Weston-super-Mare is a fascinating geological location. Underwater volcanoes during the Carboniferous period sometimes buried life forms and preserved them in the rocks now exposed on the foreshore and cliff. Well-preserved corals, bryozoans, algae, bivalves and brachiopods can be found. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Ketton Quarry is over a mile wide – its size has to be seen to be believed. The rocks here contain ammonites, corals, brachiopods, bivalves, fish and reptile remains, and much, much more. This is a superb location to visit. The quarry has recently been designated SSSI status. Jurassic, Working Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
This quarry is overgrown, but still has lots of fossils. Good exposures of the Wenlock Limestone yield a variety of corals, shells and trilobites. It is quite large, with three main sections. Silurian, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦
This is a small roadside cutting, which yields brachiopods and trilobites. The fossils here are poorly preserved in soft mud stones and will require treatment quickly, but it is an ideal location to stop off by the road side with a grass lay-by. Silurian, Roadside Cutting, Rating: ♦
At Crimplesham, Kimmeridge Clay and Oxford Clay are exposed. Within the Oxford Clay are large nodules, which contain ammonites, brachiopods and bivalves. The quarry is slowly being backfilled, so collecting is becoming more limited. Jurassic, Working Quarry, Rating: ♦♦♦
