Bridlington fossils and fossil collecting

Head towards the North Beach, at Bridlington. From the B1254, take the road along the seafront.
There is a large car park at the North Beach, park here and walk down to the beach. Form here you can walk Northwards to Sowerby.
A popular seaside town, with a beach suitable for all the family.
For those interested, at the South Beach, you can sometimes find the Bridlington Crag, full of fossil molluscs. This crag is beneath the sand dunes, so digging is required. Park at the large car park which is also used for the Park and Ride service.

GRID REF: TA 19803 68580

Sponges, echinoids, crinoids,
bivalves, brachiopods

The beach at Bridlington is popular with tourists, and ideal for children. Towards Sewerby, the beach becomes increasingly rocky. Like Bridlington further up the coast, you can find excellent fossil sponges, but they are not so common, at this end.

High

Fossils are very common from Bridlington. Perhaps not as common as further up the cost at Danes Dyke, but still very productive. The rocks are harder here than at Danes Dyke although softer rocks with sponges exists along the foreshore. The fossils do tend to be less fragile than those of Danes Dyke

Suitable for Children

Both Bridlington and also nearby Danes Dyke are superb locations for children. However, Bridlington has an added advantage of having a sandy beach to the South West and close to toilets, cafes and facilities in the town. For this reason, it is more practical for families than at Danes Dyke.

Very Good Access

An excellent car park with toilets, cafe etc, and a very short walk to the beach. There is a lovely sandy beach for children with plenty of other things to do in the town.

Cliffs, Foreshore

Most fossils are found in the fallen chalk boulders around the foreshore, but fossils can also be found in the cliff although we do not recommend collecting from near the cliff as it is too dangerous.

No Restrictions

There are no restrictions at this site, hammering and collecting is permitted. However we ask that you follow our fossil code of conduct which can be found in the link below.

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted. This part of the coastline can be very dangerous for tidal conditions, make sure you return before the tide turns. The cliffs are quite high, it is important to keep away from the base of the cliff as rocks often fall.

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:	2010
last visited:	2010
Written by:	Alister and Alison Cruickshanks

A Hammer and chisel is required at this location. Suitable footwear should also be worn. Fossils should be wrapped well and placed carefully into containers. It maybe best to also take preserving liquid to preserve fossils such as the fantastic corals on scene. A pry bar may also come in handy for prying rocks with natural cracks and a lump hammer for breaking apart rocks.


Bridlington is an excellent location for all the family. The beach is full of rocks, and Sponges, most of which come from further up the coast at Danes Dyke can be seen. Danes Dyke is a far better access point to collect sponges, but Bridlington is much easier and practical for families. The chalk is older here than at Danes Dyke, so some different fossils can be found to those from Danes Dyke. The fantastic sponge are one common fossil you will see plenty of but there is a huge variety of other fossils to be also found. Various molluscs, echinoid and belemnites are also common along with crinoids including the complete cups. The best fossils are found by searching the boulders on the foreshore, it is also better to try to split a few of these as the sponges are best clean unweathered and the better specimens are those not on view. Sponges can also be seen in the sides of boulders and the cliff. The chalk is nice and soft so it is fairly easy to get these out. Echinoid's can usually be collected by simply searching along the foreshore, sea urchin spines and crinoids plates are also found in the same way in loose rocks. At South Beach, pieces of jet can also be found. The geology of Bridlington, East Riding

Cretaceous, 75mya

The chalk at Bridlington is upper chalk from the Campanian stage. It is part of the Flamborough Chalk Formation. The main rocks here are of the older Sewerby Member within the group, but rocks of the Danes Dyke Member, including the famous sponge bed can be found along the foreshore. The chalk is white, well-bedded, flint-free with common marl seams (typically about one per metre). Common stylolitic surfaces and pyrite nodules. Formal subdivision: None herein. Divided into three members by Whitham (1993). This formation is up to about 265m thick (onshore)...[more]


Fossil Sponge...[more]

Locations similar to Bridlington

Nearby Danes Dyke is highly recommened, with the chance on finding some superb sponges.

There are many locations for collecting chalk fossils in the UK. Bridlington is upper chalk which is soft making collecting easy. Other upper chalk locations are; Studland Bay in Dorset, Caister St Edmunds, Weymouth, East Runton and West Runton in Norfolk, Whitecliff Bay and Culver Cliff on the Isle of Wight, and Peacehaven in Sussex.

For fossil sponges, another excellent location is Overstand in Norfolk.

Stone Tumblers

Microscopes

Geological Supplies

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.

UKGE, the owners of UK Fossils, are your market leader for Geological Supplies and Geology Equipment. Suppling Retail, Education and Trade in the UK, Europe and beyond.

We sell a wide range of geological hammer and geological picks as well as fossil tools, starter packs and geological chisels.

UKGE is your geological superstore, selling a wide range of field equipment, rocks, minerals, fossils, geological and even microscopy!