Lyme Regis fossils and fossil collecting
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 The town of Lyme has a number of fossil shops and includes a museum. There are regular trips, showing you where to find fossils and general information. The town has had a lot of money spend on making it one of the most beautiful town in Dorset. Even the lamp posts in Lyme Regis are shaped as ammonites!
There are several car parks in the town of Lyme Regis and access to Church cliffs is best done from the harbour. There is also a fantastic viewpoint where on a good day, you can see the cliffs of Bridport, Burton Bradstock and Chisel Beach.
Access can also be made from Charmouth.
GRID REF: 50.72957°N, 2.92715°W
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Lyme Regis, world famous for its highly fossilferious cliffs but also widely known for the most commercial fossil location in the UK. Sadly the huge number of commercial collectors who all battle it out, makes collecting limited unless you are willing to brace the harsh winter storms. In spite of this, still plenty to be found.
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Suitable for Children
Lyme Regis is one of the best locations for children, they can sit on the beach, or walk along the foreshore and pick up ammonites etc. |
Foreshore, Cliffs
Fossils are mostly found on the foreshore at Lyme Regis but can also be found at the bottom of scree slopes, slippages and occasionally the cliff. Please note that hammering the cliff is not permitted since Lyme Regis is part of the Jurassic Heritage Coastline. You are far more likely to find fossils from the foreshore. |
No Hammering Cliff
This site is part of the Jurassic World Heritage Coastline. Please follow the Fossil Code of Conduct. Access is permitted SSSI -
NO HAMMERING THE CLIFF PRIVATE LAND
This is 'Private Land', Access for digging is strictly forbidden.
Damage has already been caused to this heritage site by people using power tools. This is strictly against SSSI rules and any attempt to ignore these rules may result in prosecution. |
Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of the tide times should always be noted. Care should be especially taken at Lyme Regis of tide times as often the sea can cut you off, especially at Church Cliffs. Climbing slippages is not recommended, this is dangerous for reasons of sinking mud. flows of rain water and streams under the mud may seem hard at first sight but could be fatal. |
Lyme Regis
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
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Accommodation
Lyme Regis Accommodation
www.lyme-regis-accommodation.co.uk
Beautiful Self Catering Cottages right in the heart of Lyme Regis.
Comfort, quality and convenience are the three most important factors we believe any visitor to Lyme Regis is looking for when choosing a holiday cottage to rent.
If you would like to advertise on this page, please 'contact us'.
£10/Year or 'FREE' for return links from accommodation website pages.
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Last updated:
last visited:
Written by: |
02/05/08
2008
Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
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Other Locations similar to Lyme Regis
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There are many locations in the UK which can be seen to be similar to Charmouth. apart from those in the nearby proximity such as Chippel Bay, Seatown (Golden Cap), Thorncombe Beacon and Charmouth,
in South Wales, you can also try Llantwit Major, and Lavernock. There are plenty of good locations along the Yorkshire Coast too, such as Staithes, Saltwick Bay, Port Mulgrave, Kettleness, Whitby, Ravenscar, Runswick Bay, Sandsend, and many more. In Somerset there are also many locations such as Watchet, Quantoxhead, Kilve, Doniford Bay, St Audries Bay, Lilstock, and Hinkley.
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The best place to collect fossils is within the soft clay between the hard limestone ledges. Not all the shale beds will contain fossils, but some contain fish fragments and occasionally complete small fish. Some of the best beds are exposed below beach level when scouring takes place. This also makes collecting less dangerous than searching in the shale within the cliff face.
There is such a vast variety of fossils at Lyme Regis, that one can expect to find anything, however take one word of advice. Competition is very high, you will find very little during the Summer Season. The best months are the winter and spring with stormy gales and extreme high tides. . .... [more]
An Ichthyosaurus vertebra insitu
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Jurassic, 195mya |
At Church Cliffs, Lyme Regis, 26m of Blue Lias are well exposed. At Black Ven, 25m of shale's with beef often slips down in front of the blue lias. For further information on Black Ven, see the Charmouth Section. For further information on West of Church Cliffs, see Chippel Bay.
At the top of the Blue Lias, the Table Ledge. Ammonites can be found in this bed. The alternating beds of soft clays and hard limestone below this makes the cliffs extremely unstable and care should be taken at all times...[more]
Blue Lias at Church Cliffs, Lyme Regis
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The entire beach at Church Cliffs is littered with wonderful large Ammonites , moulds and impressions. These are both too heavy for collectors to bring back and too worn to make such an effort. For that reason, they have been left on the beach for everyone to see. Please do not destroy these, they are a fine example of Lyme Regis's fantastic Dorsets Jurassic Coasts. Cliff Falls yields complete Ammonites which can be seen all around Lyme Regis and Charmouth in Shops, Museums, Gardens, Walls and as part of housing design.
There are also a number of shells, some of these are quite large and within the hard limestone. These are very difficult to collect and it is best to leave these for everyone else to see. A range of Ammonites and shells can be found within hard layers, but most interesting is the fish bed which continues to Chippel Bay. Complete fish can be found, especially the smaller fish, see below...[more]
Fish remains from shale at Church Cliffs, Lyme Regis
....[more]
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It really depends on what you aim to collect as to what tools to take. Collecting is best done on the foreshore in which case, just good eyes are required. Collecting from the soft clays (especially black ven foreshore slippage's) would be best done with a knife / pick and small spade. Collecting via splitting rocks especially nodules would ideally need a good hammer and possibly chisels .Please DO NOT dig in the cliff at Lyme Regis both for safety reasons and because you have a much greater chance of finding fossils on the foreshore. ....[more] |
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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.
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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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