Fort Victoria, on the north-west coast of the Isle of Wight, is a family-friendly fossil location exposing the Headon Hill Formation. The foreshore can yield crocodile, turtle, fish and shell remains, often found loose in the shingle or weathering from soft sediments. With easy access from Fort Victoria Country Park and views across the Solent, it is a rewarding site for careful searching rather than heavy collecting. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
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The stretch of coastline from Peveril Point into the eastern half of Durlston Bay exposes part of the renowned Purbeck Limestone Group, one of the most important Late Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous sequences in Britain. This section is particularly known for its accessible ledges and foreshore exposures, where fossils can be found without venturing too far into the more hazardous parts of the bay. Although finds can be small and require careful searching, this area offers a rewarding introduction to the complex lagoonal environments of the Purbeck beds, with a mix of vertebrate fragments, shells and microfossils regularly discovered.Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
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Colwell Bay, on the north-west coast of the Isle of Wight, is a rapidly changing and increasingly important fossil collecting location. Although less well known than nearby Totland Bay, it exposes part of the Headon Hill Formation, with soft clays and marls constantly being eroded. This ongoing erosion has made the site more productive in recent years, although access can be affected by slumping and coastal retreat. The area is also notable for its visible coastal erosion, with sections of the nearby holiday park now precariously close to the cliff edge.Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
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Totland Bay, on the western coast of the Isle of Wight, is a lesser-known but highly rewarding fossil collecting location. Covering the stretch from the south side of the bay to just before Hatherwood Point, this area exposes part of the Headon Hill Formation, with slipped blocks scattered across the foreshore. Although access can be challenging due to landslips and debris, the bay can yield a wide variety of fossils, particularly gastropods and vertebrate remains.Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
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Two separate locations near Worth Matravers provide an opportunity to see where, 140mya, sauropod dinosaurs gathered at the shoreline of a shallow lagoon and to visit their incredible trackways. The nearby quarry provides bivalves, gastropods, fish remains, turtle bones and carapace fragments, mammal teeth and bones, and plant remains from this bygone environment. Cretaceous, Quarry (permission required) and Attraction, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Beltinge, near Herne Bay, is one of the UK’s premier locations for collecting fossil shark teeth, attracting collectors from across Britain and Europe. The foreshore exposes the famous Beltinge Fish Beds, which can yield a wide variety of shark, ray and fish remains. While fossils can be found year-round, the site is most productive during very low spring tides, when the richest layers are exposed and large numbers of teeth can be collected under the right conditions.Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
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Cooden is located at the western end of the town of Bexhill. Along the foreshore, exposures of Weald Clay and Tunbridge Wells Sand can be seen. Fossils – including dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtle, plants and fish remains – can be found here. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Bexhill was made famous after the storms of November 2000 exposed dinosaur trackways on the foreshore. Since then, collectors have been finding a wide range of fossils, including fish, crocodile, turtle and dinosaur remains. Cretaceous, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦
From the Zig Zag path to Durlston Head, the western half of Durlston Bay reveals some of the finest and most complete exposures of the Purbeck Limestone Group in the UK. This section is more rugged and challenging, with steep cliffs, ledges and active rockfall zones, but it is also the most productive for serious collectors. The beds here are famous for yielding tiny mammal remains, reptile material, fish fossils and dinosaur traces, offering a rare glimpse into life in the lagoonal and coastal environments that existed at the end of the Jurassic period. While conditions can be difficult, this part of the bay is one of the most scientifically significant fossil localities on the Dorset coast. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
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