fossil collecting at West Bay, Dorset



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West Bay Fossil Collecting Guide

Fossils and Fossil Collecting in West Bay
Your Complete Geological Guide

West Bay continues from Burton Bradstock but is much less productive since the Oolite Beds are much thinner and cliff falls are not common. Fossil shells and poorly preserved ammonites can be found in the Bridport Sands.


West Bay - Dorset
Last updated: [21/02/08]  last visited 2008
Jurassic
Written by Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
The Western Productive end of West Bay
(West Bay Cliffs, Inferior Oolite and Bridport Sands) - 2008

Information for Fossil Hunting at West Bay

Fossils are not common from West Bay since cliff falls are quite rare. Ammonites during these times can be found in the Bridport Sands, otherwise trace fossils or fossil shells can be found in the 'Snuff Boxes'.

(Recommended)

Providing that children keep well away from the base of the cliff, West Bay is superb for the family. It has a lovely sandy beach and plenty car parking space, cafes and toliets.

West Bay is an easy location to access, good car parking and cafe, toliets onsite. The cliffs are not far from the car park.

Cliff

Since cliff falls don't occur very often, there is little material on the foreshore to collect, apart from the 'Snuff Boxes' which contain poorly preserved fossils. Instead, fossils are best found after cliff falls.

ACCESS
RIGHTS
This site is part of the Jurassic World Heritage Coastline. Please follow the
Fossil Code of Conduct.

Please follow our national fossil collecting code

A UK Fossils & Discovering Fossils initiative (c) 2006

Other Locations similar to West Bay

For locations which also have Inferior Oolite or Bridport Sands of which fossil collecting is permitted, try 'Burton Bradstock', next to West Bay, 'Ketton Quary' in Lincolnshire, or in Gloucestershire you could visit, 'Gilberts Grave' On the Isle of Skye, Bearreraig Bay also has Inferior Oolite.



! SAFETY NOTES FOR FOSSIL HUNTING AT WEST BAY!

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted. Care should be taken of tides at all locations. The well-known exposures of fossiliferous limestone at the foot of the cliffs are of course the result of cliff falls. Major falls like this are not common, but special care must be taken to watch for areas where loose material may fall. Wet or frosty weather conditions may cause falls. If at the time of a visit pieces of rock are falling from the cliff , then this locality must be considered unsafe and the place should be avoided until relative stability resumes. Some other places such as the low cliffs east of West Bay, some parts of Portland and the Chesil Beach could be visited instead. At all times wear safety helmets and watch out for any dangerous activity of the cliff. Since this is at the western part of the Chesil Beach there is some risk of being cut off by the tide or swept into the sea in very stormy weather conditions.

A fossil ammonite from West Bay
Ammonite from the Bridport Sands at West Bay


Stone Tumblers (Lapidary)


Stone Tumblers are used for tumbling and polishing rough rock, stones and pebbles including those found on the beach and glass.

Whilst collecting fossils, on those days where you come back empty handed, you could collect rocks, stones and glass from the beach and tumble then at home.

These are all high quality machines to give a professional finish to your samples. The tumblers can be used with a variety of grits, most commonly Silicon Carbide Grit and Cerium Oxide. We have a wide range of rough rocks for sale too.

Microfossils are much easier to collect because they are so small that the vast majority of collections only concentrate on large finds. These small finds can simply be found by taking small samples of sands, crags, clays and soft rocks and examining them under a microscope.

We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, both for the study of fossils, but also educational and professional for use in the laboratory. We have Stereo microscopes, Compound Microscopes, Polarising Microscopes and Monocular Microscopes.


We have thousands of Test Sieves for Particle Analysis.

Endecotts Sieves: For accurate dependable results you can't buy a better test sieve than Endecotts. At every stage of manufacture each test sieve is individually inspected.

High Precision Tecan manufactures precision apertures as small as 3 microns for a wide array of applications such as filtering, sieving and nozzles. Its high-performance, ASTM/ISO compliant test sieves satisfy the most demanding fine particle grading requirements.

Metal Detectors


We have a wide range of metal detectors and motion detectors.

Our metal detectors are of a very high quality and are british made by the Viking Company.

Why not take a metal detector when your fossil hunting! you never know what you may find.


We sell a wide range of compasses to both explorers, students to boat owners.

Some field compasses have build in clinometers so you can calculate the height of cliffs.

Our compasses are high quality. They are an essential part of the explorers kit.


All of our fossils are genuine and have been checked carefully, we only buy from reputable sources.

We have a wide range of fossils from low cost budget fossils to expensive stunning display pieces.

Our fossils are of a very high standard and they come from all over the world.

 



Images, Graphics & Content - (C)opyright 1998-2005 Alister Cruickshanks.
UK Fossils Management - Alister Cruickshanks & Roy Bullard
UK Fossils Curator - Ian Cruickshanks
UK Fossils is a division of CWA Design and run in conjunction with UKGE. Whilst we try to ensure that all content is accurate and up to date we cannot guarantee this. UK Fossils takes no responsibility in the accuracy of this content, nor takes any liabilities for any trips, events or exchanges between visitors using either the discussion board or the UK Fossils planner. Any posted trips and events by UK Fossils are personal and not arranged by UK Fossils, therefore visitors should seek their own personal insurance cover. Please remember to always check the tide times.
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