Aberlady:

Carboniferous limestone with large blocks of crinoidal limestone and beds of the coral Lithostrotion junceum (spaghetti rock). Brachiopods (productus sp. ) and Rugose corals (zaphrentis sp.) are continuously washed from the soft limestone by wave action and are commonly found in the beach shingle.

Picture of Beach

Items on view:: Crinoidal limestone.; Lithostrotion junceum.; Productid Brachiopods.; Rugose Corals.; Bryozoan, Fenestella.; Trace fossil.

Brora:

One of the few jurassic localities in Scotland. The rocks between Golspie and Helmsdale are a series of shales, limestones, clays, sandstones and coal. Fossils include coral, bivalves, belemnites and petrified plant material.

Items on view:: Jurassic Coral.; Petrified Wood.; Jurassic Bivalve.; Brachiopod.

Cromarty:

A jurassic beach with hard nodules which, when split, can reveal well preserved Ammonites. Most of the rock is soft shale which will yeild mollusc shells and plant remains. The fairly level beach is backed, uncoformably, against devonian cliffs which yeild fossil fish.

Picture of Beach

Items on view:: Devonian Acanthoid Fish.; Bivalve Mollusc.; Plant Fragments.

Isle of Wight:

The Isle of Wight is separated onto two zones by an almost direct east-west line running through the island. To the south the rocks are Cretaceous and yeild bivalves, coral, ammonites and, very rarely, dinosaur remains. Although the press plays heavily on the dinosaur finds, the only place that you are likely to find one is in the local museum. (Unless you are extremely lucky)
The north of the island is composed of Eocene and Oligocene rock which yeild bivalves, gastropods and occasionally sharks teeth.

Picture of Beach

Items on view:: Sharks tooth.; Bryozoan?; Mussel beds.; Gastropods.; Worms.

Lyme Regis:

This is a classic fossil hunting location. The cliffs for several miles on either side are soft Jurassic shales and clays capped in many places by Cretaceous greensand. A list of the possible finds is almost endless:- Ammonites, Bellemnites, Bivalves, Crinoids, Starfish, Fish, Spines from giant sharks, Lobsters, Crabs .......
Many are rare and even the more common ones are becoming less so since a thriving trade has built up on tourists. The first time I visited Lyme there was only "The Fossil Shop" but there now at least five all with their piles of local fossils. The beaches are getting picked clean to supply these shops.

Items on view:: Gryphaea, devils toenails.; Ammonites.; Belemnites.; Large clam.; Burrowing bivalve.; Crinoid.

Ludlow:

The rocks around Ludlow are of Silurian age and yeild corals, brachiopods, orthocones, graptolites and trilobites. Several of the multitude of small limestone quarries in Mortimer Forest, just west of Ludlow, are kept clear of vegetation by the Forestry Commission so that visitors can have easy access. The cliffs on the bank of the river Teme between the Dinham and Ludford bridges also give good specimens.

Items on view:: Orthocones.; Trilobite, Dalmanites myops.; Stick Bryozoan.; Graptolites.; Brachiopod.

Portland:

The rocks of Portland are Jurassic in age. At portland Bill there is a well preserved bed of large oysters but they are very difficult to remove intact and are best viewed in situ. The area is dotted with quaries for the fine Portland Stone where very large ammonites are occasionally found. Above the level of the building stone is a layer known as "Roach". This contains the internal and external moulds of gastropods and molluscs, the shells having been disolved away.

Items on view:: Turrited gastropod, the Portland Screw.; Bivalve, Trigonia.

Sheppey and Herne Bay:

These two areas on the north Kent coast are grouped together because they are both Eocene and contain similar fossils. The London clay is prevalent to the east of Sheerness and yeilds many plant remains. There is a stretch of the coast marked on the map as 'Fossil Plant Beach'. Many fossils can be found in this area but walking over the dark, glutinous mud of the beach soon results in football sized lumps of clay round each foot. When you stop to scrape this gunge off it is worthwhile examining the goo: I found an excellent sharks tooth among the mud I scraped from my boots. There is also palaeocene sandstone, between Herne Bay and Reculver which contains the impressions of bivalves although the shells have long since disolved.

Items on view:: Bivalve.; Plant seed.; Sharks teeth.; Fossilised wood.; Borings of shipworm.

Wenlock Edge:

Wenlock Edge is an escarpment that runs, north-east to south-west between Much Wenlock and Craven Arms in Shropshire. The rock is Silurian in age. Near Much Wenlock it is composed of reef limestone yielding the typical coral reef fauna: Various corals, stromatoparoids, brachiopods, bryozoans and if you are lucky, trilobites. The rock changes to softer shale as you pass along the Edge. The best areas are between Much Wenlock and "The Edge" hotel where you can stop for refreshments before continuing your quest.

Items on view:: Stromatoporoid.; Silurian Corals.; Stick Bryozoan.

Whitby:

This is a classic Jurassic site. Hard nodules from the cliffs usually contain ammonites. The soft shales often yeild belemnites and 'Devils Toenails' (Gryphaea sp.).

Items on view:: Belemnites; Ammonites