A steep woodland walk leads to Eathie Haven, where Hugh Miller explored a shore rich in geological contrasts. Jurassic ammonites and exceptionally preserved plants come from the rocks south of the old fishing station, while much older Devonian beds to the north have yielded fossil fish.
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦ – Marine shells occur in the Jurassic shore rocks; recognisable specimens depend on exposure and beach conditions. The celebrated plant fossils and Devonian fish are occasional, scientifically important finds.
CHILDREN: ♦ – The steep return climb, rough shore and tides make this a demanding outing rather than an easy family collecting beach.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦♦ – A long, steep track descends from Upper Eathie. Allow enough time and energy for the climb back.
TYPE: Tidal rocky foreshore with Jurassic mudstones south of the fishing station, separate Devonian fish-bearing rocks to the north, and older metamorphic rocks along faulted contacts.
DIRECTIONS
♦ From Cromarty, follow the A832 towards Newton. Turn off opposite Newton Farm on the narrow road signposted towards Navity and continue towards Upper Eathie. Use the established parking/lay-by by the Hugh Miller information board without obstructing the road or access.
♦ Follow the steep woodland track down to Eathie Haven. The restored fishing bothy is the shore landmark; the Jurassic foreshore lies south of the fishing station, while the Devonian fish-bearing ground is to the north.
♦ Plan the shore visit around low water and return by the same track, leaving time for the uphill walk. Check local notices and turn back if the path or shore is unsafe.
♦ Original locality reference: 57.63894°N, 4.05660°W.
FOSSIL HUNTING
The Jurassic shore south of the fishing station is the main place to understand Eathie’s marine fossils. Dark shale, harder limestone bands and calcareous nodules preserve shells in different ways. On naturally exposed shale surfaces, ammonites may appear as flattened coils or impressions, sometimes with only part of the ribbed outer whorl visible. More resistant calcareous material can retain greater relief. Inspect weathered surfaces and existing natural breaks closely rather than judging a nodule by its outline alone; a rounded stone is not necessarily fossil-bearing.
Ammonites, bivalves and belemnites are all documented here. Look for ribbed ammonite whorls, paired or isolated shell valves, and the solid, tapered guards of belemnites. Shell-rich layers may contain many small valves rather than large display specimens. The historical Meleagrinella bands are particularly useful examples of concentrated bivalve shells, while ammonites occur in both shale and limestone. Published Eathie collections include Amoeboceras and Rasenia; accurate species identification needs the preserved ornament and the specimen’s horizon, not just a general resemblance.
Eathie’s most distinctive Jurassic fossils are land plants washed into the sea and preserved inside calcareous concretions. Their importance lies in internal anatomy: mineralisation sometimes retained details of the tissues down to individual cells. Conifer cones, shoots and cycad-like foliage need not look spectacular on a weathered surface, and a fragment showing repeated scales, vascular tissue or organised plant structure can be more informative than a complete-looking shell. Photograph suspected plant material with a scale and record its position and whether it is loose or attached. Leave potentially important material unprepared while obtaining specialist advice.
Modern studies of old Eathie collections distinguish the conifer cones Hughmillerites juddii, Eathiestrobus mackenziei and Bancroftiastrobus digitata. These represent different conifers, not three interchangeable names for every cone formerly labelled Conites juddii. Other historical records include the bennettite reproductive structures Williamsonia. Such museum specimens show what the locality can preserve; they are not a guide to the frequency of finds on a present-day visit, and their exact original bed is often uncertain.
North of the fishing station, the Devonian rocks belong to a much older freshwater story. Fish remains are associated with a particular nodule-bearing horizon, not every reddish sandstone or elongated concretion. Recorded Eathie fishes include the small spiny forms Diplacanthus crassisimus and Rhadinacanthus longispinus. A weathered fish-bearing surface may reveal scales, fin spines or part of an articulated body, but these remains are uncommon and easily damaged. Keep this northern material separate in your notes from Jurassic plant nodules and marine shells found farther south.
This is a protected scientific site. Before removing specimens, arrange permission with the landowner or mineral-rights holder and establish the collecting conditions that apply. A loose nodule is not automatically available to take or split. Careful observation, photographs and accurate locality records are valuable even when collecting has not been agreed.
A chronological record of significant fossil discoveries, geological research and scientific milestones at Eathie.
1850 – A pterosaur bone enters the historical record
A surviving label dates an incomplete wing bone from Eathie to 1850 and already identifies it as a pterodactyle bone. Its handwriting and collection history suggest that Charles W. Peach was probably the collector; its provenance and scientific significance were formally documented much later.
1857 – Hugh Miller’s petrified plants are published
Miller’s account illustrated Eathie cones, shoots and cycad-like foliage. His specimens became a foundation for later investigations of the locality’s exceptionally preserved Jurassic vegetation.
1884 – Richards names Eathie foliage
Richards described one of Miller’s illustrated leaves as Zamites eathiensis. Its later reassessment helped separate superficially similar kinds of Mesozoic foliage.
1888 – The wing bone reaches the national collection
The specimen now numbered NHMUK PV R1362 was purchased from Frederick Harford. Its retained Eathie label preserved the locality and early collecting date that would make a later reassessment possible.
1896 – Mackenzie’s cone is donated to the Hunterian
A cone collected by W. Mackenzie entered the Hunterian collection. Preserved as specimen Pb 483, it would later become the holotype of Eathiestrobus mackenziei.
1911 – Seward revises the foliage and shoots
A. C. Seward reassessed Miller’s material, using Pseudoctenis eathiensis for the leaf named by Richards and identifying other foliage as Nilssonia orientalis. He also described the conifer shoots Taxites jeffryi.
1912 – Bennettite reproductive structures are studied
Seward treated Eathie reproductive material under Williamsonia pecten, recognising the significance of structures that Miller had compared with cycad cones.
1913 – The classic conifer study is published
Seward and Bancroft described Brachyphyllum eathiense, Masculostrobus woodwardii and cones assigned to several forms of Conites juddii. The detailed anatomical material remained important when the cones were re-examined a century later.
1950 – Waterston investigates sandstone intrusions
C. D. Waterston studied Eathie’s sandstone dykes and sills, establishing the site as an important example of sand injected into Jurassic mudstones rather than deposited as ordinary beds.
1951 – Jurassic beds and fossils receive a detailed account
Waterston’s stratigraphical and palaeontological study described the local succession and fauna. Its named mudstones, shell bands and limestones supplied reference horizons for subsequent collecting and correlation.
1963 – An ammonite species is named from Eathie material
Ziegler established Rasenia askepta using Eathie type material. The species became relevant to later interpretation of the Lower Kimmeridgian ammonite succession.
1974–1987 – The coast receives statutory conservation recognition
A predecessor designation in 1974 was followed by notification of the Rosemarkie to Shandwick Coast SSSI on 9 June 1987. Eathie’s Mesozoic plant fossils form part of the protected coast’s scientific interest.
25 July 1989 – Ammonites are collected from the Second Limestone
Simon Brealey collected from the Second Limestone and adjacent shales while lower beds were underwater. His thesis, submitted in 1990 and examined in 1991, documented the material and refined its ammonite correlations.
1992 – Microfossils illuminate the marine environment
Francis John Gregory reported a 45-sample Eathie study and twelve specimens of the foraminifer Planularia kintradwellensis. The microfossil assemblages supported relatively deeper-water deposition with episodes of poor oxygenation.
2003 – Sand injection, faulting and cementation are reassessed
Jonk and colleagues studied Eathie’s dyke–sill complex alongside other north-east Scottish exposures. Their work separated sand emplacement, later tilting, deformation and mineral cementation in the rocks’ history.
2011 – Hughmillerites revises the old cone material
Rothwell and colleagues established Hughmillerites juddii for much of the material formerly placed in Conites juddii. Its anatomy identified an early member of the cypress family, Cupressaceae.
2012 – Eathiestrobus identifies a Jurassic pine-family cone
Re-examination of Mackenzie’s Hunterian specimen resulted in Eathiestrobus mackenziei. Its detailed anatomy placed it in Pinaceae and provided important evidence about the early history of that conifer family.
2013 – A separate cone becomes Bancroftiastrobus
A study published online on 3 June named Bancroftiastrobus digitata from historical specimen NMS 1859.33.4345. Previously treated as forma b of Conites juddii, it proved distinct from both Hughmillerites and Eathiestrobus; its family relationship remained uncertain.
2014–2015 – Eathie’s first pterosaur record is documented
Steel and O’Sullivan re-examined the old museum bone, an incomplete pterosaur wing phalange. Their study, published online in 2014 and in print in 2015, formally documented the first pterosaur record from Eathie without assigning it to a definite species.
2016 – Devonian fish records are reassessed
A modern revision of Scottish diplacanthid fishes included Eathie in the recorded distributions of Diplacanthus crassisimus and Rhadinacanthus longispinus, maintaining the northern shore’s place in the study of Middle Devonian fishes.
GEOLOGY
Eathie brings together rocks formed in very different settings. North of the fishing station, Middle Devonian Old Red Sandstone includes a fish-bearing horizon associated with the ancient freshwater lakes of the region. South of the station, the main fossiliferous foreshore is Jurassic: marine mudstones, shales, limestone bands and nodules of Kimmeridgian age. Older Moine metamorphic rocks form part of the fault-bounded setting. These exposures should not be read as one simple, continuously exposed pile from Devonian fish beds to Jurassic sea-floor mud.
The Jurassic mud accumulated in a marine basin that received both shells from the sea and plant debris from nearby land. Fine sediment preserved ammonite impressions, while carbonate concretions could protect three-dimensional fossils and the internal tissues of plant fragments. Dark, locally bituminous shale records organic-rich deposition. Microfossil evidence has been interpreted as relatively deeper water with occasional oxygen-poor conditions, so the whole succession should not be pictured as a uniformly shallow, well-aerated sea.
The sandstone dykes and sills formed after deposition of the muds they cut: loose sand was mobilised and forced into the sediment. Dykes cut across bedding, whereas sills largely follow it. These are sedimentary injections, not igneous intrusions. Later movement tilted and faulted the rocks, and mineral cementation made some bands more resistant. The Jurassic beds dip gently eastwards near low water in the studied injection complex, becoming steep and locally overturned towards its landward bounding fault. This deformation, together with tidal cover, helps explain why a beach walk does not reveal a straightforward measured section.
Farther south, Bow Buoy Skerry is a separate low-water exposure of the Balintore Formation within the Sutherland Group. Its very fine sandstone contrasts with the main Kimmeridgian mudstone shore. Neither its exposed thickness nor the much fuller succession at Balintore village should be added to the Eathie mudstones to make a single local column. The charts distinguish these separate exposures from the historical marker-bed succession; their row heights are for readability, not a thickness scale.
Detailed geology of Eathie’s separate shore exposures and the Jurassic fossil-bearing horizons.
Reading the shore. The northern Devonian exposure, the Kimmeridgian strip south of the fishing station and Bow Buoy Skerry are distinct geological elements. Fault contacts, tidal cover and unseen boundaries prevent them being joined into one complete measured section. Local historical bed names below are descriptive horizons, not newly defined formations or members.
Older metamorphic rocks and fault contacts. Moine rocks provide the older basement context. The historical Eathie section places the oldest exposed Kimmeridgian mudstones towards the southern end, against Moine gneiss along a western fault boundary. The shore also includes Devonian rocks; their juxtaposition with Jurassic strata is structural rather than evidence for uninterrupted sedimentation between the two periods.
Eathie Fish Bed: northern shore, Middle Devonian. The BGS index assigns this named bed to the Eifelian. Fish remains occur in calcareous nodules within the Old Red Sandstone setting north of the fishing station, with exposure affected by the tide. No measured bed thickness is established here. Published distributions record Diplacanthus crassisimus and Rhadinacanthus longispinus at Eathie.
SUTHERLAND GROUP — BOW BUOY SKERRY
Balintore Formation — separate southern exposure
Bow Buoy Skerry is a reference section at NH 7696 6214, exposed only at low water. About 30 m of very fine, shelly, bioturbated sandstone is recorded, dipping approximately 70° south-east. Neither the base nor the top is seen. The BGS framework places it within the Balintore Formation; older mapping described the skerry as Upper Oxfordian. Its local section does not establish the formation’s entire age range, a secure member subdivision here, or a continuous contact with the main Eathie Kimmeridgian beds.
Kimmeridge Clay Formation usage — Eathie Jurassic beds
The modern cone studies use Kimmeridge Clay Formation for the plant-bearing marine rocks; the BGS Lexicon also indexes the historical name Eathie Beds. The local succession is Lower Kimmeridgian. No formal local member hierarchy is imposed on the mudstones, shales and marker bands described below, and the Sutherland Group label used for Bow Buoy Skerry is not automatically extended to them.
Age correlations and thickness. Published interpretations do not agree on a single precise basal ammonite zone. Ammonite-based accounts place beds in the Cymodoce Zone, extending into lower Mutabilis, whereas the dinocyst interpretation reported from Riding’s work favours Baylei; the older GCR diagram also labels basal Baylei. Gregory’s microfossil study used a top-Baylei to lower-Mutabilis framework. These are alternative correlations within the Lower Kimmeridgian, not four separate additional rock units.
Thickness figures likewise describe the exposure differently. The BGS regional account gives about 45 m; the historical sequence restated by Brealey contains about 52 m above an unquantified basal unit; the 2011 cone study quotes about 65 m from Riding; and Jonk and colleagues describe injections penetrating at least 200 m of stratigraphy. These figures are retained as distinct published estimates, not averaged or combined. The following bottom-to-top account follows the historical bed ordering restated by Brealey, rather than claiming a newly measured continuous log.
Basal green-grey calcareous mudstones and limestones. These are the lowest rocks in that account, with limestone interbeds and calcareous nodules; their thickness is unspecified. The GCR interpretation places the probable source of the permineralised plants in the green mudstones. Plant fragments carried into the sea were penetrated and enclosed by carbonate, preserving exceptional anatomy. Many historical specimens were collected loose, so an individual cone cannot confidently be assigned to this horizon from its museum locality label alone.
Lower olive-black shale, about 2 m. This shale overlies the basal calcareous mudstones and precedes the grey shaly interval historically called the Astarte Muds. Its quoted thickness belongs to the historical local description, not a separately mapped formal member.
Astarte Muds, about 10 m. Grey shaly mudstones form the next interval. Their traditional name provides an important reference level for the overlying shell bands. The first Meleagrinella marker lies approximately 16 m above this unit; that spacing is not the thickness of the shell bed.
Upper olive-black shales and oil shales, about 40 m. The restated sequence places richly fossiliferous dark shale above the Astarte Muds, with flattened ammonites on bedding surfaces. This interval contains the four named marker bands below. Their thicknesses and spacings must not be added again to the enclosing 40 m as if they formed a separate succession above it.
Lower or first Meleagrinella band, 0.60 m. A shale crowded with the named bivalve occurs approximately 16 m above the Astarte Muds. The concentration of shells distinguishes the marker within the darker enclosing shale; 0.60 m is its recorded bed thickness.
First Limestone, 0.30 m. This light olive-grey limestone weathers yellow-brown and lies about 4 m above the lower shell band. Its fossils include forms also present in the surrounding shales, showing that a harder bed need not represent a wholly different fauna.
Upper or second Meleagrinella band, 0.45 m. The second named shell band occurs about 5 m above the First Limestone. Its 0.45 m thickness is separate from that vertical spacing. Together, the paired shell bands and limestones allow parts of the shale succession to be recognised where exposure permits.
Second Limestone, thickness unspecified. Approximately 16 m above the First Limestone, this bedded, sandy limestone is dark grey and weathers light olive-grey. Brealey collected it and adjacent shale on 25 July 1989, when the lower section was underwater. His ammonite material supported a lower-Mutabilis interpretation for this sampled level. The 16 m is measured relative to the First Limestone, not to the upper shell band.
Marine fossil records. Brealey’s Eathie accounts include Amoeboceras (Amoebites) kitchini, A. (A.) rasenense, Rasenia (Rasenioides) lepidula, R. (R.) cf. moschi and R. (R.) askepta; these are the source’s taxonomic usages. The Eathie holotype of the last is recorded as 1859.33.3846. A later geological summary of the locality lists bivalves including Liostrea multiformis, Nicaniella eathiensis, Nucinella birkelundi and Buchia concentrica. These records supplement the ammonites and belemnites without implying that every named species occurs in every bed.
Plants and preservation. Historical organ names record different parts of the flora: shoots and stem material include Taxites jeffryi and Brachyphyllum eathiense; cone or scale material includes Masculostrobus woodwardii, Conites juddii and Araucarites milleri; foliage includes Pseudoctenis eathiensis and Nilssonia orientalis; reproductive structures include Williamsonia pecten and W. scotica. These are historical identifications of organs, not a list of complete plants or uniformly cycad remains. The 2011–2013 cone revisions distinguish Hughmillerites juddii in Cupressaceae, Eathiestrobus mackenziei in Pinaceae, and the family-indeterminate Bancroftiastrobus digitata. Exact bed provenance remains uncertain for much of the old material.
Microscopic evidence for the sea floor. Gregory examined 45 samples across the Eathie sequence. Radiolarians and agglutinated foraminifera were prominent, with fewer calcareous foraminifera; twelve specimens were assigned to Planularia kintradwellensis. The assemblages were interpreted as relatively deeper-water, occasionally anoxic deposition, providing an environmental comparison with other Moray Firth exposures.
Sandstone dykes, sills and later deformation. The injection complex includes sandstone bodies commonly 0.1–2 m thick or wide. Dykes cut across mudstone bedding and may connect with sills that follow it; small discordant steps help distinguish an injected sill from an ordinary sandstone bed. The studied complex was tilted after emplacement. Bedding changes from gentle eastward dips at low water to vertical and overturned attitudes near the bounding fault. Faults, carbonate cementation and resistant bands complicate the exposure further. The 0.1–2 m measurements describe intrusions, not additional sedimentary members.
References
Cleal, C. J., Thomas, B. A., Batten, D. J. & Collinson, M. E. (2001), Mesozoic and Tertiary Palaeobotany of Great Britain, GCR 22, Eathie Fishing Station, pp. 128–130.
British Geological Survey, Jurassic, Northern Highlands of Scotland; Lexicon entries Eathie Beds and Eathie Fish Bed.
Waterston, C. D. (1951), The stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Jurassic rocks of Eathie (Cromarty), Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 62, 33–51; historical section as restated in Brealey, S., UCL thesis, submitted 1990, Eathie pp. 49–50 and ammonite accounts.
Gregory, F. J. (1992), Planularia kintradwellensis sp. nov., a Lower Kimmeridgian marker, Journal of Micropalaeontology 11, 135–140.
Jonk, R. et al. (2003), The structural and diagenetic evolution of injected sandstones, Journal of the Geological Society 160, 881–894.
Barron, A. J. M., Lott, G. K. & Riding, J. B. (2012), Middle Jurassic stratigraphical framework, BGS RR/11/06, §7.1.5; Barron & Riding (2014), Sutherland Group and Balintore Formation definitions.
Rothwell and colleagues (2011), Hughmillerites juddii, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology; (2012), Eathiestrobus mackenziei, American Journal of Botany 99, 708–720; (2013), Bancroftiastrobus digitata, International Journal of Plant Sciences 174, 937–946.
Steel, L. & O’Sullivan, M. (online 2014; print 2015), A Scottish pterosaur in London, Historical Biology 27, 723–728.
Burrow, C. et al. (2016), The diplacanthid fishes from the Middle Devonian of Scotland, Palaeontologia Electronica 19.1.10A.
SAFETY
Check tide times and the sea forecast before descending. Water can cover the fossil-bearing foreshore and reach high against the shore; leave ample time to retrace your route before the rising tide or waves restrict it. Do not depend on reaching an offshore skerry or rounding a rocky obstacle to complete your visit. Low water does not make an exposed shore safe in a swell.
The woodland descent is steep and the return climb tiring. Wear footwear with good grip, travel light and allow for slippery mud, seaweed-covered rock and uneven footing. Keep clear of unstable cliff faces and loose rock, and avoid scrambling on steep or overturned beds. Tell someone your plan and carry a charged phone, while allowing for unreliable reception.
EQUIPMENT
Take sturdy boots, waterproofs, water, tide information, a hand lens and a camera with a scale for recording finds. A notebook or offline map helps keep northern Devonian and southern Jurassic observations separate. If specimen removal has been agreed, use labelled wrapping and a small rigid box to protect fragile shale. Bring collecting tools only where the agreed conditions expressly allow their use.
CLEANING AND TREATING
Keep any lawfully collected specimen with its locality and horizon notes. Support thin shale pieces during transport and let damp material dry slowly at room temperature. Begin with gentle dry brushing; soaking, forced splitting and rapid drying can damage delicate shale or a fossil crossing a nodule’s natural fracture. Avoid acids, bleach and routine varnishing. Hard limestone preparation is best done cautiously under magnification, stopping if fossil and matrix fracture together.
Leave possible cones, plant tissues, articulated fish or unusual bones unprepared until a specialist has assessed them. Their internal structure and surrounding matrix may be scientifically valuable. Do not grind, saw or coat a suspected important find simply to make its outline more visible; clear photographs, scale and precise provenance are the best first steps.
IDENTIFY YOUR FINDS
Need help identifying a fossil? Share clear photos, where you found it and its size with the community.
FURTHER READING
BGS: Jurassic rocks of the Northern Highlands, including Eathie
NatureScot: Rosemarkie to Shandwick Coast SSSI and official documents
Gregory’s study of Lower Kimmeridgian microfossils, including Eathie
Sandstone injections and their geological history at Eathie
Revision of Scottish Devonian diplacanthid fishes
ACCESS RIGHTS
Eathie lies within the Rosemarkie to Shandwick Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest. Walking access does not itself give permission to collect fossils. Speak to the landowner or mineral-rights holder before removing specimens, and agree what, if anything, may be collected. Confirm that the required NatureScot consent covers the proposed collecting.
The site’s operations-requiring-consent list includes mineral extraction, alteration of natural features and clearance of loose rock, removal of geological specimens and fossils, and off-track vehicle use. These are site-specific conservation controls; the owner or occupier’s consent responsibilities should not be mistaken for a blanket statement about every visitor activity. Follow local signs and agreed conditions, leave fixed geological features intact, and do not assume loose material is exempt.
Follow the Scottish Fossil Code: seek permission, collect responsibly, record where specimens came from and report significant finds. The code applies alongside site-specific conditions.
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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