Happisburgh fossils and fossil collecting |
 Access to Happisburgh beach can easily be located, simply follow signs through the village to the beach car park
Once at the car park, walk north towards the life boat station, here the slipway has fallen into the sea, but you will see some metal steps down to the beach ahead.
The glacial beds start straight away, any forest bed will be exposed on the foreshore, but this is rare. The glacial beds of interest are the blue-grey and brown beds where erratic fossils and molluscs dating from the last ice age can be found.
GRID REF: 52.93760°N, 1.27383°E
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Happisburgh, famous for its rapid rates of erosion and a graveyard of previous attempts to stop erosion with old broken sea walls, is not the most famous of places for fossils. It is actually the glacial beds that yield fossils, mostly mollusc's, but also other erratics. Happisburgh does have forest bed, but this is rarely exposed. |
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Low
Erratic fossils are not common, and the molluscs are mostly broken. You should find a few complete molluscs, but generally the find rate is low. The forest bed which is rarely exposed, is much more productive with occasional bones found.
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Supervised children
Due to the large amount of sharp metal objects from past sea defenses, the area around the houses and lifeboat sliproad is not recommended for children. Children can visit the cliffs near the new steps down to the beach.
Children can also visit the beach south of the houses, which is golden sands, there is still some glacial beds here which are interesting to view without the dangers. |
Good Access
Access is via the steps from the cliff top, these steps take you directly onto the beach, where you can start looking for fossils straight away.
Access can change frequently due to the extensive erosion rates at this location. The old access route was via the lifeboat slipway, which has now fallen into the sea. |
Foreshore, Cliffs
Most fossils are found in the cliff face. You will see plenty of broken shells, and occasionally complete shells. Samples can be taken from this bed which will contain micro-minerals and small erratics such as crinoids and chalk fragments. If the beach has scoured then the forest bed will be on view, and this will give better chances of collecting fossils. |
No Restrictions
There are no restrictions at this location, please take extra care and follow our code of conduct below. Happisburgh can be a dangerous location, so please read the safety notes. |
Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted. There are a number of dangerous at Happisburgh. Firstly the worn sea defences of past attempts to stop the sea from eroding the cliff have left lots of sharp metal lying across the beach. The beach is also difficult to access and care must be taken when walking across these metal defences. The sea itself often hits the cliff and it is very easy to get cut off from the tide. The third danger is cliff falls, the cliffs at Happisburgh are sandy and can fall suddenly without warning, cliff falls are regular.
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Last updated:
last visited:
Written by: |
03/05/08
2009
Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
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Other locations similar to Happisburgh
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If you enjoy collecting from Boulder Clay or Till, where fossils are found as erratics, then why not try other Suffolk Coast. There are plenty of locations to visit including, Happisburgh, Pakefield, Gisleham Quarry, or Corton. Or along the Holderness coastline, try Mappleton.
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Happisburgh is famous for its rapid erosion. When you visit Happisburgh, you will notice a series of failed attempts to stop the sea, part of a sea wall, granite blocks, and two series of damaged wave baffles. This is a location, which shows how you just cannot stop nature. You will also notice that the slipway of the old lifeboat station has completely fallen.
At the base of the cliff, you will see some blue clays, these contain fossils. They are glacial, so most of the fossils are erratics such as belemnites, crinoids etc. These tend to be fragments and are very small, you never know what you might find. What is interesting is marine molluscs can be found, dating from the last ice age, these are still alive today and you can find some nice fossil specimens in the blue bed. You will also notice small fragments of chalk, minerals and lots of broken shells.
Marine mollusc from the glacial blue bed
Marine mollusc from the glacial blue bed
Laminated stoneless and chalky clay (Great Eastern Drift)
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The geology of Happisburgh is mostly of glacial. The upper part of the cliff is made of sands and gravels which can be seen as soon as you enter the beach, below this is the boulder clay, which contains chalky fragments, followed by sands again and then laminated clay. The clay is split between a brown-coloured and blue-grey colour. The blue clay contains marine molluscs, chalk fragments and other fossil erratics such as crinoids, belemnites etc. ...[more]
Glacial beds at Happisburgh
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Geological Tools |
Compasses |
Test Sieves for Microfossils |
We sell a wide range of geological tools from our online store. These include hammers, chisels, and pick.
We also sell starter packs with everything you need to start fossil collecting.
Our online store includes books and publications on fossils and geology, and a range of geological maps on the Boggle Hole area.
We have over 10,000 items for sale, covering almost every aspect of geology and fossils. |
When visiting locations such as Happisburgh, a compass is most handy. A compass is a navigational instrument that enables you to find directions on the Earth. compasses consist of a magnetised pointer which moved to align itself accurately with the Earth's magnetic field. The cardinal compass points are north, south, east and west. Compasses are mostly enclosed with liquid compass in which a needle floats. Any instrument with a magnetised bar or a needle turning freely upon a pivot and pointing in a northerly and southerly direction can be considered a compass.
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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 fully certificated to EU Standards. |
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