Fossils and Geology of Folkestone, Kent. Fossil Collecting & Geological Guides

Location Information
	Folkestone is highly fossiliferious but most fossils are very fragile, so ensure you wrap them well and treat as soon as you get home or treat onsite. The best time to collect is during scouring conditions or storms when fossils can be found lying on the foreshore.
	(Not Suitable for Children) Unfortunately, hard greensand blocks from beds below Gault make this location very difficult for children, the rocks can be very slippery and dangerous. Extreme care should be taken. It is best to collect from both the Northern or Southern ends where there are less rocks during scouring conditions.
	*You can park at the cliff top, and then walk down to the beach, it is a fair walk down to the beach and especially hard during after heavy rain when rainfall makes the steps very slippery.*
	Foreshore, Cliff Most of the fossils can be found on the foreshore especially after storms or scouring conditions, but fossils are also commonly found in the cliffs, if you know the zones and are after particular fossils from certain horizons, then you may wish to consider taking a trowel or pick to collect directly from the cliff. For anyone just interested in finding all types of fossil, the foreshore is the best place.
ACCESS RIGHTS	SSSI Please click here to download the SSSI Report, including restrictions and information.

Please follow our national fossil collecting code

! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES !

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted.

During winter months it can sometimes be very sticky. The tide always hits the headlands of Folkestone, so be careful on the tides. At the headlands from the Warren, care must be taken when climbing over the rocks, these are very slippery and dangerous. Cliff falls are common, ensure that no cliff face is overhanging if looking at the base of the cliff on the scree slopes. The scree slopes themselves can be dangerous as one can sink in the soft clay.

Other locations similar to Folkestone

If you enjoy Folkestone, you could also try Speeton in Yorkshire which has very similar fossils to Folkestone. Other locations with Gault Clay are; Charmouth; Golden Cap (Seatown) ; Thorncombe Beacon ; Eastbourne ; Yaverland ; Rocken End

The Hunstanton Red Rock in Norfolk is of a very similar age to Folkestone.

(Folkestone Cliffs North of the large concrete block, towards the Warren) - 2003

(Folkestone Cliffs from the top looking towards the Warren and chalk cliffs) - 2003

Stone Tumblers (Lapidary)

Microscopes

Test Sieves for Particle Analysis

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.

Folkestone Fossils and Fossil Collecting Your Kent Geological Guide and Geology Info

Folkestone Fossils and Fossil Collecting
Your Kent Geological Guide and Geology Info