fossil location picture and uk fossils header



Introduction 
Location Access 
What to Bring 
What to Read 
Safety Notes 

Where to Look 
What to Find 
Geological Guide 

Location Photos 
Fossil Photos 
Video Clips 
LIVE Field Notes 

Local Information 
Places to Visit 
Accommodation 

Your Fossil Finds 
Your Experiences 
Your Discussions 
Website Links 
More Guides 
Contact Us 
Introduction to Hastings

Fossils and Fossil Collecting in Hastings
Your Sussex Geological Guide and Geology Info

Hastings is one of the only places outside the Isle of Wight where Dinosaur bones can be found. This popular and important site has yielded some important finds over the years. Fish, shark, plant, reptile remains and bivalve and gastropod shells can also be collected. Keep a look out for dinosaur footprints.

Hastings - Sussex
Last updated: [10/09/03]  last visited 2003
Cretaceous
Written by Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
Fossils & Fossil Collecting in Hastings
(Hastings Beach) - 2003

Hastings Location Information

Hastings yields excellent fish specimens and dinosaur fragments but also has quite a lot of competition. The best time to collect is during the winter storms, or scouring conditions.

(Recommended)

Although hastings is suitable for families, and near to shops, food outlets, toilets and a very close car park. The foreshore is very rocky and may not be suitable for children. Keep away from the base of the cliff.

   

Hastings is easy to access, right next to a very large car park, toilets and many food outlets/ shops. You don't have to walk very far but be warned that the beach can be very rocky.

Foreshore, Cliff

Most of the fossils at Hastings can be found on the foreshore especially after storms or scouring conditions, but fossils are also commonly found at the base of the cliff on the scree slopes. Extreme Care must be taken and hard hats should be worn if collecting near the base of the cliff.

ACCESS
RIGHTS
There are 'NO' restrictions to this location


Please follow our national fossil collecting code

A UK Fossils & Discovering Fossils initiative (c) 2006

Small Ammonites
Lepidotes Fish Jaw from Hastings

! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES !

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

Two dangers are apparent along the Hastings coastline, the first is the tidal conditions which need to be taken note of, and good time allowed to return. MANY PEOPLE EACH YEAR ARE CUT OFF BY THE TIDE.

The other important note is the danger of falling debris and cliff falls from the high cliffs. Stay away from the foot of the cliff and if you are knocking fossils or hitting rocks, do so well away from the cliff as hammer vibrations can cause debris to fall. Hard hats should be worn.

Other locations similar to Hastings

If you enjoy Hastings, you could also try Bexhill or Fairlight (Pett Level) in further up the coast or Durlston in Dorset, both are very similar to Hastings.

(Collecting from Hastings)
Collecting from Hastings

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.

Why not try...

Looking for more good fossil hunting trips? Why not try the following locations which are all very good for finding fossils...

Whitby, Bracklesham, Kettleness, Eastbourne, Hastings, Hope, Staithes
Quantoxhead, Fishguard, Abereiddy, Whitehaven, Aust, Hunstanton,




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.
UK Fossils | Discussions | News | Magazine | Search Geo | UKGE | Southwold.info