Maylandsea and Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex

Shark tooth Crustacea Echinoid Bivalves Wood Mammal
Shark tooth Crustacea Echinoid Bivalves Wood Mammal

Maylandsea lies on the Blackwater river in southeast England and provides fossils from it's London Clay deposits dating back approximately 55-48 million years ago. Fossils found here include crab, shark teeth, fish teeth and vertebra, bivalves and crinoids. Maylandsea is probably best known for it's lobster fossils, whose legs, claws and carapace can be found on it's shingle shoreline.

Walton-on-the-Naze provides similar fossils to that of Maylandsea. When exposed by the tides at the base of the cliffs, it's London Clay reveals lobsters, crabs, shark teeth and even bird fossils. It's 2 million year old Red Crag layers in the cliff provide various bone fragments, shells, fish and shark remains. The best collecting area is amongst the pyrite shingle near to the large concrete bunkers. The beach at Walton is an SSSI making it illegal to climb and dig in the cliffs - this should not be necessary as there are plenty of fossils in the scree up and down the shore.

Maylandsea Walton-on-the-Naze. Red Crag layers in the cliffs at Walton-on-the-Naze. Red Crag close-up at Walton-on-the-Naze.
Fossiling in wet
December at
Maylandsea.		 Walton-on-the-Naze. Red Crag layers in
the cliffs at
Walton-on-the-Naze.		 Red Crag close-up at
Walton-on-the-Naze.

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