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Durlston fossils and fossil collecting

Take the A351 to Swanage, keep on it till you get to the seafront. At the seafront, turn right into Shore Road, then into Institute Road, then into Seymer Road and finally turn into Durlston Road. You need to park down Belle vueroad, this goes round in a circle, so if you miss the first one, you can take the next.
Park in this road and take the footpath that is signposted as the 'Zig-Zag' path. This path goes between the flats.
The Zig-Zag path will take you to the shore, where you can immediately start finding fossils.

GRID REF: 50.60475°N, 1.95079°W

mammals, crocodile, molluscs, fish, turtle, reptiles, forams, ostracods, plants
Fossil Collecting at Durlston


If you are interested in microfossils, tiny mammal remains, turtle shell fragments, crocodile skin fragments and fish remains, Durlston Bay is ideal. It is also a good location to take samples for wet sieving. Don't forget your field lens when visiting.
Where is it

Fairly High

Durlston does yield many fossils, but most of these are very small and are for the fossil enthusiast rather than beginners.


Not for Children

 

This location can have unpredictable time conditions, double tides frequently occur and the sea can be very powerful at this location. The foreshore is also very rocky and access is difficult to get on the beach, this location is not suitable for families or children.


Good Access

 

Access via this location is fairly easy if you use the Zig-Zag path. This path has now been re-opened after being closed due to a landslide


Foreshore, Cliffs

 

Most of the fossils can be found on the foreshore especially after storms but fossils are also commonly found in the cliff especially from the mammal bed, which is at the base of the cliff, so samples can easily be taken for analysing.


No Hammering Cliff

 

This site is part of the Jurassic World Heritage Coastline. Please follow the Fossil Code of Conduct. Access is permitted SSSI -

NO HAMMERING THE CLIFF

Damage has already been caused to this heritage site by people using power tools. This is strictly against SSSI rules and any attempt to ignore these rules may result in prosecution.

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of the tide times should always be noted,. care should be especially taken at the two headlands. The sea nearly always hits the cliff here and reaches high levels, the rocks can be very slippery. Care should also be taken of falling rocks and access down to the beach, landslips are always active here and the ground beneath could give way at any time.


Durlston
Tide Times

UK Tidal data is owned by Crown Copyright, and therefore sadly we are not allowed to display tide times without paying expensive annual contracts. However we sell them via our store, including FREE POSTAGE
Click here to buy a tide table


Accommodation

Higher Spence

Farm Cottage, beautiful location 3 miles Charmouth. Double and Family rooms En Suite.

Contact: Christine Nutkins
Tel: UK (01297) 560556
Tel: International +441297 560556 Address: Higher Spence, Wootton, Fitzpaine, Charmouth, Dorset.

Email: higherspence@eurolink.ltd.net Website: (Typing "Higher Spence into your search engine)

Dorset coastal cottages

We are a holiday agent for 120 carefully selected and inspected cottages within 10 miles of Dorset's spectacular World Heritage Coast and Path. All are old, many are beamy and thatched, most have open fires or logburners plus central heating. Rents include electricity, gas etc. and all linen/towels.

Rentable by the week or 3 day Short Break all year round!!

Please call: 0800 9804070 for a Brochure or visit our website on www.dorsetcoastalcottages.com

Jennifer Owens Direct:
01305 851033 jen.o@dorsetcoastalcottages.com

If you would like to advertise on this page, please 'contact us'.
£10/Year or 'FREE' for return links from accommodation website pages.


Last updated:
last visited:


Written by:

28/05/08
2006

Alister and Alison Cruickshanks



Other Locations similar to Durlston

If you enjoy Durlston, you could also try Hastings and Fairlight (Pett Level) in Sussex, both are very similar to Durlston.

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Towards the middle of Durlston Bay, the Mammal Bed reaches the foreshore, this bed can be seen sandwiched between two hard limestone layers. There is a thin black layer, followed by a gray layer, then a very think second black layer and a lighter grey resting on top of the lower limestone.

Mammal remains can be found within the harder limestone, but these are much rarer, it is easier to search through the shale.

The bed can be easily recognised by the colour and the number of freshwater shells present. The beds suddenly dip in the middle of Durlston Bay and run for a while along the foreshore, this is the point at which the mammal bed reaches the floor.

To the west side of Durlston Bay, mammal remains are more common within the hard limestone rocks on the foreshore. Sharks Fish remains can also be found along with crustaceans and reptiles.....[more]


Searching for Mammal remains

Geology Guide Jurassic, 140mya

The top beds at Durlston are from the Purbeck, large boulders can be seen all over the foreshore. These are the Marble Beds and these dig at Peveril Point. At this point, the Broken Shell Limestone can often be seen on the foreshore. This is a hard, massive limestone with fragments of fish and turtles along with Neomiodon, Viviparus and Unio. This bed forms part of the Cypridea setina bed and continues at the Hotel Grosvenor. Below the Broken Shell Bed, the Middle Purbeck Chief Beds, there is approximately 8 meters of this bed, limestone's separated by shale. The first meter of this bed is full of gastropods of Promathildia, Hydrobia and Procerithium. The Scallop beds follow this.

Below the Chief and Scallop beds follows the Intermarine Beds, these are over 15m thick and include many limestone's and thinner alternating shale. The Shale yields fish and turtle remains. Below this, the Cinder bed forms the base of the Durlston Formation, full of oyster shells and bivalves. Below this, the Cherty Freshwater beds from the Lulworth formation yields many gastropods and beneath this the Marly Freshwater beds mark the location for the Mammal Bed. This freshwater bed which is 4m thick is full of gastropods of Valvata and Hydrobia, the mammal bed is in the middle of this section where turtle crocodile and fish remains can be found. Insects have also been recorded. The Soft Cockle Bed follows, there is some 22m of this bed with a large amount of Gypsum. The Hard cockle Bed follows, 4m of this, cockles here and tightly compacted. ...[more]

Marly Freshwater Bed
Marly Freshwater Bed

 

Within the dark banded freshwater mammal shale beds, Fragments of bone are common, compacted within the soft black and grey layers. Fragments of Crocodile, Fish and Turtle are very common, other mammals can also be found here. The bones are extremely fragile, it is best to keep them within the shale and preserve at home. An ideal way to collect here is to take several bags home and wet sieve. Small teeth can also be found, but make sure you sieve at 0.5mm since many of the teeth will fall through anything wider than this mesh.

At the west side of Durlston Bay, the hard limestone rocks yield crocodile, turtle, mammal, fish and reptile remains and occasional crustaceans. Although less common than the freshwater shale's, fossils within the limestone are much more well preserved. Fossils also tend to be more complete and less fragmented....[more]

Large 6cm Crocodile Tooth
Large 6cm Crocodile Tooth....[more]

   



Geological Tools

There are two different rock types that fossils can be collected from, the dark shale and hard limestone. For that reason, it is best to take a range of tools and most essentially a field lens and preserving liquid....[more]
Stone Tumblers
Microscopes
Test Sieves for Microfossils

If you are interested in fossil collecting, then you may also be interested in a stone tumbler (Lapidary). You can polish stones and rocks from the beach which will look fantastic polished using a stone tumbler.

You can polish rough rock and beach glass whilst collecting fossils, on those days where you come back empty handed. These are all high quality machines to give a professional finish to your samples. They can even be used for amber and fossils.

At most locations, you can find microfossils. You only need a small sample of the sand. You then need to wash it in water and sieve using a test sieve. Once the sand is processed, you can then view the contents using a microscope.

We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, you will need a Stereomicroscope for viewing microfossils. The best one we sell is the IMXZ, but a basic microscope will be fine. Once you have found microfossils, you will need to store these microfossils.

Test Sieves are used when searching for microfossils. Microfossils can be found in many locations, and all you need is a small amount of sample such as clays, sands and shales, or if you have acid, limestone, oolite or chalk.

Our UKGE Store sells Endecotts Test Sieves, which are the highest in accuracy and extremely durable and long lasting. These Test Sieves are fantastic for microfossils. Endecotts Test Sieves come in a variety of sizes, frame material and types, they are certificated to EU Standards.

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