Seaford fossils and fossil collecting
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 Go past the Seaford Head golf course, along Chyngton Road and up a narrow lane at the end which takes you to the car park.
From the car park there are numerous access points to the beach. You can walk east past a couple of houses and down onto the beach or you can walk east for a hundred metres or so and then south down to some steps.
There are numerous boulders on the beach and the foreshore is uneven and slippy. The location is suitable for children but parents should be on hand to supervise.
GRID REF: 50.76259°N, 0.13085°E
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Low
The chalk here is very fossiliferous in places. In the cliffs many echinoid spines, bryozoans and numerous other types of fossils can be seen. However, these should not be collected. Some good examples can be found by splitting boulders and searching the foreshore, but patience is needed.
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Supervised Children
There are numerous boulders on the beach and the foreshore is uneven and slippy. The location is suitable for children but parents should be on hand to supervise.
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Good Access
There is a free car park at the top of the cliff and a fairly short walk down to the beach. Once on the beach walking is easy enough in most areas.
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Foreshore/Boulders
Fossils can be found in the chalk of the foreshore and also within boulders. The cliffs should be avoided however.
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No Restrictions
From the car park to the beach the land is a nature reserve. The beach, however, has no restrictions. knows where you have gone and what time you expect to be back.
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Seaford
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 cliffs here are prone to collapses, so keep a safe distance from them. In some places weed on the foreshore makes it slippery. It is possible to become cut off by the tide so make sure you collect on a retreating tide. Mobile phone signals are generally non-existent here so make sure someone knows where you have gone and what time you expect to be back. |
| Last updated: |
2008 |
| last visited: |
2008 |
| Written by: |
Joe Shimmin |
 
Other Locations similar to Seaford
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In Sussex, there are many excellent locations for collecting chalk fossils. Newhaven, Seaford, Eastbourne, Seven Sisters, Peacehaven and Beachy Head.
Kent also has some excellent locations, including Dumpton, Kingsgate, Birchington, Samphire Hoe, Pegwell Bay, Dover and St Margarets Bay.
You can also find middle chalk at Hookend Cliff, and Pinhay Bay in Devon, and at Hunstanton in Norfolk.
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There is a large area of wave cut platform to look over in search of echinoids. These are generally cut or worn however, so breaking likely looking chalk blocks can be more productive for good specimens.
All along this coast-line is productive. The cliffs have many cidaroid echinoid spines, bryozoans etc. weathering out of them. All of these fossils can be found in chalk blocks also but are less apparent in these than in the cliffs.
With patience you should find a few nice specimens to take home.
Foreshore chalk at Seaford
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Cretaceous, 86mya |
On the foreshore and 20m West, the Cliffe and Hope Gap Beds are accessible. These are part of the Lewes Chalk group. There is also a red-iron stained nodular and hardground surface which is known as the 'Hope Gap Hardground.
The cliffs are Seaford are of the Seaford Chalk, part of the Santonian and Coniacian age and cover several members including the Haven Brow, Cuckmere, Seven Sisters Flint Band and Belle Tout....[more]
Chalk of Seaford
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Related Books |
Microscopes |
Test Sieves for Microfossils |
 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 Seaford, 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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Test Sieves are used when searching for microfossils. We recommend that you use a test sieve with water at different levels. Test sieves for chalk fossils should be 300 microns, and 500 microns.
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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