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Introduction to Benacre

Fossils and Fossil Collecting in Benacre
Your Suffolk Geological Guide and Geology Info

The Glacial Pebble Beds at Benacre yield a range of derived fossils including echinoid's, sponges, shells and belemnites. At the base of the cliff, the Baventian Clay is several metres thick.


Benacre - Suffolk
Last updated: [30/12/03]  last visited 2003
Pleistocene
Written by Alister and Alison Cruickshanks

(Benacre During December Scours) - 2003

Location Information

Benacre is glacial, and occasionally fossils can be found in flints that have been re-deposited. However these are very rare. This is not a location for anyone just interested in fossils, and is suitable for those interested in glacial geology.

(Not suitable for Children)

Because fossils are rare here, this location is not suitable for children wishing to collect fossils.

Benacre is easy to get to, a sandy beach makes easy walking and it is not far from easy parking.

Foreshore, Cliff

Although fossils are very rare, flints found directly in the cliff or on the foreshore can occasionally contain fossils.

ACCESS
RIGHTS
SSSI - NEW 2005
This site is now part of the Pakefield to Easton Bavents SSSI. Please obay SSSI code of conduction, for more information see English Nature.

Please follow our national fossil collecting code

A UK Fossils & Discovering Fossils initiative (c) 2006

Other locations similar to Benacre

If you are interested in other locations where glacial deposits yield redeposted fossils such as echinoids from the Cretaceous, you could try Covehithe Cliffs, Thorington or Caistor St Edmund. The coast along Holderness also contains glacial formations that yield redeposited fossils.

If you are interested in other interesting locations that have excellent formations of glacial deposits, you could try Sidestrand and Overstrand in Norfolk.


! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES !

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted.

The sea often hits the cliffs at Benacre, so collecting should be done on the fall of the tide. It can also be easy to become cut off, especially at the North end of the cliff. The cliffs constantly crumble, the structure of the cliff means they can suddenly slump or landslide, so you should keep away from the base of the cliff.


Stone Tumblers (Lapidary)


Stone Tumblers are used for tumbling and polishing rough rock, stones and pebbles including those found on the beach and glass.

Whilst collecting fossils, on those days where you come back empty handed, you could collect rocks, stones and glass from the beach and tumble then at home.

These are all high quality machines to give a professional finish to your samples. The tumblers can be used with a variety of grits, most commonly Silicon Carbide Grit and Cerium Oxide. We have a wide range of rough rocks for sale too.

Microfossils are much easier to collect because they are so small that the vast majority of collections only concentrate on large finds. These small finds can simply be found by taking small samples of sands, crags, clays and soft rocks and examining them under a microscope.

We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, both for the study of fossils, but also educational and professional for use in the laboratory. We have Stereo microscopes, Compound Microscopes, Polarising Microscopes and Monocular Microscopes.


We have thousands of Test Sieves for Particle Analysis.

Endecotts Sieves: For accurate dependable results you can't buy a better test sieve than Endecotts. At every stage of manufacture each test sieve is individually inspected.

High Precision Tecan manufactures precision apertures as small as 3 microns for a wide array of applications such as filtering, sieving and nozzles. Its high-performance, ASTM/ISO compliant test sieves satisfy the most demanding fine particle grading requirements.

Metal Detectors


We have a wide range of metal detectors and motion detectors.

Our metal detectors are of a very high quality and are british made by the Viking Company.

Why not take a metal detector when your fossil hunting! you never know what you may find.


We sell a wide range of compasses to both explorers, students to boat owners.

Some field compasses have build in clinometers so you can calculate the height of cliffs.

Our compasses are high quality. They are an essential part of the explorers kit.


All of our fossils are genuine and have been checked carefully, we only buy from reputable sources.

We have a wide range of fossils from low cost budget fossils to expensive stunning display pieces.

Our fossils are of a very high standard and they come from all over the world.




Images, Graphics & Content - (C)opyright 1998-2005 Alister Cruickshanks.
UK Fossils Management - Alister Cruickshanks & Roy Bullard
UK Fossils Curator - Ian Cruickshanks
UK Fossils is a division of CWA Design and run in conjunction with UKGE. Whilst we try to ensure that all content is accurate and up to date we cannot guarantee this. UK Fossils takes no responsibility in the accuracy of this content, nor takes any liabilities for any trips, events or exchanges between visitors using either the discussion board or the UK Fossils planner. Any posted trips and events by UK Fossils are personal and not arranged by UK Fossils, therefore visitors should seek their own personal insurance cover. Please remember to always check the tide times.
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