Saltburn fossils and fossil collecting

Saltburn-by-the-sea can be reached from the A174. From here there is a roundabout which will take you into the town.
Follow all the way through towards the seafront. You can park on the North-West of the river and then walk east over the river bridge to access the cliffs on the South-Eastern side of the town.
You cannot miss the cliffs as they are very tall and can be seen from the river. Take extra care since cliff falls are frequent and make sure you double-check tide times.

GRID REF: 54.58600°N, 0.97070°W

Belemnites, ammonites, bivalves,
worm tubes, brachiopods.

The magnificent tall jurassic cliffs at Saltburn yield ammonites, belemnites, brachiopods and bivalves from the Cleveland Ironstone of the Lower Lias. The rocks here, however can be very hard and difficult to collect from.

Medium

Fossils are quite common at Saltburn, you are more likely to find belemnites and bivalves, but ammonites can occasionally be found.

Some of the rocks are very hard and so you will need a good hammer to get these out.

Older Children Only

The tall cliffs are very dangerous and cliff falls are regular. Also, there are many rocks on the beach making access difficult. We therefore only recommend that older children visit this site, providing they keep well away from the base of the cliff.

Good Access

An excellent car park with toliets, cafe etc neaby. There is a fair walk to get to the cliffs as you have to cross the river over the road bridge, but in general access is easy.

Cliffs, Foreshore

Most fossils can be found in the boulders and rocks on the foreshore. You may need a hammer to get these out. Fossils can also be found in the cliff scree slopes, but this is too dangerous to collect from.

No Restrictions

There are no restrictions at this location, you are free to collect fossils and hammer the rocks.

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted. The tide can easily cut you off at Saltburn so please double check tide times. The cliffs are also very tall and can fall at any time, please keep away from the base of the cliff. Take care when passing over the large boulders.

Saltburn
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

Last updated:
last visited:

Written by:

28/06/08
2007

Alister and Alison Cruickshanks

Geological Tools

TOOLS: A good strong hammer is required and chisel. googles and suitable footwear should be used. The rocks here can be very hard, it may be a good idea to sharpen hammers before any visit to Saltburn.

Some of the fossils are well preserved in blocks, so these can easily be wrapped and placed into bags. Worm tubes are also quite hard and so are the ammonites. Belemnites are more fragile we we suggest wrapping them well and placing into field specimen boxes.

Other Locations similar to Saltburn

If you enjoyed collecting at Saltburn, nearby Skinningrove is also similar in geology. Other locations in Yorkshrie such as 'Robin Hoods Bay', and 'Staithes' are also very similar in geology.

For a completly different type of location, further up the coast at Durham, Seaton Sluice has carboniferious plants.


The best place to find fossils is by looking at the rocks along the foreshore. The most common find at Saltburn is belemnites. There are some superb, well preserved and often complete specimens to be collected here. Blocks of sandstone full of brachiopods can also be seen in complete layers. It is easy to take a nice sample home. Worm tubes and bivalves are also quite common here. Saltburn is also well known for ammonites, but these are less common here than the classic jurassic sites of Yorkshire. The ammonites from from the Cleveland Ironstone. The Lower Lias at Saltburn

	Jurassic, 190-205mya
The tall cliffs at Saltburn-by-the-sea have one of the best sections through the Lower Lias. The whole of the Cleveland Ironstone Formation and the Redcar Mudstone Formation can be seen here. This includes the Ironstone Shales, Pyritous, Siliceous Shales, Late Calcareous Shales, and Early Calcareous Shales...[more] Belemnite from Saltburn

Corals, plant remains and brachiopods at Saltburn
Fossil worm tubes from the lower lias

Corals, plant remains and brachiopods at Saltburn
Brachiopods from Saltburn

Corals, plant remains and brachiopods at Saltburn
Belemnite from Saltburn

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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