Hookend Cliff fossils and fossil collecting
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 Hookend Cliff is an important area for wildlife as it is a huge landslip which is rich in fauna and flora. You can either access this by the walk through the old landslide, or via Branscombe.
Branscombe is the best point of access, you can drive down to the mouth of the river, where you will find a large car park. From here, walk East until you reach the cliffs at the edge of the landslide.
You can also walk from Beer and down through the landslide, this has spectacular views, but is also a long walk and can be challenge.
GRID REF: 50.68683°N, 3.11898°W
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echinoids, fish, brachiopods, bivalves, regular sea urchins, sponges, corals, gastropods , belemnites, ammonites, shark. |
Hookend is the best location in Devon for finding fossils, this site is rich in fossils in particular echinoids, ammonites, fish and brachiopods. Fossils are easy to find. You just never know what you may find. Fossils are found in the middle and lower chalk and the upper greensand. |
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Older Children Only
This location is suitable for family trips and older children but children MUST keep away from the cliff edge, and the walk may be too far for some children. |
Fairly Good Access
This location is quite a walk as it is between Beer and Branscombe. If you are planning on visiting this location via the landslide walk from Beer, then access would be rated as very poor, as it is a long walk from the Beer car park. |
Cliffs, Foreshore
Most fossils are found in the fallen blocks which can be found on the foreshore, or at the bottom of the cliffs. Fossils such as echinoid's can also be found loose in scree slopes. |
SSSI
Hookend is an important site for the fauna and flora living and growing behind the old landslide. The cliffs on the beach and the rocks along the foreshore are full of fossils and there are no restrictions for collecting here. |
Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted. The main danger at Hookend Cliff is falling rocks. The cliffs are extremly tall, and cliff falls are quite common here. You should keep away from the base of the cliff at all times. |
Hookend Cliff
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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Last updated:
last visited:
Written by: |
24/06/08
2008
Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
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Geological Tools
Some of the rocks can be quite soft and a pick or knife would be ideal, there is also harder chalk and hard greensand which a hammer would be most suitable. A chisel is essential for getting any important finds out....[more]
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Other Locations similar to Hookend
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The middle chalk at Hookend Cliff can also be found at Beer, and Pinhay Bay. You can also find this chalk at Hunstanton in Norfolk.
If you like this location, you could also try Seaton, nearby which also has chalk and greensand, or Eastbourne and Peaceheven in Sussex further east along the south coast.
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It is easy to find fossils at Hookend Cliff. The old landslide is constantly being eroded by the rain, wind and sea, and boulders of chalk and greensand frequently fall down.
Search the boulders along the foreshore, these are usually full of fossils, the best blocks are those of the 'Middle Chalk', the fossils in these are superbly preserved and fairly easy to get out. The best blocks are those that have been sitting around a while as the hard fossils weather out of the soft chalk, making them easy to spot!
The most common fossils you will find here are echinoid's and brachiopods. The middle chalk is also well documented for fish remains too. Regular echinoid's can also be found in the middle chalk (see fossil photos), but are often only fragments. Further towards Beer Head, the chalk contains many ammonites and belemnites although it is extremely hard and difficult to get these out.
Keep an eye open for loose echinoid's along the foreshore which have been washed out. They can be hard to spot! The greensand here is also rich in fossil brachiopods, oysters and bivalves. Ammonites can also be found in this. Other fossils such as shark teeth, corals and sponges
can also be found here, you just never know what you might find!
View from the walk down the Hookend Cliff landslide.
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Cretaceous, 90-110mya |
The middle chalk makes up the uppermost beds at Hookend Cliff, this being of the Terebratulina lata Zone and the Inoceramus labiatus (Orbirhynchia cuvieri) Zone. This chalk is the most fossiliferious, but is only accessible from fallen blocks.
Most of the cliff at Hookend to Beer comprises of the lower chalk is part of the Beer Limestone Formation of the Hooken Nodular Limestone Bed, Cenomanian age. This is a complex thin sequence of bedded coarse calcareous sandstone, bioclastic limestone, calcarenite and shell-detrital limestone, with a distinct nodularity and well-developed hardgrounds. Glauconitic and phosphatic.
In the lowest part of the cliff at Hookend, is the Upper Greensand which can also be seen on the foreshore during scouring....[more]
Geological succession at Hookend Cliff
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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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