Croyde fossils and fossil collecting
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 Croyde and Baggy Point can be reached by parking at the National Trust, Baggy Point car park along the coast of Croyde. This is a very busy tourist location especially in the summer, but there are several other car parks if this one is full.
it is easy to find and about half way up the large hill. From here, walk back down the road for a bit and you will see a cutting beside two houses were a short footpath will take you directly onto the Baggy Beds.
This location is an SSSI, so please do not hammer the bedrock.
GRID REF: 51.13474°N, 4.24216°W
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Low
To find fossils, you need to locate the 'pockets' and these can be hard to find. Fossils are poorly preserved and are very fragile.
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Very Good Access
An excellent car park with toliets, cafe etc, and a very short walk to the beach. This is also a major tourist location. |
Foreshore
Rock outcrops can be seen along the foreshore, these outcrops contain 'pockets' of fossils. It may take some time to locate these pockets, but when you do, there are usually several fossils to be found. |
SSSI
This site is an SSSI, therefore please do not Hammer the Bedrock, but photograph any fossils. You may collect from the loose material. |
Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted. The tide can easily cut you off at Baggy Point and the rocks are very slippery and dangerous, suitable hard-gripping footwear should be worn. The rocks are also very hard to split and jagged fragments from a hammer blow could easily pearce the skin, Goggles should be worn. |
Croyde
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: |
09/06/08
2002
Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
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Geological Tools
TOOLS: A large lump hammer here is required and chisel. googles and suitable footwear should be used. The rocks here are very hard indeed, it may be a good idea to sharpen hammers before any visit to Croyde, otherwise the slate is difficult to split. CONTAINERS: Fossils are quite hard in the Slate, but once the Slate is split into sizeable pieces, it can become brittle and so fossils should be wrapped well.....[more]
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Other Locations similar to Croyde
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Croyde is similar to Woolacombe, where similar fossils can also be found.
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Fossils from the Baggy Beds are generally quite rare but often it is because they are very difficult to see. There are a few gritty pockets of shells amongst the slate (seen in the photo above) which are packed with Bivalves, Gastropods, Seeds, Plant Fauna (Sphenopteridium rigidum, Xenotheca devonica, Shenopteris, Telangium, Cordaites and Knorria) and occasional corals. The Slate is very hard and does not spit very well. Fossils are poorly preserved. The rocks at Croyde continue to Baggy Point and from here to Woolacombe. Look out for patchy gritty brown coloured areas and look very carefully for shells. Trace fossils of Teichichnus ef, Monocraterion ef, tentaculatum, Arebucikutes curvatus and Diplocraterion yoyo can be found.
Heading towards Woolacombe, the beds begin to change and a tuff band can clearly be seen. Within this layer, armoured fish fragments have been found including Holonema cf ornatum, Holoptychius, Coccosteus, Polyplocodus and Bothriolepis.
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Devonian, 360mya |
The rocks at Croyde are from the Devonian age. Sandstones and Siltstones are embedded within the Baggy Beds at Baggy Point. These beds are interbedded brown and grey fine-grained sandstones, siltstones and greenish-grey shaly mudstones with thicker buff, fine- and medium-grained feldspathic and micaceous sugary sandstones. Trace fossils and wave action can be identified within these rocks. At Baggy point, thin crinoidal and gastropodal limestones can be seen with Lingula.
Continuing towards Woolacombe, the Pickwell Down beds become present from the middle Famennian age. At the base of this bed between the Pickwell Down Beds and Baggy Beds, a tuff band layer can be seen known as the 'Bittadon Felsite', the Pickwell Down Beds themselves are marked by over 4000ft of red, brown, purple and green sandstones with some shale.. ...[more]
Brachiopod and fossil tree bark
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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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Our International Rock
and Fossil Magazine |
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