Essex has some excellent locations for collecting fossils, especially from the London Clay, which is exposed both at foreshore level or as cliffs in the fossil locations covered here. The most popular location is Walton-on-the-Naze, which features the best exposures of Red Crag (Pliocene) in the UK and Eocene London Clay. Sharks’ teeth are commonly found here, but can also be found at other locations in Essex. Maylandsea is a small and unique site, which provides an opportunity to collect fossil lobsters. Note that many of the locations in Essex are along river banks.
The most productive location for lobster fragments – found in small yellow nodules – this small location with its tiny cliffs can bring some nice surprises. Sharks’ teeth and fish remains can also be found. There are several species of lobster to be collected and it is also rich in microfossils. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
What looks like a flat beach behind a concrete seawall actually yields plenty of shark and fish teeth, plant remains and much more. People have been collecting here for years. However, success at this location is subject to beach conditions. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Steeple Bay is very similar to Maylandsea. It is very productive for lobster fragments, which are found in small yellow nodules, and for crabs. There are several species of lobster that can be collected here and it is also rich in microfossils. All fossils are washed out of the London Clay from the low cliffs and foreshore. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Along the Wrabness shoreline of the River Stour and after scouring tides or stormy seas, fossils are washed up from sediments from the Quaternary. These include bones of deer, horse and whale from the Red Crag, with turtles, shells, and shark and fish teeth within cement stones and pyrite concretions from the London Clay. Pliocene, Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
Stansgate is situated along the south side of the River Blackwater and is east of the classic London Clay sites of Maylandsea and Steeple. Like these two other sites, phosphate nodules containing lobsters and crabs can be found, with sharks’ teeth and fish remains found loose in the shingle. Eocene, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
East Mersea can be very popular in the summer, as it is a beautiful area, not far from Colchester. The foreshore is made up of London Clay, with a few sharks’ teeth to be found. This site is also well documented for OIS5 and OIS6 Pleistocene deposits, rich in (among other things) the teeth from small mammals and the shells of molluscs. Pleistocene, Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
Walton-on-the-Naze is an unpredictable location, which can be highly productive one day and bare the next. It is the best coastal location for fossils from the Red Crag and is famous for fossil bird remains from the London Clay. It also while yields some of the largest sharks’ teeth in the UK (including the rare Carcharocles megalodon), together with plant remains and much, much more. Pliocene, Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Burnham-on-Crouch has yielded an incredible variety of fossils – you just never know what you will find. There are various species of shark (with teeth and vertebrae being most common fossils), crabs, seeds, fish remains (including ray teeth) and much, much more. Eocene, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦