North Foreland fossils and fossil collecting

It is recommended that you park in the pay and display car park to the south of Kingsgate, at Joss Bay. From here you can access the beach and walk south towards Broadstairs.
Alternatively, you can park in various locations in Broadstairs and make your way down to the beach from them. If you park in Broadstairs be sure to check out the fossil shop on the way down!
Fossils can be found all along the stretch of coast between these two points.

GRID REF: 51.37390°N, 1.45009°E

Echinoids, Sponges, shells

This stretch of chalk coastline can be accessed from Broadstairs to the south or Joss Bay to the north. Fossils can be found both in the chalk and in the abundant flint pebbles on the foreshore. Common finds include echinoids and sponges.

Medium

It is unlikely that you will leave this location with a whole bagful of specimens but with patience you should find a few good pieces to take home.

Suitable for Children

This location is ideal for children. From both Joss Bay and Broadstairs the going is easy, with no major obstacles. In the summer months the beaches here are very busy at both access points, however, if you walk a few hundred metres they are practically deserted.

Good Access

There is a pay and display car park at Joss Bay, with beach access directly below. From here, walk south towards Broadstairs, looking for fossils as you go. There is also pay and display parking in Broadstairs and the beach is easily accessed here too. From Broadstairs walk north.

Cliff and foreshore

Fossils can be seen in the chalk cliffs and extracted from the fallen boulders below. The foreshore is covered with flint pebbles which are eroded out of the chalk below. Some nice specimens can be found here also.

No Restrictions

There are no access restrictions at this location.

North Foreland
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

Make sure you visit this location at or near to low tide. There is no way off of the beach between Broadstairs and Joss Bay, although there are places where private stairway tunnels to the top of the cliffs can be accessed in a real emergency. However, these are locked at the top.

Please do not hammer into the cliff face to avoid causing rocks to fall on you! The foreshore can be slippery due to mud and weed.

Last updated:	2010
last visited:	2009
Written by:	Joe Shimmin

A good, sturdy bag and plenty of packing material, as well as a hammer and chisel are need at this location. Waterproof boots with a good grip will also come in handy.


Sea urchins, sponges, corals, crinoid pieces, brachiopods and bivalves are all common finds at this location. None are particularly abundant but they are there, you just have to spend a while looking. Fossils can be observed in the cliffs and extracted from the fallen chalk boulders below. It is also recommended that you look through the flint nodules that are extremely abundant on the foreshore. Common finds in these include urchins and sponges. The foreshore is covered in flints!

	Cretaceous, 85mya
At Dumpton, the chalk is of Santonian age, which several distinct bands within these which can be seen in the excellent exposures, these are the Whitaker's Three Inch Flint Band, the Bedwell's Columnar Flint Band, Rowe's Echinoid Band and the Barrois' Sponge Bed...[more]

Location Video

Urchin spine in chalk...[more]

Other Locations similar to North Foreland

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.

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.

At North Foreland, 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.

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.