A wooded coal-mining spoil heap at Whitecroft preserves a link with the Forest of Dean’s industrial landscape. Its shale has yielded Carboniferous plant impressions, while historical studies of nearby Park Gutter workings reveal a much richer fossil flora. Visiting the heap and removing material require the land manager’s permission.
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦♦ – Plant-bearing shale was recorded in 2010; vegetation and weathering can obscure it, and present yields are uncertain.
CHILDREN – An uneven, wooded mine-spoil site rather than a supervised family collecting stop; do not climb or excavate the heap.
ACCESS – Roadside orientation is straightforward, but a lawful route onto the heap and the current collecting terms must be agreed before visiting.
TYPE – Reworked coal-mining spoil, including shale and sandstone; loose blocks do not form an in-situ stratigraphic section.
DIRECTIONS
♦ Approach Whitecroft on the B4234 in the southern Forest of Dean. Take the road west towards Bream, crossing the Dean Forest Railway only at the lawful road crossing and obeying its signals. This is an operational railway; Whitecroft station opened in 2012.
♦ Continue towards Bream on Whitecroft Road. The wooded spoil mound lies on the right, beside the turning into Bowson Road. Use these road names and the reference below to orientate yourself before seeking the agreed entrance.
♦ Bowson Road runs around the mound. Keep residential entrances, junctions and working access clear; arrange a lawful parking place and access with the land manager. The grass beside the mound is not evidence of a public entrance.
♦ Location reference: 51.75537°N, 2.56289°W. This identifies the guide locality, not a parking entitlement or permission to enter the spoil.
FOSSIL HUNTING
The fossil-bearing material recorded at Whitecroft is fine shale among much coarser sandstone blocks. The shale can preserve flattened plant impressions on its bedding surfaces, sometimes with several fragments on one slab. At the 2010 inspection, exposed shale was already breaking down to mud and much of the mound was wooded or overgrown. That combination explains why intact impressions can be difficult to recognise even where plant-bearing rock is present; it does not establish how much suitable material remains today.
After access has been agreed, start by observing stable, already exposed surfaces from the permitted route. Look for repeated leaf outlines, branching axes and organised surface patterns rather than assuming that every dark patch is a fossil. Low, oblique light and a hand lens can make relief and fine vein traces easier to see. Photograph both the whole slab and the detail with a scale. Do not turn over large embedded blocks or strip vegetation to create a new exposure, and leave the material in place unless removal is specifically allowed.
The precise heap has no verified species list or museum-vouchered collection. Its photographs and field account support plant impressions, but species names from the wider coalfield cannot safely be attached to these specimens. Record an uncertain find as a plant impression, stem fragment or foliage fragment, with the exact find point and the fact that it came from spoil. A well-labelled fragment is more informative than an attractive specimen assigned to a coal seam merely because that seam was worked nearby.
There is a useful historical comparison at Park Gutter, associated with Princess Royal Colliery. In 1912, E. A. Newell Arber described Yorkley-associated shale there with common foliage identified as Sphenopteris neuropteroides, Neuropteris ovata, Mariopteris muricata and Pecopteris polymorpha, together with Sphenophyllum emarginatum and Lepidodendron aculeatum. He also recorded uncommon foliage and cones, and small casts called Spirorbis attached to pinnules. These are historical identifications from a specified Park Gutter heap, whose identity with the present Whitecroft mound has not been demonstrated.
The detailed geology below separates that 1912 Park Gutter flora, the additional plants reported only at Flour Mill, and a later pooled Yorkley list. This distinction matters because mine connections, different worked seams and later handling of waste can mix material. A new loose find cannot be assigned to Arber’s Yorkley assemblage from its location alone. Keep any naturally separated counterpart with an authorised specimen: fine foliage and thin carbon films can be lost when shale is forced apart. Particularly clear or unusual material is best photographed and left unprepared for specialist examination.
A chronological record of fossil research, mining geology and site-history milestones associated with Whitecroft’s mining district.
13 February 1912 – Park Gutter’s Yorkley flora presented
E. A. Newell Arber presented his study of Forest of Dean fossil plants, distinguishing the rich Park Gutter assemblage from additional plants at Flour Mill. Figured Park Gutter specimens were associated with Sedgwick Museum collection numbers 1598, 1981 and 1588. This dates the presentation, rather than the original discovery of each specimen.
1930 – Yorkley plant identifications revised
R. Crookall revised identifications in the Yorkley flora assembled from Park Gutter and Flour Mill. The amended list subsequently provided an important basis for comparing these historical collections; the combined provenance does not assign every listed plant to one pit.
1942 – Underground sections and fossil provenance documented
Detailed accounts brought together the Park Gutter East shaft journal, cross-measure seam sections, separate Flour Mill records and the pooled Yorkley flora. These observations provide a record of the mines’ geology rather than a measured section through a present spoil heap.
30 March 1962 – Princess Royal Colliery closes
The closure of Princess Royal marked the end of its coal-winning operations and an important change in the Whitecroft mining landscape. Later handling of material from other workings means that the closure date cannot be treated as the final dumping date of every associated tip.
GEOLOGY
Whitecroft’s wooded mound is a product of mining rather than a natural hill built from beds in their original order. Shale and sandstone were brought to the surface and tipped together, so their present height or position on the slope is not their stratigraphic position. A sandstone block at the foot of the heap does not necessarily underlie an adjacent plant-bearing shale. This reworking is the central geological limitation when interpreting fossils from the site.
The appropriate modern source-rock framework is the Coleford Member of the Pennant Sandstone Formation, within the Warwickshire Group. BGS places the member in the Asturian part of the late Carboniferous. It comprises substantial bodies of lithic sandstone with subordinate grey and green mudstone, ironstone concretions and coal seams. Cross-bedding and erosive channel bases record river deposition; finer sediment accumulated in quieter settings between the channels, while plant-rich deposits and coal record the vegetated landscape. This framework explains the contrasting coarse sandstone and fine plant-bearing shale reported in the spoil.
The Coleford High Delf is a coal seam within this succession. It is not a separate layer beneath the whole Pennant Sandstone Formation. Modern nomenclature places the member’s base at the first Pennant-type sandstone, below the High Delf, whereas the 1942 memoir used a historical Pennant Group beginning at the floor of that seam. The two boundary schemes must be kept distinct. Neither the regional thickness of the member nor the depth of a mine shaft is a measurement of the Whitecroft mound.
Princess Royal, also known as Park Gutter, provides important nearby mining context. Its recorded underground succession includes the Nameless, Yorkley, Whittington and Coleford High Delf coals, separated by shale, sandstone and fireclay. Connected Flour Mill workings add further evidence of the varied rocks handled in this mining district. Arber could describe Park Gutter and Flour Mill tips as Yorkley sources in 1912, but that statement belongs to the workings and heaps of his time. It does not prove that every later tip or present loose block came from the same seam.
The underground records also reveal why a simple colour-coded heap sequence would be misleading. Park Gutter’s company-standard shaft journal differs from another journal in its account of shale below the Whittington seam. Flour Mill’s separate shaft and boring records give different depths for the High Delf, and the boring initially assumed the position of the Trenchard coal that it had failed to locate. These are useful historical observations and uncertainties, retained individually in the expanded account. They describe mine geology and possible source-rock associations, rather than an exposed bed-by-bed section available to a visitor.
The coal-spoil framework, historical Yorkley flora and separately documented mine sections around Whitecroft.
This account separates the Whitecroft spoil mound from the documented underground workings and historical fossil heaps around Park Gutter and Flour Mill. Those mine records explain possible source rocks; they are not measurements of beds exposed in the present mound.
WARWICKSHIRE GROUP
The late Carboniferous coal-bearing source rocks belong to the Warwickshire Group. The spoil itself is a reworked mining deposit, not an additional formation or an intact section through the group.
Pennant Sandstone Formation
The Pennant Sandstone Formation provides the parent framework for the sandstones, mudstones and coal seams discussed here. Historical use of “Pennant Group” is not identical to the modern formation boundary.
Coleford Member
The Coleford Member is Asturian and dominated by substantial Pennant-type lithic sandstone bodies, with subordinate grey and green mudstone, ironstone concretions and coal. Its modern base is the lowest Pennant-type sandstone, beneath the Coleford High Delf; its upper boundary is the base of the Brazilly Coal. The member’s river-channel interpretation and regional boundaries do not supply a bed assignment for an unprovenanced loose specimen.
Plant-bearing shale at the guide locality
The 2010 inspection recorded plant impressions in shale and sandstone blocks in the wooded mound. It supplied no named species, accessioned specimens or measured bed succession. Princess Royal/Park Gutter is a relevant nearby mining association, but the identity of the exact heap and the source seam of each block remain uncertain.
Park Gutter’s 1912 Yorkley flora
Arber described the historical Park Gutter heap as a Yorkley source. The following names and abundance distinctions belong to his 1912 account, not a modern species census of the Whitecroft mound. They are retained as historical identifications without unverified taxonomic reassignment.
| Historical name | Park Gutter record |
|---|---|
| Sphenopteris neuropteroides (Boul.) | Common in the historical account. |
| Sphenophyllum emarginatum Brongn. | Common in the historical account. |
| Neuropteris ovata Hoffm. | Common in the historical account. |
| Mariopteris muricata (Schloth.) | Common in the historical account. |
| Pecopteris polymorpha Brongn. | Common in the historical account. |
| Lepidodendron aculeatum Sternb. | Common in the historical account. |
| Macrostachya | Uncommon cone; no species given in this passage. |
| Sphenophyllum majus (Bronn.) | Rare or uncommon in the historical account. |
| Neuropteris macrophylla Brongn. | Rare or uncommon in the historical account. |
| Pecopteris (Dactylotheca) plumosa (Artis) | Rare or uncommon in the historical account. |
The printed spelling “Sphenopyllum” has been normalised to Sphenophyllum, also used in the later Yorkley list; this is a spelling correction rather than a new taxonomic determination. Arber described casts identified as Spirorbis attached to pinnules of Sphenopteris neuropteroides. That attachment observation and its historical identification are retained separately from the plants.
| Historical figured specimen | Published collection reference |
|---|---|
| Alethopteris Grandini (Brongn.) | Park Gutter, Yorkley Seam; Sedgwick Museum Carboniferous Plant Collections no. 1598; plate XXXVII, figure 4. |
| Pecopteris (Dactylotheca) plumosa (Art.) | Park Gutter, Yorkley Seam; Sedgwick Museum no. 1981; plate XXXIX, figure 14. |
| Sphenopteris neuropteroides (Boul.) | Park Gutter, Yorkley Seam; Sedgwick Museum no. 1588; plate XXXIX, figure 17. |
These are the collection numbers and figured-specimen attributions published in 1912. They do not establish present catalogue status or type status, and they are not identifications of the specimens illustrated elsewhere on this page.
Flour Mill additions: a separate historical heap
Arber specifically added Neuropteris Scheuchzeri Hoffm., Odontopteris Lindleyana Sternb. and Lepidodendron dichotomum Sternb. for Flour Mill. Those records belong to Flour Mill and should not be read as additional identifications from Park Gutter or the Whitecroft mound.
The pooled Yorkley list published in 1942
The later memoir combined Park Gutter and Flour Mill material, crediting Arber’s collection and Crookall’s 1930 amendments. Its twenty entries are reproduced below as a historical list; it does not assign each plant to an individual pit. Qualifiers such as “cf.” and “?” remain part of the identification.
| Entry | Historical pooled identification |
|---|---|
| 1 | Acitheca polymorpha (Brongniart) |
| 2 | Alethopteris grandini (Brongniart) |
| 3 | Asterotheca cf. arborescens (Schlotheim) |
| 4 | Asterotheca miltoni (Artis) |
| 5 | Dactylotheca plumosa (Artis) |
| 6 | Neuropteris flexuosa Sternberg |
| 7 | Neuropteris macrophylla Brongniart |
| 8 | Neuropteris ovata Hofmann |
| 9 | Neuropteris scheuchzeri Hoffmann |
| 10 | Mariopteris ? latifolia (Brongniart) |
| 11 | Sphenopteris neuropteroides (Boulay) |
| 12 | Lepidodendron aculeatum Sternberg |
| 13 | Lepidodendron dichotomum Sternberg |
| 14 | Lepidodendron wortheni Lesquereux |
| 15 | Lepidophloios cf. laricinus Sternberg |
| 16 | Lepidophyllum brevifolium Lesquereux |
| 17 | Sphenophyllum emarginatum Brongniart |
| 18 | Sphenophyllum majus Brongniart |
| 19 | Asterophyllites equisetiformis (Schlotheim) |
| 20 | Macrostachya infundibuliformis (Brongniart) |
Park Gutter East shaft: company-standard journal
The shaft collar was recorded at 190.3 ft above Ordnance Datum. This top-to-bottom journal identifies four coal seams among substantial rock, shale and fireclay intervals. “Rock” is the journal’s description and is not silently replaced by a more specific lithology. The order numbers identify rows here, not formal bed names.
Scope of the deeper mine records. The historical shafts and borings below pass through more than the modern Coleford Member framework described above. Some reach older strata, for which the journals use Trenchard and tentative “Drybrook Sandstone?” terminology. Those historical labels are retained without assigning every deeper interval to the Coleford Member or imposing an unverified modern formation boundary.
Princess Royal’s separate sandstone heading and washout. A historical heading ran 243 yd west-south-west from a point 160 yd south of Park Gutter shaft, proving an estimated 172 ft of massive grey sandstone. At 143 yd from its mouth, a washout extended 31 yd and reached 5½ ft deep. It contained sandstone, shale and coal fragments, and pebbles in sand; one cleated coal fragment was 3 in thick and 5 ft long. The source suggested a possible Trenchard horizon, but the heading did not prove that coal seam. These are dimensions of a sandstone package, heading and erosional feature, not a measured Trenchard seam or a section through the spoil.
Park Gutter East measured rows
Thicknesses and cumulative base depths are reproduced in feet and inches.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 1.
Made ground; thickness 41 ft 0 in; base at 41 ft 0 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 2.
Shale; thickness 8 ft 4 in; base at 49 ft 4 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 3.
Nameless Coal; thickness 0 ft 4 in; base at 49 ft 8 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 4.
Fireclay; thickness 7 ft 8 in; base at 57 ft 4 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 5.
Jointed rock; thickness 125 ft 6 in; base at 182 ft 10 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 6.
Shale; thickness 9 ft 2 in; base at 192 ft 0 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 7.
Rock; thickness 6 ft 0 in; base at 198 ft 0 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 8.
Shale; thickness 61 ft 0 in; base at 259 ft 0 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 9.
Yorkley Seam; thickness 2 ft 6 in; base at 261 ft 6 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 10.
Fireclay; thickness 3 ft 3 in; base at 264 ft 9 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 11.
Rock; thickness 116 ft 0 in; base at 380 ft 9 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 12.
Shale; thickness 7 ft 0 in; base at 387 ft 9 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 13.
Rock; thickness 45 ft 0 in; base at 432 ft 9 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 14.
Whittington Seam; thickness 2 ft 6 in; base at 435 ft 3 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 15.
Rock; thickness 178 ft 9 in; base at 614 ft 0 in depth.
Park Gutter East shaft, interval 16.
Coleford High Delf Seam; thickness 3 ft 6 in; base at 617 ft 6 in depth.
Trotter selected this company-standard journal from several versions. Another version recorded 45 ft of shale below the Whittington seam. The discrepancy is not resolved by mixing the two journals, and neither journal fixes the provenance of a present spoil specimen.
Parkhill Level: a separate working
The reported position was 650 yd S 34° W of the Whitecroft railway crossing. Trotter interpreted Hoskold’s earlier account as a level rather than a shaft. The following order belongs to that record, not to Park Gutter or the spoil mound.
The Parkhill Level mouth stood at a reported 122 ft above Ordnance Datum. Park Gutter’s shaft was separately located 1,670 yd E 32° N of Bream church, with its own 190.3 ft collar datum. These historical elevations and survey distances are not bed thicknesses. Selenite occurred in joints in the sandstone above the High Delf and occasionally in the seam; the local name “fossil water” referred to that mineral occurrence.
Parkhill Level, interval 1.
Strata; thickness 23 ft 0 in.
Parkhill Level, interval 2.
Yorkley; thickness 2 ft 10 in.
Parkhill Level, interval 3.
Strata; thickness 169 ft 2 in.
Parkhill Level, interval 4.
Whittington; thickness 2 ft 9 in.
Parkhill Level, interval 5.
Strata; thickness 155 ft 3 in.
Parkhill Level, interval 6.
Coleford High Delf; thickness 4 ft 6 in.
Parkhill Level, interval 7.
Strata; thickness 135 ft 0 in.
Parkhill Level, interval 8.
Trenchard; thickness 3 ft 11 in.
The Trenchard coal in this separate record should not be converted into a claim that a Trenchard fossil horizon is exposed at Whitecroft.
Flour Mill No. 3 shaft
This separate shaft was located 1,200 yd N 17° E of Bream church, with a collar at 332 ft above Ordnance Datum. Its first 66½ ft are described only as strata.
Flour Mill No. 3 shaft, interval 1.
Strata, unspecified; thickness 66.5 ft; base at 66.5 ft depth.
Flour Mill No. 3 shaft, interval 2.
Yorkley Seam; thickness 2.5 ft; base at 69 ft depth.
Flour Mill No. 3 shaft, interval 3.
Strata; thickness 163 ft; base at 232 ft depth.
Flour Mill No. 3 shaft, interval 4.
Whittington Seam; thickness 2 ft; base at 234 ft depth.
Flour Mill No. 3 shaft, interval 5.
Strata; thickness 184.5 ft; base at 418.5 ft depth.
Flour Mill No. 3 shaft, interval 6.
Coleford High Delf; thickness 4.5 ft; base at 423 ft depth.
The shaft journal gives the High Delf base at 423 ft. The separate boring journal below gives 424 ft 6 in. These remain two recorded measurements; no invented correction is applied.
Flour Mill roof and lateral seam variation. Westward and up-dip from the shaft, one foot of clod lay between the High Delf and its rock roof. A reported twenty-foot seam near the Oakwood Bottom Fault contrasts with two feet beneath Mount Zion Chapel at Bream and for 900 yd northwards. These are separate historical localities and measurements, not a general thickness for the heap’s source material. Whittington was described as poor coal with dirt partings, whereas Yorkley was solid, good-quality coal.
Flour Mill No. 3 underground boring
The journal begins at the Coleford High Delf and continues below it. “Clunchy” describes the indurated under-earth; root remains and driftwood are specifically recorded in some beds. The numbers below are row identifiers, not formally named beds.
Flour Mill boring, interval 1.
Coleford High Delf; thickness 4 ft 6 in; base at 424 ft 6 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 2.
Clunchy shale/indurated under-earth, roots of fossil plants; thickness 4 ft 0 in; base at 428 ft 6 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 3.
Dark grey argillaceous shale; thickness 4 ft 11 in; base at 433 ft 5 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 4.
Light grey argillaceous to arenaceous shale; thickness 7 ft 4 in; base at 440 ft 9 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 5.
Light grey argillaceous shale; thickness 33 ft 2 in; base at 473 ft 11 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 6.
Grey sandstone, conglomeratic upper part with small round limestone [sic] and coal washings; jointed below; thickness 19 ft 6 in; base at 493 ft 5 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 7.
Arenaceous grey shale; thickness 2 ft 0 in; base at 495 ft 5 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 8.
Grey conglomeratic jointed rock, spar pebbles and petrified driftwood; thickness 9 ft 5 in; base at 504 ft 10 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 9.
Dark arenaceous shale or duns; thickness 2 ft 2 in; base at 507 ft 0 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 10.
Close-grained light sandstone; thickness 21 ft 0 in; base at 528 ft 0 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 11.
Coarse light sandstone with driftwood; thickness 2 ft 5 in; base at 530 ft 5 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 12.
Fine grit free of drift matter; thickness 7 ft 2 in; base at 537 ft 7 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 13.
Coarse grey grit, few joints; thickness 20 ft 8 in; base at 558 ft 3 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 14.
Shale; thickness 0 ft 3 in; base at 558 ft 6 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 15.
Assumed Trenchard Coal position and thickness; thickness 3 ft 9 in; base at 562 ft 3 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 16.
Dark clunchy indurated under-earth; thickness 2 ft 8 in; base at 564 ft 11 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 17.
Light shaly rock and fireclay; thickness 1 ft 11 in; base at 566 ft 10 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 18.
Light grey arenaceous shale and fireclay; thickness 1 ft 9 in; base at 568 ft 7 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 19.
Pinkish soft friable rock [Drybrook Sandstone?]; thickness 3 ft 4 in; base at 571 ft 11 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 20.
Very hard grey rock, spar-filled vertical joints; thickness 5 ft 9 in; base at 577 ft 8 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 21.
Mottled white/pink fireclay-shale; thickness 5 ft 7 in; base at 583 ft 3 in depth.
Flour Mill boring, interval 22.
Hard pinkish locally conglomeratic rock, quartz rock pebbles; thickness 3 ft 2 in; base at 586 ft 5 in depth.
The Trenchard coal was missed in this boring, so its 3 ft 9 in thickness and position were assumed. Subsequent shaft deepening reached its floor at 570 ft and recorded lower coal 10–12 in, clod 12 in and upper coal 8 in. The tentative “Drybrook Sandstone?” label remains a historical question, not a verified formation assignment.
Park Gutter cross-measure: seam subdivisions
A separate cross-measure started 13 yd north of the East shaft and rose eastwards from the High Delf at 1 in 14. It reached the Whittington at 113 yd and Yorkley at 260 yd. These seam details are in bottom-to-top order and must not be substituted for the shaft journal.
Whittington cross-measure, item 1.
Hard fireclay floor.
Whittington cross-measure, item 2.
Coal 20 in.
Whittington cross-measure, item 3.
Band 1 in.
Whittington cross-measure, item 4.
Coal 7 in.
Whittington cross-measure, item 5.
Band 0.5 in.
Whittington cross-measure, item 6.
Coal 4.5 in.
Whittington cross-measure, item 7.
Bad shale roof.
Yorkley cross-measure, item 1.
Hard fireclay floor.
Yorkley cross-measure, item 2.
Inferior coal 1 in.
Yorkley cross-measure, item 3.
Bottom coal 18 in.
Yorkley cross-measure, item 4.
Indistinct parting.
Yorkley cross-measure, item 5.
Top coal 12 in.
Yorkley cross-measure, item 6.
Clod 1 in.
Yorkley cross-measure, item 7.
Short-grained shale roof.
Regional fossil records require their own provenance. The Arthur and Edward/Lydbrook roof-shale flora and coalfield megaspore lists are not established finds from this heap. An association with the same coal seam elsewhere is insufficient to transfer those identifications here.
References
BGS Lexicon, Coleford Member and Pennant Sandstone Formation.
Waters and colleagues (2009), A lithostratigraphical framework for the Carboniferous successions of southern Great Britain (Onshore), BGS RR/09/01.
E. A. Newell Arber (1912), The fossil plants of the Forest of Dean Coalfield, Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists’ Field Club 17(3), pp. 321–332, especially 328 and 331–332.
F. M. Trotter with W. C. C. Rose (1942), Geology of the Forest of Dean coal and iron-ore field, especially pp. 32–36 and 44–45. Crookall’s 1930 amendments are cited through this memoir.
E. Spinner (1965), Westphalian megaspores from the Forest of Dean coalfield, England, Palaeontology 8, pp. 82–106; regional comparison only.
SAFETY
The Dean Forest Railway is operational. Stay off the track and railway land, and cross only at an authorised crossing while following the signals and instructions. A photograph of an apparently quiet line does not establish that it is safe to cross.
Keep to the agreed approach and stable ground. Steep loose spoil, roots, wet leaf litter and shale that breaks down to slippery mud can make footing unreliable. Do not climb the heap, undercut its base, pull out embedded blocks or approach any shaft, adit, barrier or concealed hollow. Stop if the agreed route is obstructed or site work is under way.
Treat the mound as a former mining site, with conditions that may change. Children need close supervision and should remain on a safe, authorised route. Historic reports of heating in colliery tips do not establish present conditions here; avoid any area showing heat, fumes or unusual ground disturbance and report it to the land manager.
EQUIPMENT
For an authorised observational visit, take sturdy boots, a map, a charged phone, a hand lens and a small scale for photographs. A notebook or phone record should include the exact find point and the distinction between spoil and in-situ rock.
If removal has been expressly permitted, bring soft wrapping and a rigid box for fragile shale. This guide does not recommend picks, spades or face hammering: extracting blocks and digging into the mound can destabilise spoil and destroy context.
CLEANING AND TREATING
Begin with photographs and a locality label before doing anything to an authorised specimen. Support thin slabs across their whole area, retain any counterpart, and allow damp shale to dry slowly at room temperature. Loose dust can be removed with a very soft dry brush, stopping if the surface or carbon film lifts.
Do not routinely soak, scrub, coat or split the shale. Weathered material may disintegrate with wetting, and a tempting split can take the fossil surface with it. Avoid household acids, bleach and varnish. Where a specimen is unusually clear, fragile or potentially important, leave it unprepared and seek specialist advice before any consolidation.
IDENTIFY YOUR FINDS
Need help identifying a fossil? Share clear photos, where you found it and its size with the community.
FURTHER READING
Deposits: Geology and terrestrial life of the Carboniferous (general background)
BGS Lexicon: Coleford Member
Geological Survey: Geology of the Forest of Dean coal and iron-ore field (1942)
Arber’s 1912 Forest of Dean plant paper, Proceedings volume 17
Forest of Dean Local History Society: Princess Royal Colliery
Dean Forest Railway: Whitecroft and other destinations
ACCESS RIGHTS
Obtain the land manager’s permission before entering the spoil heap and agree separately whether any material may be removed. Present ownership and collecting terms for this exact mound have not been established. A path, open grass area or history of collecting does not by itself grant those rights.
Keep out of railway land and respect residences, fences, notices and working access. The surrounding Forest of Dean contains land under different management: do not assume that a nearby woodland’s access or collecting rules apply to this heap. Where permission cannot be confirmed, view only from a lawful public route.
It is important to follow our ‘Code of Conduct’ when collecting fossils or visiting any site. Please also read our ‘Terms and Conditions‘
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