At Lepe, the Stone Point interglacial deposits preserve evidence of elephants, plants and a changing river–estuary environment. Older Eocene bedrock and fossil-bearing imported sea-defence blocks tell separate stories. Sand cover, tides and soft ground affect what can be seen, and protected deposits should be observed without unauthorised excavation.
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦♦ – Organic deposits and fossils are documented, but cover is variable and bones are not guaranteed surface finds.
CHILDREN: ♦♦♦♦ – The country park has family facilities; fossil exposures, soft mud and eroding western cliffs need separate risk assessment.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦♦ – Use the country-park parking and open signed paths. The western shore is a different, longer walk from Stone Point.
TYPE: Foreshore and low cliffs; native deposits and imported sea-defence stone must be distinguished.
DIRECTIONS
♦ From Totton or the M27, follow the A326 towards Hythe, then current signs for Lepe Country Park. The official country-park postcode is SO45 1AD.
♦ The beach car park is close to the coast, café and toilets; clifftop parking serves the upper park. Check the country park’s current parking and opening information. Main parking and the western overflow have different seasonal arrangements.
♦ The geological Stone Point section is at the eastern end of the country-park car park. It must not be moved farther east to the modern Stansore Point name. The western gravel cliffs and estate shore are a separate walk, beyond the house by the sea.
♦ For the western route, follow current public-access signs and tide conditions. The Lepe Loop route describes an inland high-tide alternative via Inchmery Lane; it is not a route to exposed Stone Point beds.
♦ Original locality reference: 50.784591, -1.360619. This is retained as historical guide context, not a newly verified parking entrance.
FOSSIL HUNTING
The black peaty and shelly sediments at Stone Point are sometimes hidden beneath sand and shingle. Their significance comes from documented finds and scientific samples rather than dependable collecting yields. The recorded elephant is the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus; a fallow-deer tibia, Dama dama, is also recorded from the upper interglacial interval.
Molluscs, plant remains, pollen, diatoms and ostracods help reconstruct the interglacial environment. Borehole Unit 2c includes Bithynia tentaculata. Core and test-pit samples together record plants such as Alnus glutinosa, Rubus idaeus, Lycopus europaeus, Hypericum tetrapterum, Sparganium erectum, Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, Ruppia and Zannichellia palustris. These sampled assemblages are not a checklist of common visible beach finds.
The ostracod Cyprideis torosa contributes to the salinity evidence. Freshwater and estuarine indicators occur together, and marine influence was already present in some buried deposits. Photograph any exposed bone or important organic material with its position and matrix, and seek advice before disturbance or removal.
Imported sea-defence blocks along the footpath and shore include Carboniferous Limestone, Bembridge Limestone and Purbeck stone. The earlier guide reported corals and goniatites, molluscs and a dinosaur footprint in these respective materials. Such observations concern imported stone, not native Lepe fossil horizons. Leave the blocks intact: they are active sea defences.
The older Headon Hill Formation can be visible in small foreshore exposures when beach cover permits. Its presence does not create unrestricted sampling rights. Observe accessible surfaces and seek the relevant permission before taking sediment or fossils.
See how Stone Point’s fossils and dating evidence revealed a last-interglacial river and estuary.
1893 – Stone Point’s buried interglacial recognised
Clement Reid recorded the organic deposits and elephant remains, establishing the site’s significance for reconstructing an earlier warm landscape.
1960 – The interglacial environment investigated
A detailed investigation of the plants and molluscs developed the interpretation of Stone Point as an interglacial freshwater and estuarine sequence.
1975 – Peat and clay horizons distinguished
Brown and colleagues documented the interglacial fill and its thin peat horizons, providing a framework that later boreholes and dating studies could test.
2003–2005 – New cores recover the buried succession
Fieldwork recovered material from deposits below the visible section, extending the environmental and chronological evidence beyond the foreshore exposures.
2019 – Evidence favours the last interglacial
Combined amino-acid, luminescence and palaeoenvironmental analyses favoured an Ipswichian, MIS 5e age for the organic fill and reconstructed the transition from freshwater conditions towards estuarine influence during sea-level rise.
GEOLOGY
Stone Point records Quaternary river deposition interrupted by a warm interglacial and rising sea level. Lower gravel is cut by depressions containing shelly clay, organic sediment and thin peats; later gravel and brickearth overlie the fill. The flint-rich modern beach is partly supplied by erosion of the local gravel cliffs.
The 2019 study favours an Ipswichian, MIS 5e age for the organic fill over the older MIS 7 interpretation. The age applies to that fill, not the whole cliff, and dating and environmental evidence retain uncertainties. Higher gravel and disturbed brickearth have their own depositional histories.
The numbered succession includes both coastal observations and buried evidence. Units 2a–c come from Borehole 16, whereas the upper clay and peat of 2d are part of the observed section. The upper 2d surface near 0.8 m O.D. is an elevation, not thickness; the approximately 9.5 m Unit 2 composite includes buried fill. The detailed account below preserves these distinctions.
Eocene clay and sand of the Headon Hill Formation lie beneath the much younger Quaternary deposits across a major erosional gap. No exact Eocene member is securely assigned here. Imported rock armour is additional human-introduced material and has no position in the natural Lepe succession.
Geology and stratigraphy
Stone Point preserves former Solent river gravels and a freshwater-to-estuarine interglacial fill. Combined amino-acid and luminescence evidence favours the last interglacial, Ipswichian/MIS 5e, for the organic deposits, rather than the older MIS 7 attribution. That age applies to the interglacial fill, not the entire succession. The following youngest-to-oldest units follow the 2019 study.
Quaternary succession — local numbered units, not formal members
5 — brickearth and soil cover
Silty fine sand with scattered fine pebbles grades from the gravel below; measured thickness 0.5–1 m in the study. Soil formation, burrowing and modern disturbance affect its top, and the modern section is probably truncated compared with historical accounts. OSL results suggest deposition during or after MIS 4–3, but mixed grains make a single precise age inappropriate. Older reports of separate lower and upper brickearth are historical sections, not automatically the modern sampled profile.
4 — Lepe Upper Gravel
Horizontally bedded flint gravel with thin sand lenses, 3–3.5 m thick, overlies an erosive surface. It records renewed fluvial deposition in the former Solent system, with easterly palaeoflow. Weak involutions and stone erections indicate subsequent cold-climate modification. The published OSL estimate of approximately 72–58 ka applies to this sampled unit, not the organic interglacial beds.
3 — thin laminated sand and silt
A discontinuous fine-grained layer, commonly 5–10 cm and locally 10–15 cm in the 2016 observations, separates gravels or overlies Unit 2. It is a low-energy marker over either Unit 1 or Unit 2. Loading or periglacial activity distorted parts of the layer; no palaeosol is demonstrated.
2d — upper interglacial clay and peat
Stiff grey shelly clay with thin wood-bearing peat occupies depressions separated by a gravel high. Brown’s Peats A–E are individual compressed, Phragmites-bearing horizons, approximately 2–24 cm, not five uniform thick strata. Weathering affects the upper clay. The upper surface near 0.8 m O.D. is an elevation. A partial straight-tusked-elephant tusk and fallow-deer tibia are recorded from this interval.
2c — laminated organic clay, borehole context
Brown organic and grey clay contains lenses of peat, fine sand and molluscs. This is a Borehole 16 unit, conformably above 2b; its freshwater material contributes to the age assessment, while brackish/marine microfauna and diatoms show that marine influence was already present.
2b — organic clay and peat, borehole context
Dark brown, fine sandy organic clay and fibrous peat conformably overlie 2a and underlie 2c in Borehole 16. Its inclusion explains the buried environmental sequence without implying that visitors can see it in the cliff.
2a — basal fine sediment, borehole context
Cemented fine sand and silt contain gravel including chalk. This deepest subdivision of the interglacial fill is documented in Borehole 16.
1 — Lepe Lower Gravel
Angular flint gravel with cross-bedding and substantial sand beds is about 2.5 m thick in the published section. Its upper surface near 3 m O.D. is not a second thickness. The organic fill occupies depressions cut into this older river deposit.
Composite thickness and environmental change
Unit 2 reaches approximately 9.5 m in the composite including buried borehole deposits. The fossil evidence records mixed freshwater and estuarine influence during rising sea level. Unit 2c already contains brackish/marine microfauna and diatoms; salinity signals are not a simple monotonic freshwater-to-marine stack. Thickness, elevation above Ordnance Datum and depth below the borehole surface measure different things; the 9.5 m composite is a thickness, whereas the O.D. values locate surfaces relative to a common datum.
SOLENT GROUP
Headon Hill Formation
Eocene clay and sand form the older bedrock beneath the Quaternary deposits. No securely established member-level assignment for the exact Stone Point exposure is adopted here. The Quaternary units above are separated from this bedrock by a major erosional hiatus; they are not members of the Headon Hill Formation.
References
Briant et al. (2019; online 2018), Early Ipswichian sea level rise: Stone Point SSSI, PGA 130, 1–26
West & Talbot (2018), Lepe Beach and Stone Point
Edwards & Freshney (1987), Geology of the country around Southampton, sheet 315 memoir
BGS Lexicon: Headon Hill Formation
Natural England, North Solent SSSI citation
Hampshire County Council, Lepe parking
Lepe Estate, Public access
SAFETY
Check tides and sea conditions throughout the year; a summer visit does not eliminate the risk of being cut off. Avoid soft mud, concealed channels and strong tidal streams. Wellington boots do not make deep mud safe.
Keep away from the toes and edges of unstable western cliffs and supervise children beside the coastal path’s drops. Do not climb or hammer sea-defence blocks. Use the signed inland alternative when a western shore route is unsafe or covered.
EQUIPMENT
A camera, hand lens, notebook, tide information, charged phone and suitable footwear are sufficient for observation. Tools are generally unnecessary. Do not bring excavation equipment for casual clay sampling; any authorised scientific work needs its own permissions and suitable specimen support.
CLEANING AND TREATING
Do not attempt to clean an exposed important bone or organic layer in place. Record it and seek specialist advice. Wet organic remains can shrink, crack or disintegrate on drying, so material recovered under permission needs supported storage and a conservation plan.
For stable mineral fossils collected with permission, start with gentle dry brushing and avoid acids, bleach and routine glue coatings. Fossils in sea-defence stone should remain untouched.
IDENTIFY YOUR FINDS
Need help identifying a fossil? Share clear photos, where you found it and its size with the community.
FURTHER READING
Briant et al. (2019; online 2018), Early Ipswichian sea level rise: Stone Point SSSI, PGA 130, 1–26
West & Talbot (2018), Lepe Beach and Stone Point
Edwards & Freshney (1987), Geology of the country around Southampton, sheet 315 memoir
BGS Lexicon: Headon Hill Formation
Natural England, North Solent SSSI citation
Hampshire County Council, Lepe parking
Lepe Estate, Public access
ACCESS RIGHTS
Stone Point’s geological interest is within the North Solent SSSI. Follow country-park rules and current signs, and obtain permission before sampling protected deposits. The Lepe Estate public-access guidance distinguishes the privately owned western shore and pedestrian rights; a right of passage is not an excavation right. Do not assume one ownership or permission regime applies to the whole coast, and do not damage the sea defences.
Archived Natural England site citation. Current access and permission requirements must be checked separately.
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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