The burns around Dalmellington expose Carboniferous coal-bearing rocks, with fossil mussels recorded in several shale beds and plant fragments noted in the original field guide. Cummock Burn, Black Burn and the Craigmark gorges reveal different parts of this succession. Low water can expose more rock, but these historical collecting places require careful route planning and permission to collect. Carboniferous, Stream Cutting, Rating: ♦♦
The coast south of Kirkcudbright exposes folded Silurian sandstone and shale at Long Robin and Torrs Point. Thin dark layers preserve graptolites, with historic records of cephalopod remains. Fossils can be difficult to find, but the shore reveals a remarkable history of deep-water sedimentation and deformation. This protected coast requires permission and care when collecting. Silurian, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
The Carboniferous shore at Hartley and Seaton Sluice reveals coal seams, rooted soils and sandstones formed in an ancient river-and-wetland landscape. Plant impressions and non-marine shell bands make this a rewarding place to observe fossils, while faults and channel cut-outs explain why the beds change so abruptly along the coast. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Beadnell’s tilted limestone reefs and shell-rich shale preserve a varied Carboniferous marine fauna. Brachiopods, crinoids, corals and bryozoans occur in distinct beds along the village shore, while folds, faults and a dolerite dyke make the coast as interesting for its structure as for its fossils. Carboniferous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The rocky coast north of the River Tweed exposes folded Carboniferous limestone, shale and sandstone. Corals, crinoids and brachiopods can be seen in reefs and loose blocks between Meadow Haven, Bucket Rocks and the northern continuation, with rooted beds and burrows recording changing environments between the marine limestones. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The faulted Carboniferous shore at Howick brings together fossil-rich marine limestone, ancient coastal sandstones and rooted plant-bearing beds. Crinoids, brachiopods, corals and trace fossils reward careful observation, while the discovery of a giant Arthropleura moult has revealed an exceptional part of the younger delta-plain landscape. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
The limestone reefs and sandstone beds east of Scremerston reveal a varied Carboniferous coast. Around Sea House and Saltpan Rocks, crinoids, corals, brachiopods, plant remains and burrows record repeated changes between shallow seas, sediment-rich shorelines and rooted coastal ground. Carboniferous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
The word Fossil used to be defined as ‘something dug up’. Now-a-days it generally means ‘The remains or trace evidence of prehistoric life’. The study of fossils is called palaeontology; someone who collects and studies them is called a palaeontologists. Fossils can be as tiny as a grain of pollen or a seed for e.g. or as huge as a limb bone from a giant dinosaur. For animal or plant remains to have become ‘fossilised ‘, they must go through a certain process that preserves them for up to millions of years after they have died. Usually it is only the hard parts of plants and animals that survive this long process.
The most common method of how fossils formed is once an animal or plant dies, it falls to the ground, and is covered by sediment. This is often sediments brought from water. Of the vast amount of prehistoric life that died, it is only a tiny amount that has survived the fossilisation process. The conditions when the majority of life died were just not right at that time, to preserve them.
Fossils can be found in many places, most fossils are found on the beach or in quarries but many have been found in some very unusual places. Below is a list of places that you could find fossils. Please note some places such as quarries and farm fields need permission before you can enter, other places where fossils form part of the construction such as sea defences and walls, should not even be attempted. Damaging other peoples property is not only illegal, but morally wrong.
When fossil collecting, you will need the correct equipment. Often, each location will differ and of course depending on the weather and time of the year, you will also need to consider the correct clothing.If you are collecting in a quarry, there are important health and safety requirements by law. These are that you must wear a hard-hat, high visibility jacket and steel-toe-cap boots. This guide explains the recommended equipment you should take, both for your own safety and also the tools you might need.
Ammonites (Ammonitida) were shelled cephalopod molluscs that lived throughout the world’s oceans during the Mesozoic (Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods) and they were an extremely successful order, as evidenced by the frequency with which their […]
Foraminifera (forams) are single celled organisms belonging to the Protista kingdom. Their fossils have been found in rocks from the Cambrian period onwards, and they are still living and abundant today. Forams generally inhabit marine […]
When different types of fossils are talked or written about, they are often given complicated Latin names, such as Dactylioceras commune, Neohibolites minimus and Stigmaria ficoides. These names can sound a bit daunting and you […]
What is stratigraphy? The word ‘stratigraphy’ is used to describe the study of rock layers or strata. The most fundamental principals employed within this discipline are: The law of superposition, which states that, within any […]
Labelling and coding your collection is vital. Too often, museums acquire private collections and struggle to find data about each find. Basic information, such as the exact location, zone and formation are essential, together with […]
Flint meal is a rich source of siliceous microfossils. The material is often packed with sponge spicules, as well as foraminifera and ostracods. To collect flint meal unweathered, fresh flints recently eroded out of chalk […]
Microfossils can be obtained from the Grey Chalk Subgroup (formerly the Lower Chalk, minus the Plenus Marls) with great ease. This rock has a high clay content in comparison with the whiter chalks and breaks […]
A comprehensive guide to the Early Eocene, Ypresian fossils of the London clay of the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, UK. The site covers an identification guide, coastal erosion, geology, and even the minerals. It is […]
This site is dedicated to the fossils of the lower cretaceous Albian (Gault Clay and Folkestone Beds) in the county of Kent, south-east England. In particular the beautifully preserved faunas of the Gault Clay are […]
The Magazine on Fossils, Geology & Minerals. Deposits is both a printed and online magazine featuring articles by high profile authors. Deposits is a full colour glossy 52 page high quality earth science magazine. It is […]
This Web Site displays more than 2,000 of the characteristic fossils of the Eocene and Oligocene deposits of England. It is hoped that this provides a useful resource for those wishing to identify their own […]
These pages are designed as a general guide for all those interested in the fascinating fossils of the British Chalk. Hopefully this will be a useful resource for academics and students alike, whilst at the […]
Just north of Larne harbour, Waterloo Bay exposes a remarkable Late Triassic to Early Jurassic succession. The dark mudstones of the Waterloo Mudstone Formation contain ammonites, bivalves and other marine fossils, while the older beds record changing coastal environments before the Jurassic seas. This scientifically important foreshore is an Area of Special Scientific Interest. Jurassic, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
White Park Bay on the north Antrim coast brings together Jurassic ammonites, fossil-bearing nodules and Cretaceous chalk in a broad sandy bay. Intermittent mudstone exposures around Oweynamuck contrast with the chalk cliffs and boulder-strewn shore towards Portbraddan. This protected coast rewards careful observation, with fossils best photographed in place unless the necessary collecting permission and consent have been established. Cretaceous, Jurassic, 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: ♦♦♦♦
East of Malahide town centre, the small bay beside the village green offers a close look at fossil-bearing limestone pebbles. Crinoids, bryozoans, shells and corals record the Lower Carboniferous seas of the surrounding coast. This guide covers the loose beach material beside the slipway and tennis club, a different experience from the rocky platforms farther towards Portmarnock. Carboniferous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The rocky shore beside Hook Lighthouse, in County Wexford, exposes fossil-rich Carboniferous limestone. Crinoids, brachiopods, corals and delicate bryozoan colonies can be seen weathering from its bedding surfaces. This is an exposed Atlantic headland and a protected shore: enjoy the fossils in place, with photography and careful observation at the centre of your visit. Carboniferous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
