood’s small mammals in assessing correlations between the Norwich and Weybourne Crag successions.

2024 – Shells used in dating-method research
Conti and colleagues included Arctica islandica shells from Easton Wood in developing amino-acid geochronology methods; this is method research, not a newly proven numerical age for every bed.

References
UK Fossils: Easton Wood original local log and field observations
Mayhew 2013: Easton Wood arvicolids and biostratigraphic age
Preece and colleagues 2020: regional Crag correlation with exact Easton Wood records
Conti and colleagues 2024: Arctica dating-method study
Deposits: first-person Suffolk account, including Easton Wood
Natural England: coastal access and Easton Wood private-land context
Suffolk tourism: Covehithe beach approach and village roadside parking
UK Fossils: Easton Wood, original field and collecting account

GEOLOGY

The fossil-bearing marine sands beneath Easton Wood belong to the Norwich Crag Formation of the Crag Group. Small-mammal evidence has been used to place the studied horizon at about 2.25–2.35 million years old, in the Early Pleistocene Gelasian, rather than the Pliocene terminology used in older guides. Marine shells occur alongside terrestrial mammal remains in the studied succession, so the deposit brings together evidence from the shallow North Sea margin and animals living on nearby land. This age and association concern the documented fossil-bearing level, not every sand or gravel in the cliff.

The historical local section shows why a simple description as “shell sand” is inadequate. Yellow bedded sands contained discontinuous shell pockets, while deeper exposures included a compacted principal shell bed, further shelly sand, thin clay seams and flint-rich horizons. Still lower gravel included bone-bearing material and iron-cemented sediment. The alternation of fine clay, sand and coarse clasts records changing depositional conditions, and the separate concentrations of shells and bones make careful horizon recording essential. Material from the upper shell pockets should not be merged automatically with the deeper sampled fauna.

Scour and subsequent beach-sand accumulation determine which of these beds can be seen. A thin brown clay platform was close to beach level in the original observations, but that level is not fixed; some deeper deposits were described only when the foreshore was unusually exposed. The higher cliff sands, gravels and grey-blue clay are retained in the detailed log as descriptive units because their exact modern correlations remain uncertain. Their appearance alone does not justify borrowing the named gravel members or measured sections of neighbouring localities.

Detailed stratigraphy and geological evidence at Easton Wood.

CRAG GROUP

Early Pleistocene marine deposition. The fossil-bearing horizon studied by Mayhew is not the same as every sand, clay or gravel visible along the wider Covehithe–Easton Bavents coast.

Norwich Crag Formation

The dated fossil-bearing marine succession is assigned to the Norwich Crag. The descriptive log below also includes higher cliff deposits whose exact formation and member correlations remain uncertain.

Historical descriptive cliff and foreshore log — upper-unit correlations uncertain

The following top-to-bottom thicknesses are the original UK Fossils observations of former exposures. This log spans the cliff cap and deeper fossil-bearing beds; its position here does not assign every upper sand, gravel or clay to the Norwich Crag Formation. Changes in beach level mean these horizons need not be exposed together.

Upper coarse sands and gravels: reported 2–3 m

The former cliff-top log records brown coarse sand and gravel. This capping unit is retained descriptively; it should not be automatically equated with a neighbouring named gravel member.

Stiff grey-blue clay with silt and sand: reported 1.5–3 m

The original account correlated this muddy interval with the cold Baventian episode. Regional clay correlations alone do not establish its precise modern member boundary at this exposure.

Orange-yellow gravel band: reported 0.15 m

A thin clast-bearing horizon separates the clay-rich interval from the underlying yellow sands. It is an informal local marker.

Yellow bedded sands: reported 1.5–2 m

Discontinuous shell pockets were observed low in these sands, rather than one continuous shell bed. Occasional rolled bone fragments need separate provenance from the deeper fauna.

Brown clay platform: reported 0.05–0.10 m

A hard clay layer close to the then beach level was one of the first older surfaces uncovered by scour. Beach level is mobile, so its height relative to today’s sand is not fixed.

Sand below the clay platform: reported about 1 m

The local log records sand with occasional shells and few mammal remains between the upper clay and the deeper shelly succession.

Black flint pebble band and thin clay: each reported about 0.05 m

Rounded black flints are followed downwards by a thin clay seam. These are separate local horizons; their presence alone does not explain the exceptional fossil preservation.

Compacted principal shell bed: reported 0.30–0.60 m

This is the shell-rich interval linked by the original guide to abundant small mammal material recovered by authorised sampling. Keep samples and faunal labels tied to their documented level.

Thin clay with nodules: reported about 0.05 m

Nodules released from this layer were used by experienced collectors as a sign of recent erosion. Loose nodules alone do not prove the whole fossil bed is presently accessible.

Lower shelly sands: reported 0.20–0.40 m

An additional shelly sand interval separates the principal shell bed from the deeper gravelly horizons.

Flint-clast gravel and silt: reported about 0.10 m

A thin coarse interval occurs below the lower shelly sands.

Cemented shelly sand: reported about 0.20 m

Harder shelly sediment overlies the deepest bone-rich gravel described in the original account.

Deep bone-bearing gravel: reported 0.20–0.30 m

Large flint clasts and gravel over iron-cemented gravel were recorded roughly 2 m beneath the former average beach level. This is a historical scour exposure, not a layer that visitors should excavate down to reach.

References
UK Fossils: Easton Wood original local log and field observations
Mayhew 2013: Easton Wood arvicolids and biostratigraphic age
Preece and colleagues 2020: regional Crag correlation with exact Easton Wood records
Conti and colleagues 2024: Arctica dating-method study
Deposits: first-person Suffolk account, including Easton Wood
Natural England: coastal access and Easton Wood private-land context
Suffolk tourism: Covehithe beach approach and village roadside parking

SAFETY

The soft cliffs retreat and collapse without warning. Keep well away from their base, overhangs, fallen trees and the cliff edge. The beach route can narrow or disappear at high water; plan around tide, wind and wave conditions and turn back early. Soft sand, clay platforms and waterlogged hollows can be hazardous after a scour. Do not walk on freshly exposed ground merely because it looks solid, and do not visit during a storm to look for new fossils. There are no beach toilets or lifeguards, and the return walk is exposed.

EQUIPMENT

Bring grippy boots, tide information, a charged phone, drinking water, a camera, labels and padded boxes. Loose finds can usually be picked up without tools. Any scientific sieving or sampling must be specifically authorised; hammers and spades are unnecessary for a responsible surface search.

CLEANING AND TREATING

Keep specimens labelled with the exact find spot and whether they were loose on shingle, in a detached block or observed in a particular bed. Support wet clay-covered fossils in a rigid box; do not scrub fragile surfaces or force the matrix away. Robust teeth can be gently rinsed, but friable bone, seeds and pyritic material need more cautious treatment. Let stable specimens dry slowly, away from heat. Avoid acids, bleach and varnish. Leave potentially important bones or associated remains unprepared and ask a museum or specialist for advice. Large waterlogged bone can crack badly if dried rapidly. Keep fragile important material supported and seek conservation advice before washing, drying or applying adhesive.

IDENTIFY YOUR FINDS

FURTHER READING

Deposits: Easton Wood in Locations in the Suffolk area
Mayhew: Easton Wood voles and Early Pleistocene correlations
Preece and colleagues: Norwich/Weybourne Crag correlations
Conti and colleagues: fossil Arctica shells in dating research

ACCESS RIGHTS

The coast lies in the Pakefield to Easton Bavents protected-site system, with important geology and wildlife. Follow signed public paths to the beach and current conservation notices. Public access to the beach does not authorise access through private Easton Wood or digging into protected beds. Leave cliffs intact, avoid nesting/roosting birds and obtain the relevant permissions before any sampling beyond allowed loose surface finds.

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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