Quiet, peaceful and tranquil, Quantoxhead has several kilometres of tall Jurassic cliffs and a very long wave-cut platform. Many fossils, including some superb ammonites and reptile remains, can be found here. There are also plenty of rock pools for the kids.
DIRECTIONS
♦ Quantoxhead can be quite difficult to find. It is best to follow the A39 to East Quantoxhead and turn up Frog Street.
♦ Follow this road until you get to the church. There is a large pond with ducks here and, on the opposite side of the road, is a church car park. The church is quite happy for you to park here, but you should make a small donation in the donation box.
♦ Follow the footpath round the back of the pond all the way. You will reach a point where there is a track ahead, and a path that continues round the left. Take the path to the left and keep following. You will eventually come to a warning sign about dangerous cliffs, and access to the beach via some steps on the left side. This can be a bit of a long walk for some.
♦ Car park postcode: TA5 1EJ: Google Maps
♦ What3Words: Steps to beach: ///dormant.insect.trickling
PROFILE INFO
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦♦♦♦ – Quantoxhead is highly productive for fossils, especially for reptile remains and large ammonites. Shells and fish remains can also be found.
CHILDREN: ♦♦♦♦ – This location is suitable for families, as there is lots for the kids to do, including plenty of huge rock pools to explore, which are full of sea life. However, it can be a long walk for some. Keep children well away from the base of the cliff.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦ – Access to Quantoxhead beach is fairly easy, but the location itself can be difficult to find. You should head to East Quantoxhead. We would recommend watching the video which shows the walk down to the steps from the car park.
TYPE: – This is a cliffs and foreshore location. Fossils are found mostly exposed on the foreshore within the rocks, or amongst the areas of shingle.
VIDEO FILM
FOSSIL HUNTING
Quantoxhead is a productive Blue Lias fossil locality, yielding a diverse range of marine vertebrate and invertebrate fossils typical of the Early Jurassic seas. The site is particularly well known for marine reptiles and ammonites, but many other fossil groups can also be found.
Marine reptile remains are among the most significant fossils from Quantoxhead. Fragmentary bones of ichthyosaursand plesiosaurs are the most commonly encountered vertebrate fossils, typically including vertebrae, ribs, limb elements, and occasional skull fragments. Ichthyosaurs recorded from the wider Blue Lias of Somerset include forms such as Ichthyosaurus and Stenopterygius, while plesiosaur material is generally attributed to early plesiosauroids, often referred to historically as Plesiosaurus.
Although much rarer, other marine reptiles have also been recorded from this locality, making Quantoxhead an important site for vertebrate diversity.
Fish remains are also present and often occur alongside reptile material. These typically include scales, vertebrae, teeth, and fin spines. Fish from the Blue Lias commonly belong to genera such as Dapedium and Lepidotes, though material at Quantoxhead is usually fragmentary rather than complete.
Quantoxhead is well known for its ammonite fauna, with many different species recorded from the Blue Lias sequence. Commonly encountered ammonites include Early Jurassic genera such as Psiloceras, Caloceras, Arietites, and Coroniceras. These range from small, finely ribbed forms to much larger, more robust shells, particularly as you move west along the foreshore.
Ammonites are frequently preserved as impressions in foreshore rocks, and complete or partial shells may be found weathering out of limestone blocks following fresh cliff falls.
In addition to ammonites, a single species of nautiloid has been recorded at Quantoxhead, typically assigned to the genus Cenoceras. These are much less common than ammonites but are a notable part of the site’s cephalopod fauna.
Belemnites are present but relatively uncommon compared to other Blue Lias localities. When found, they are usually fragmentary guards, most often belonging to early Jurassic forms such as Passaloteuthis.
Bivalves are abundant and diverse at Quantoxhead, with over 20 species recorded. Commonly encountered forms include oysters such as Gryphaea, scallop-like species including Pecten and Lima, and burrowing bivalves such as Pholadomya. Many bivalves are preserved as single valves, though articulated specimens can occasionally be found.
Brachiopods are less common than bivalves but still form an important part of the assemblage. Typical Blue Lias genera recorded from the area include Terebratula and Rhynchonella, usually found as isolated shells.
Crinoids are very common at Quantoxhead but are usually found as small, broken fragments rather than complete specimens. These fragments are particularly abundant within the shale layers and often occur in the same horizons as fish and reptile remains.
Other echinoderm material includes the occasional echinoid spine, though these are relatively rare.
Trace fossils are also present and include burrows produced by bivalves and other invertebrates. These traces can often be seen on bedding planes and weathered surfaces along the foreshore.
There are two particularly interesting fossil-producing sections at Quantoxhead, though both require a very long walk to reach.
Reptile remains are most commonly found within the soft foreshore shales, which generally begin around 2 km west of the steps. Bones are often discovered in the same layer as abundant crinoid fragments, with fish remains also present. Where harder horizons occur within this zone, vertebrate material can occasionally be exceptionally well preserved.
Further west, ammonite impressions become increasingly common in the foreshore rocks, with specimens generally increasing in size the farther you walk. Following fresh cliff falls, ammonites may be found loose on the beach, having weathered out of limestone blocks. Ammonites can also be found within limestone blocks throughout the Quantoxhead area.
GEOLOGY
The shoreline at West Quantoxhead exposes a classic Lower Jurassic (Lower Lias) coastal section, cut into the Blue Lias Formation. Here, the cliffs and foreshore reveal a thick alternation of soft grey clays and mudstones with repeated hard limestone beds, creating one of the best “textbook” examples of how limestone–mudstone rhythms shape a coastline. The beds generally dip eastwards, so as you walk along the shore you effectively move up and down through the sequence depending on direction and tide level.
The Blue Lias here is built from repeating layers of:
- Mudstone/clay-dominated intervals that weather quickly, slump easily, and form the more eroded parts of the cliff and foreshore.
- Limestone beds that resist wave attack, breaking out as large, blocky slabs and platforms.
This contrast is what makes Quantoxhead so visually dramatic. After storms or fresh erosion, the limestones stand proud as sharp ledges and steps; in calmer periods the mudstones soften and wash away, leaving the limestone beds as isolated ribs, pavements, and boulder trains across the intertidal zone.
Although the Blue Lias is well known from Dorset (for example around Lyme Regis), the Quantoxhead exposure has its own local character. In Somerset, parts of this Lower Lias succession are often referred to as the Quantock Beds, and the beds you see here commonly form a relatively compact, distinctive set within the broader Lower Lias succession.
Because the strata dip eastwards, the coastline often presents:
- A two-level foreshore: lower, muddier zones that are smoother and more easily scoured, and higher, limestone-dominated zones that form steps and benches.
- Natural “staircases” where successive limestone beds create repeated ledges.
- Wide wave-cut platforms at low tide, with the limestone layers acting like hard shelves.
The dip also influences where the sea undercuts: softer horizons are preferentially eroded, which can destabilise overlying limestone beds and promote block falls and slabby collapses onto the shore.
Faulting and the “stepped circles”
One of Quantoxhead’s standout geological features is the faulted nature of the coastal section. Several major faults run through this stretch of coast, and they can be picked out even without close inspection because they:
- Offset limestone beds, so a single layer may “jump” up or down across a fracture line.
- Create zones of broken, jumbled blocks where the rocks are more fractured.
- Control erosion, producing gullies, small inlets, and changes in foreshore level.
SAFETY
Common sense when collecting at all locations should be used and knowledge of tide times is essential. You can easily be cut off at Quantoxhead by the tide as the sea always reaches parts of the cliff. The cliffs are very unstable, undercut and rocks are frequently crashing down. Keep away from the base of the cliff at all times.
EQUIPMENT
Quantoxhead covers a huge area and there is lots of walking to be done. The rocks are actually much less fossiliferous than other Lower Lias locations, but the huge area makes finds just as frequent. Whilst most fossils can be collected loose without any tools, We recommend a lump hammer, chisel, goggles and gloves for any large blocks.
ACCESS RIGHTS
This site is an SSSI. This means you can visit the site, but hammering the bedrock is not permitted. For full information about the reasons for the status of the site and restrictions please download the PDF from Natural England – SSSI Information
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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