The Pakefield–Kessingland coast preserves an exceptional record of ancient rivers, changing seas and advancing ice. Its Cromer Forest-bed deposits contain important mammal fossils and evidence of early human activity, while loose beach stones can hold much older fossils carried here by glaciers.
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦ – Variable; transported fossils occur among pebbles, while the scientifically important river beds are often concealed.
CHILDREN: ♦♦♦♦♦ – Close supervision is essential; keep to the open beach and away from eroding cliffs.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦ – Use an established open beach entrance; the southern Kessingland approach involves a longer walk.
TYPE: – Coastal cliffs, foreshore and transported glacial material.
DIRECTIONS
♦ The original shorter approach was from the layby near the houses near the Kessingland roundabout when coming from Lowestoft, using the footpath opposite through the campsite area to beach steps. Use this approach only if parking remains lawful and the signed path and beach steps are open and clearly signed. Erosion has repeatedly affected the descent; turn back rather than descend a landslip or cross fields.
♦ The older northern approach turns into Arbor Lane from the A12, just beyond the 30 mph sign after the final roundabout when approaching from the south. Follow the lane towards the coast and use a beach entrance only if it is open and signed on the day. Arbor Lane has suffered severe erosion and cordons. Do not cross barriers or assume a route through a private holiday park is available; its parking is not public visitor parking.
♦ For the southern alternative, use Church Road beach car park at Kessingland, postcode NR33 7SF, and the established public beach access. Follow current parking signs. Walk north towards the Pakefield cliffs only when tide and beach width allow a safe return; this is a longer approach, so leave plenty of time before the tide rises.
♦ Locality reference: 52.42971°N, 1.72915°E.
FOSSIL HUNTING
Two very different sources contribute to Pakefield’s fossils. Preglacial river deposits preserve Ice Age plants and animals, while later till contains older rocks carried here by ice. A Jurassic ammonite or marine-reptile fragment from an erratic is much older than the glacial sediment that transported it.
The river sequence has yielded mammal bones, teeth, small-vertebrate remains, shells and wood. The Rootlet Bed, channel muds and shell-bearing gravel have different preservation and provenance; discoveries made in place are scientifically more informative than isolated beach finds. The site’s stone tools are evidence of human activity and belong to archaeology. Published Pakefield records include the shrew Macroneomys from Unio-bed samples; associated studies record Mimomys savini, Palaeoloxodon antiquus and Hippopotamus sp. These are documented research finds, not a list of likely beach discoveries.
The original field account records chalk, Kimmeridge Clay and occasional fossiliferous oolitic erratics, with echinoids and brachiopods in some chalk pieces. Blue-grey or pale-yellow nodules sometimes contained shells, ammonites or bone; dark red stones could carry more poorly preserved ammonites. Examine naturally weathered surfaces and loose fragments rather than hammering intact beds or fresh falls. The same account contrasts small, fragile bones in blue silty sediment with more robust, reddish remains in ferruginous sand and gravel. Preserve the matrix and handle both cautiously: colour and toughness alone do not establish a fossil’s age or bed.
On an ordinary visit, look among loose pebbles and naturally released material rather than expecting the famous river beds to be exposed. Sand cover can conceal them completely. Record unusual finds without cleaning away their matrix and seek specialist advice; do not excavate a scientific horizon or the cliff face.
Significant fossil, geological and conservation milestones at Pakefield.
1877 – Rootlet-bed age investigated
J. H. Blake discussed the mammalian Rootlet-bed at Kessingland, beginning a detailed scientific treatment of the section now studied with Pakefield.
2000 – Palaeolithic tools recognised
Worked flint from the Pakefield deposits initiated the investigations that established the locality’s major archaeological significance. This is an artefact discovery, distinct from the site’s fossil fauna.
2001 – Mammal fauna reassessed
Stuart and Lister compared Pakefield/Kessingland and Corton mammals, identifying evidence for a temperate episode distinct from the classic West Runton succession.
2005 – Early human occupation dated
A multidisciplinary study reported 32 worked flints and dated their context to around 700,000 years. It extended the then-known record of northern European occupation, although older evidence has since been found elsewhere.
2005 – SSSI re-notification
The wider Pakefield to Easton Bavents protected site was re-notified, retaining the geological interest of the coastal exposures.
2006 – Environmental succession reconstructed
Detailed sedimentology distinguished marine, river and glacial units, while a separate soil study showed that the interglacial climate was warmer and more seasonally dry than today.
References
Parfitt, Macroneomys from British early Middle Pleistocene; Pakefield stratigraphy and small mammals
Stuart and Lister (2001), Mammalian faunas of Pakefield/Kessingland and Corton, QSR 20, 1677–1692
Parfitt et al. (2005), The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe, Nature 438, 1008–1012
Natural England, Pakefield to Easton Bavents SSSI citation (2005), hosted copy
Lee et al. (2006), Sea-level changes, river activity, soil development and glaciation: Pakefield, JQS 21, 155–179
Candy, Rose and Lee (2006), Seasonally dry interglacial climate at Pakefield, Boreas 35, 255–265
GEOLOGY
Pakefield records repeated changes between river, floodplain, coastal and glacial environments before and during the major Middle Pleistocene ice advances. The internationally important Cromer Forest-bed deposits include rooted soils, iron-stained sand and gravel, and organic channel mud. The Rootlet Bed records a vegetated surface, while the shell-bearing Unio-bed and overlying wood-bearing mud preserve a river-channel setting. The archaeological sequence was dated to roughly 700,000 years ago in the 2005 study. These deposits provide the context for its preglacial mammals and evidence of human activity; they are not simply fossils scattered through one continuous sand layer.
The neighbouring marine deposits tell another part of the history. In the published 2006 interpretation, Wroxham Crag sands occur in several tidal intervals, with ripples, alternating sand and fine sediment, and cross-bedding recording changing currents. River channels cut into older deposits, and later gravel was correlated with the Bytham river system. Erosion at these contacts removed part of the earlier record, while soils developed during pauses in deposition. Consequently, a layer may thin out or be absent nearby without the full sequence being repeated at every point along the cliff.
Ice and meltwater added further sediment and reworked older rocks. Coarse outwash and finer chalky sands contain evidence of flowing water and channel migration, while chalk-rich Lowestoft till caps the studied succession. The 2006 reconstruction also identifies a local return of tidal conditions above some outwash. These overlapping histories explain the mixed material on the modern beach: fossils from the river deposits must be distinguished from older fossils carried in erratic stones. The detailed historical and modern logs are separate observations, not thicknesses to add into a single giant section, and beach cover controls which part can be inspected today.
The supported stratigraphy and its local variations at Pakefield.
CRAG GROUP
The 2006 interpretation recognises repeated marine incursions within a laterally variable succession.
Wroxham Crag Formation
Shallow-marine sands include lower and higher tidal intervals attributed to the How Hill Member.
How Hill Member — lower tidal deposits
Two local sedimentary facies are distinguished below the river deposits.
Gravel-seamed silty sand
Brown silty sand contains thin gravel seams.
Rhythmically layered sand and clayey silt
The rhythmic facies reaches 1.7 m locally. The described succession also has a 0.4–0.6 m massive-sand interval followed by about 0.3 m of rhythmic sand and silt; these measurements are retained separately. U-shaped burrows and local loading deformation occur.
Cromer Forest-bed Formation
River, floodplain and soil deposits preserve the important preglacial fossil and archaeological record.
Basal ferruginous sand and gravel
The older mammal-bearing ferruginous deposits beneath the rooted interval are distinct from the later river gravel higher in the succession.
Rootlet Bed
Rooted clayey silt with carbonate soil features reaches 2 m near Lee’s site 4. Its lower contact is erosive locally, and it pinches out northwards.
Unio-bed: basal channel sediment
Shell-bearing ferruginous gravel and sand form the base of a channel cut into older deposits. Small vertebrates, including the published shrew material, came from sampled sediment in this horizon.
Organic laminated channel mud
Organic silty mud overlies the basal shell bed. Lee described local thicknesses up to 1.2 m, wood and minor recumbent folds.
Later frost-related fissures
Downward-tapering wedges in rooted sediment and narrower fissures in laminated mud record later cold conditions. These cross-cutting structures are not additional beds.
Wroxham Crag Formation — higher tidal interval
Marine sediment overlies different older beds as contacts vary along the coast.
How Hill Member — higher tidal sands
Reported thicknesses are 2–3 m south of Lighthouse Gap and up to 1.4 m in northern examined exposures. Cross-bedding, opposing tidal-current structures, ripples and flaser bedding record changing flow.
DUNWICH GROUP
Later river deposits are distinguished from marine Crag and glacial sediment.
Bytham Sand and Gravel Formation
The later gravel was correlated with the Bytham terrace system using projected terrace elevations. The Timworth/Kirby Cane comparison is an interpretation rather than a directly traced member boundary here.
Later river gravel and weathered top
At site 3, 0.4–0.7 m of coarse, matrix-supported gravel has an erosional base and a manganese-enriched upper 10–15 cm. A river bar followed by soil development was inferred.
Overlying laminated pool sediment — formal assignment uncertain
At site 3, 0.34–0.50 m of silty sand and clayey silt rests abruptly above the gravel and includes local ripples. A low-energy pool beside the river was proposed, but a lagoonal origin remains possible; it is not securely assigned to a Bytham member.
ALBION GLACIGENIC GROUP
Ice and meltwater deposits overlie the older coastal and river succession.
Happisburgh Glacigenic Formation
Lee’s 2006 interpretation correlates the local coarse and fine outwash with the following members. Its proposed glacial age remains debated.
Leet Hill Sand and Gravel Member
Cross-bedded sand and gravel fill a broad erosional channel and contain northern-derived erratics, indicating proximal meltwater transport.
Corton Sand Member
Fine chalky outwash is 6–9 m thick in studied exposures. Its base is sharply erosive above the laminated pool sediment but gradational above coarse outwash. Ripples, bedding and migrating channels record meltwater flow.
CRAG GROUP — renewed marine interval
Tidal conditions returned locally above the outwash in the 2006 interpretation.
Wroxham Crag Formation
The higher marine sand is locally developed rather than continuous throughout the cliffs.
Pakefield Sands Member
Opposing current structures, herringbone bedding, flaser beds and reactivation surfaces indicate tides. Loading and dewatering disturbed some layers.
ALBION GLACIGENIC GROUP — upper glacial deposits
The upper till caps the studied succession.
Lowestoft Formation
Chalk-rich sandy-clay diamicton has a sharp base and contains sheared sand inclusions near its lower contact.
Historical Pakefield–Kessingland log: Stuart and Lister (2001), after West (1980)
This historical scheme is a separate source-specific comparison, read from bottom to top. Its thicknesses are not added to Lee’s later measurements or treated as bed-for-bed equivalents.
More than 2.0 m: ferruginous basal sediment
Iron-stained sand and gravel.
3.5 m: Rootlet Bed
Rooted sediment in the older scheme.
0.3 m: Unio-bed
Shelly basal channel sediment.
1.8 m: organic laminated mud
Laminated organic channel fill.
0.8 m: upper laminated silty clay
Interpreted as tidal sediment.
Overlying historical Corton beds
The older terminology is retained here without forcing a modern member crosswalk.
Southern foreshore: historical UK Fossils observations during the 2002 scour
The original locality account records a separate exposure at the southern end during 2002. These are historical field observations, not a modern measured section or a formal correlation with the named units above. The account traced red-brown ferruginous sand and gravel southwards and reported reddish, well-preserved mammal remains from its upper part and, during that scour, lower levels.
Alternating blue and red layers. Beneath the ferruginous sand and gravel, the observer described alternating blue and red layers resembling rooted sediment. Their equivalence to the named Rootlet Bed was not established, and no separate thicknesses were recorded.
Grey wood-rich bed, approximately 0.5 m. A compact grey layer below contained abundant fossil wood, described as more concentrated than in the laminated organic mud seen elsewhere. It darkened downwards to very dark grey at its base.
Lower ferruginous-like sand and gravel. Another underlying bed resembled the red-brown sand and gravel and yielded reported mammal bones, including an antler and deer jaw. Its formal identity was left unresolved. These observations should not be added to the thicknesses of the separately dated published logs, and erosion and beach cover may conceal the beds today.
References
Lee et al. (2006), Sea-level changes, river activity, soil development and glaciation: Pakefield, JQS 21, 155–179
Lee et al. (2006), Pakefield sedimentology and stratigraphy, author-uploaded paper
Parfitt et al. (2005), The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe, Nature 438, 1008–1012
Stuart and Lister (2001), Mammalian faunas of Pakefield/Kessingland and Corton, QSR 20, 1677–1692
Parfitt, Macroneomys from British early Middle Pleistocene; Pakefield stratigraphy and small mammals
McMillan et al. (2011), A lithostratigraphical framework, RR/10/03
BGS Lexicon: Happisburgh Glacigenic Formation
Historical local field account: UK Fossils, Pakefield, southern foreshore observations from 2002.
SAFETY
Eroding cliff margins and clay slumps are not access routes. Stay away from the face and edge, keep children on the open beach, and never enter a fresh fall to recover a specimen. A wide beach on one visit can be narrow on the next; check both tide and sea state and keep a safe return route. Follow all Arbor Lane and holiday-park cordons.
EQUIPMENT
Carry tide information, a phone, sturdy footwear, a hand lens and padded specimen boxes. Use a camera and notebook to document the exact findspot and matrix. Do not bring a pick or spade intending to excavate the Forest-bed or intact cliff.
CLEANING AND TREATING
Treat bones, teeth and carbonised wood as fragile until checked. Support them during transport and avoid rapid drying, soaking, scraping and household chemicals. Keep sediment attached to a potentially important find. Stable flint fossils usually need only gentle brushing and, if sound, a short water rinse; friable clay-bound fossils require a different approach.
IDENTIFY YOUR FINDS
Need help identifying a fossil? Share clear photos, where you found it and its size with the community.
FURTHER READING
Locations in the Suffolk area: a personal view; historical collecting account
Parfitt et al. (2005), The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe, Nature 438, 1008–1012
Lee et al. (2006), Sea-level changes, river activity, soil development and glaciation: Pakefield, JQS 21, 155–179
Stuart and Lister (2001), Mammalian faunas of Pakefield/Kessingland and Corton, QSR 20, 1677–1692
Natural England, Pakefield to Easton Bavents SSSI citation (2005), hosted copy
BGS (2015), British regional geology: East Anglia
ACCESS RIGHTS
The scientific exposures lie within the Pakefield to Easton Bavents SSSI. Use lawful beach access and follow current barriers, wildlife notices and erosion closures. Do not excavate the Forest-bed, remove material from intact archaeological horizons or enter private holiday-park land without permission. Scientific sampling requires the appropriate landowner agreement and conservation consent; record significant finds and seek specialist advice.
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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