Cleeve Common’s old quarries reveal a varied Middle Jurassic limestone succession, from pale building-stone oolites to beds rich in shells. Rolling Bank and Pot Quarry are especially important for strata preserved in very few places. Enjoy the fossils, rock textures and wide views through observation and photography; Cleeve Common Trust prohibits removing stone or fossils from the common. Jurassic, Disused Quarries, Rating: ♦♦♦
The small bay immediately south of Seafield Tower exposes fossil-rich Carboniferous limestone and shale beneath a prominent sandstone outcrop. Crinoid stems, corals and shells can be seen on weathered foreshore surfaces, while the local limestone has also yielded scientifically important crinoids and microscopic fossils. These rocks belong to the Lower Limestone Formation, with the principal fossil-bearing limestone dated to the late Brigantian, near the end of the Viséan.
Carboniferous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
North of Portmarnock, the Robswalls rocky shore exposes fossil-rich Lower Carboniferous limestone beside Coast Road. Between the coast south-east of Malahide and the Carrickhill Martello tower, weathered platforms reveal corals, crinoids, bryozoans and shells. Faults and folds repeat parts of the succession, making this a rewarding place to study fossils in their original rock. Carboniferous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
