Love Fossils, Exploring Nature and Understanding the Planet?
So Do We!
We are scientists with a passion for sharing expertise on one of the UK’s most important geological neighbourhoods. Committed to responsible fossil collecting, we are education and experience providers eager to boost participation with, and learning of Earth Science, Fossils and the Yorkshire Coast’s world class GeoHeritage.
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Check out these places when you visit the Yorkshire Coast
Whitby
Whitby’s 190 million years of geological heritage helped build the young science of geology in the 1800s, as it still does today. A Mecca for fossil hunters, walkers and nature lovers, this is the number one must visit place on the Yorkshire Coast. The old harbour area is a living museum of architecture, history and heritage. A stroll through the streets reveals picture postcard views around every corner. Wedged between towering coastal cliffs and golden sandy beaches, it’s stunning hinterland is full of rolling moorland and secluded wooded valleys, with country roads leading to villages oozing of charm and character. The location has been attracting visitors from afar for thousands of years – many of them seeking treasures of stone.
Runswick Bay
Named as Britain’s Best Beach in 2020, Runswick Bay is as close to perfection as it is to Hinderwell! A stunning expanse of sand, shingle and scar spreads from the village across to Kettleness. Famous for fossil finds, the beach is a great starting point for family adventure on a guided fossil safari searching for Jurassic Sea Monsters. Don’t worry though, if you’re heading in for a swim, the Ichthyosaurs became extinct 90 million years ago!
Scarborough is split by its 12th Century Castle, giving not one, but two spectacular town beaches! With layer upon layer of history, the historic resort town is criss-crossed with walkaways, funiculars, promenades, gardens and bridges. Well worth getting lost in, and even more worth finding where you stand now and how it relates to the geological past. Unarguably the British capital of Dinosaur trackways, you don’t even need to leave the promenade to see footprints left by sauropods during the Jurassic period around 170 million years ago. Home of the Rotunda Museum – the world’s first geology specific museum – Scarborough has days worth of activities and is a great hub for nearby fossil sites.
Scarborough
Redcar Beach
Some may argue that Yorkshire doesn’t extend to the Tees, but geologically, The Yorkshire Jurassic begins in Redcar. This exceptional location reflects a critical period in Earth History where life was recovering from one of the big five mass extinctions. Redcar Beach has one of the most abundant in-situ fossil assemblages in the UK, and is a classic location for shallow marine fossils. As a pebble-spotting location it is equally unique, as landform and geology have combined to make its beaches a recipient of erratic specimens transported by glaciers during the last glacial maximum. Both older, and younger fossils are found in shingle patches here, along with crystals, agates and rocks from nearby ore-fields and volcanic locations.
When the tides and sands allow it, you can also walk through the 6000 year old prehistoric forest just metres away from the Promenade. For these two geologically unique reasons, Redcar is a great location for looking into planetary history. It’s SSSI status prevents all removal directly from bedrock, making it a great location to SEE fossils within outcrop.
