Beachy Head fossils and fossil collecting
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 From the A259, take the B2103 to the west of Eastbourne. This road is also the main seafront road through the town. Take the road “Beachy Head Road” to Beachy Head and Birling Gap. Follow until you get to the countryside park with toilet’s, information centre and café. Park here.
Cross the road and follow the long footpath making your way down Beachy Head. This is a long walk! Once you get towards the bottom, the path takes you through an old landslip, eventually leading to some steps. These steps at ‘Cow Gap’, give access to the shore. For easier access, read the Eastbourne guide which will give access from Eastbourne Parade.
As you walk along the beach to the lighthouse you can stop to examine fallen Lower Chalk blocks for fossils. However, it is advised that you walk all the way to the lighthouse and start fossil hunting in rock fall there, This is to avoid becoming caught out by the tide.
GRID REF: TV 58986 95819
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Not for children
The long walk to the fossil hunting areas is quite long and can involve scrambling over boulders. The rock fall behind the lighthouse should not be attempted by children.
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Difficult Access
Access via Beachy Head is difficult. The walk is long and in places steep, with a final set of steps at the end. It can be even harder during windy or wet conditions. You can access Beachy Head via Eastbourne, but due to the dangerous tides here we have separated Eastbourne to Cow Cap from this guide that concentrates from Cow Cap to Beachy Head. Fossil hunting at this location does require climbing over large and often slippery rocks.
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Cliffs and Foreshore
Fossils are mainly collected from fallen chalk boulders. Look out for flint fossils on the beach also.
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No Restrictions
There are no restrictions at this location, but please follow our own code of conduct for all locations.
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Beachy Head
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 |
There is no way off of the beach between Cow Gap and Birling Gap. This site should be visited on a falling tide, about two and a half hours before low tide is ideal. Parts of the beach get cut off up to two and a half hours before high tide – so do be careful. Please do not hammer into the cliff face to avoid causing rocks to fall on you! The foreshore can be slippery due to mud and weed. Mobile phone signals are poor or non-existent – make sure you tell someone where you are and what time you expect to be back. |
| Last updated: |
2012 |
| last visited: |
2012 |
| Written by: |
Joe Shimmin and Alister Cruickshanks |
 
Other Locations similar to Beachy Head
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In Sussex and Kent, there are many excellent locations for collecting chalk fossils. Newhaven, Seaford, Seven Sisters, Eastbourne, Beachy Head, Peacehaven and Beachy Head, Dumpton, Kingsgate, Samphire Hoe, Pegwell Bay, Dover, St Margarets Bay.
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Most fossils at Beachy Head can be found on the foreshore or the base of the cliff from the fallen rocks or loose fossils an scree slopes.
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Although a difficult location, Beachy Head is highly recommended to Chalk fossil lovers. Within a few hundred metres, fossils from the Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk can be collected; a rare opportunity. Fossils are most abundant weathering out of the Lower (Grey) Chalk and fairly common in the fall behind the lighthouse. Flint pebbles will also occasionally contain fossils.
There is a wide range of species to be found at this location. In the Lower Chalk, echinoids, brachiopods, bivalves, corals, worm tubes and more can be found. In the Middle and Upper Chalk, echinoids, bivalves, brachiopods, belemnites etc are present. This is a diverse location.
Sheet flint layer exposed at beach level
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Cretaceous, 85mya |
The geology of Eastbourne to Beachy Head, is of Lower, Middle and Upper chalk with Gault and Greensand, however, at Beachy Head itself, the chalk is of Turonian age...[more]
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Related Books |
Microscopes |
Geological Supplies |
 Fossils of the Chalk
A fantastic book covering the chalk of the UK. This book covers most of the fossils that can be found in the chalk. It is a fully illustrated guide. This is the second edition of this popular book and is available from our own UK Fosils/UKGE Store.
All of our books have FREE UK Delivery, We have hundreds of geological books for sale.
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At Beachy Head, you can find Microfossils from the chalk. They are much easier to collect because they are so small that you only need a small amount of chalk sample. You then need to break it down in water and view using a microscope to view these.
Chalk is actually composed of fossil shells, so you only need a small amount of sample on your microscope.
We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, you will need a Stereo microscope for viewing microfossils.
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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! |
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