Smallmouth Sands, located within Portland Harbour near Weymouth, is one of the UK’s most remarkable yet often overlooked fossil sites, exposing the Lower Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay. It is one of the most diverse assemblages of Kimmeridge Clay reptiles anywhere in the world. Fossils are typically tiny but abundant, with collectors finding vertebrate remains, fish, and shells scattered across the foreshore, especially after favourable tides and storms.Jurassic, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
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Ringstead Bay is a wonderful location, with rocks and fossils from the Corallian, Kimmeridge Clay, Purbeck Beds and Portland Beds to be found. The site consists mostly of Kimmeridge Clay from the Upper Jurassic. It is rich in fossils and with easy parking, toilets and refreshments nearby; it’s an ideal, safe location for the family. The site is productive in either direction from the access point. This location is also just a short walk away from other good sites and makes for an ideal day trip. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
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Reighton Gap is a useful stop along the Yorkshire coast, offering a mix of Kimmeridge Clay fossils and glacial erratics. When exposed, the clay can yield ammonites and marine shells, although productive layers are often covered and depend on scouring tides. The overlying boulder clay is particularly interesting, producing erratic fossils from Jurassic, Cretaceous and even Carboniferous rocks, giving a wide variety of finds in one location.Jurassic, Erratics (Jurassic, Cretaceous, Carboniferous), Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
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Wootton Bassett is an incredibly interesting and unique location. Fossils are found in a stream, which washes them from the famous ‘Wootton Bassett Mud Spring’. The mud spring erupts from time to time, bringing fossils from the underlying Ampthill Clay to the surface, where they are washed out by a stream from the spring. While the spring itself is fenced off, the stream is accessible. Jurassic, Stream Embankment, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
