Fossils and Geology of Sheppey, Kent. Fossil Collecting & Geological Guides

Isle of Sheppey Fossils and Fossil Collecting
Your Kent Geological Guide and Geology Info

The best location for collecting fossils from the London Clay, highly rich in fossils. Famous for its wide variety of finds that include everything from Turtles, Lobsters, Crabs to Sharks Teeth, Snake and Plant Remains.

Isle of Sheppey - Kent
Last updated: [07/07/04] last visited 2003

Eocene

Written by Alister and Alison Cruickshanks

(Isle of Sheppey) - 2004

Location Information

Sheppey not only has such a vast range of various fossils that can be collected, often something different every time you visit, but it is also highly productive.

(Suitable for Children)

This location is ideal for children, the only advice is to avoid this location during the winter months when it can be sticky and dangerious.

The Isle of Sheppey coastline is so big that its not feasible to do two ends from one walk. Choose which end you would rather go to. Both entrances are easy to find and right near the beach.

Foreshore

This is a foreshore a location, although Sheppey has a massive cliff, you won't find anything by looking into it. The clay to fossil ratio is so small that you need the seas natural sieving action to separate the fossils from the clay. This is a 'hands and knee's job'.

ACCESS
RIGHTS

SSSI

Please click here to download the SSSI Report, including restrictions and information.

Please follow our national fossil collecting code

(UK Fossils LIVE - field trip to Sheppey) - 2003

Other Locations similar to Sheppey

If you are interested in other similar locations in the area and of which have London Clay, try Levington, Nacton, Ramsholt, Bognor Regis, or Bawdsey, in Suffolk or Maylandsea, Walton-on-Naze or Burnham on Crouch in Essex

If you like collecting sharks teeth you could also try Bracklesham Bay, Herne Bay, Barton-on-Sea or Milford-on-sea which are also of the
Eocene age

If you enjoy collecting Crocodile and Turtle, you could try Hamstead or Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, here the Oliogocene bed yield plenty of remains.

! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES !

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted. It is very easy to get cut off from the tide and the tide often reaches the base of the cliff. The cliff landslips are also very dangerous, it is possible to sink right down deep into the clay. Therefore there is no escape should you become cut off, it is therefore essential to DOUBLE CHECK TIDE TIMES and ensure you return before the tide turns.

Care must also be taken on the foreshore as this too can be very muddy and it is easy to become stuck. At Sheerness in particular, there are a lot of sharp metal objects, it is recommended that if taking children, to go to Warden Point rather than Sheerness. Keep away from the base of the cliff as cliff falls frequently occur along this coastline.

Stone Tumblers (Lapidary)

Microscopes

Test Sieves for Particle Analysis

Stone Tumblers are used for tumbling and polishing rough rock, stones and pebbles including those found on the beach and glass.

Whilst collecting fossils, on those days where you come back empty handed, you could collect rocks, stones and glass from the beach and tumble then at home.

These are all high quality machines to give a professional finish to your samples. The tumblers can be used with a variety of grits, most commonly Silicon Carbide Grit and Cerium Oxide. We have a wide range of rough rocks for sale too.

Microfossils are much easier to collect because they are so small that the vast majority of collections only concentrate on large finds. These small finds can simply be found by taking small samples of sands, crags, clays and soft rocks and examining them under a microscope.

We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, both for the study of fossils, but also educational and professional for use in the laboratory. We have Stereo microscopes, Compound Microscopes, Polarising Microscopes and Monocular Microscopes.

We have thousands of Test Sieves for Particle Analysis.

Endecotts Sieves: For accurate dependable results you can't buy a better test sieve than Endecotts. At every stage of manufacture each test sieve is individually inspected.

High Precision Tecan manufactures precision apertures as small as 3 microns for a wide array of applications such as filtering, sieving and nozzles. Its high-performance, ASTM/ISO compliant test sieves satisfy the most demanding fine particle grading requirements.

Isle of Sheppey Fossils and Fossil Collecting Your Kent Geological Guide and Geology Info

Isle of Sheppey Fossils and Fossil Collecting
Your Kent Geological Guide and Geology Info