fossil location picture and uk fossils header



Introduction 
Location Access 
What to Bring 
What to Read 
Safety Notes 

Where to Look 
What to Find 
Geological Guide 

Location Photos 
Fossil Photos 

Local Information 
Places to Visit 
Accommodation 

Your Fossil Finds 
Your Experiences 
Your Discussions 
Website Links 
More Guides 
Contact Us 

 
Introduction to Whitby

Fossils and Fossil Collecting in Whitby
Your Yorkshire Geological Guide and Geology Info

A very popular location but sometimes difficult to access due to tide conditions. Whitby yields many ammonites, reptiles and shells, also famous for Jet which is similar to Amber. However Whitby can have too much competition.


Whitby - North Yorkshire
Last updated: [04/04/07]  last visited 2007
Jurassic
Written by Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
Fossils & Fossil Collecting in Whitby
(Whitby Beach and Cliffs) - 2007

Location Information

Whitby yields excellent ammonite specimens and dinosaur/reptile remains but also has quite a lot of competition. The best time to collect is during the winter storms, or scouring conditions.

(Not Suitable for Young Children)

Due to dangerous accessibility of this location, young children should not visit the beach at Whitby.

 

Access is made via Whitby East Habour. You will need to wait until you can get round as the tide comes very high and must ensure you can return in good time.

Foreshore, Cliff

Most of the fossils can be found on the foreshore at Whitby, especially after storms or scouring conditions within nodules or loose within the areas of shingle and shale, but fossils are also commonly found in the cliff on the scree slopes either in nodules or loose.

ACCESS
RIGHTS
There are 'NO' restrictions to this location

Please follow our national fossil collecting code

A UK Fossils & Discovering Fossils initiative (c) 2006


! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES !

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted. It is very easy to get cut off at Whitby, the sea always hits the cliff. You should ensure you return before the tide turns. Also be aware of sticky areas at Whitby, on the slippages as it is easy to get stuck especially after rain.


Hildoceras bifrons ammonite from Whitby

Other Locations similar to Whitby

There are many locations in the UK which can be seen to be similar to Whitby. apart from those in the nearby proximity such as Port Mulgrave, Kettleness, Runswick Bay, Saltwick Bay, Staithes and Sandsend. In Dorset, areas such as Chippel Bay, Lyme Regis, Seatown (Golden Cap), Thorncombe Beacon, and Charmouth, are also very good. In South Wales, you can also try Llantwit Major, and Lavernock. There are plenty of good locations in Somerset there are also many locations such as Watchet, Quantoxhead, Kilve, Doniford Bay, St Audries Bay, Lilstock, and Hinkley Point.


Whitby is always a popular location for fossil collecting!


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.

Why not try...

Looking for more good fossil hunting trips? Why not try the following locations which are all very good for finding fossils...

Whitby, Bracklesham, Kettleness, Eastbourne, Hastings, Hope, Staithes
Quantoxhead, Fishguard, Abereiddy, Whitehaven, Aust, Hunstanton,




Images, Graphics & Content - (C)opyright 1998-2007 Alister & Alison 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.
UK Fossils | Discussions | News | Magazine | Search Geo | UKGE