Cleeve Common fossils and fossil collecting

Take Wickfield Lane off of the B4632 at the north west edge of Cleeve Hill.
There will be a sign to Cleeve Hill golf club. You will pass a private golf club car park on your way to the public car park, which is situated in an old quarry. Park in the latter of the two.
When parked, walk out of the car park the way you came in and follow the road/track to the left rather than back down where you came from. Keeping to the western boundary, walk south west and then south.
After a while you will see a long series of old quarry faces. The entire stretch is worth investigating.

GRID REF: 51.94274°N, 2.01722°W

Brachiopods, Bivalves, Echinoids

There are many old quarries on the west side of the elevated golf course at Cleeve Hill. Fossils are varied and abundant, and plenty can be collected from scree below the faces. However, the in situ rock should not be hammered. Views from the top of this, the highest hill in Gloucestershire, are stunning.

Good

Once you have identified the right rock types you should be able to find a fair amount. Fossils are extremely abundant in some strata in the exposures, but these should be left where they are. Plenty of specimens can be collected in the scree and earth below the faces.

Older Children

There is quite a walk to investigate all of the available hunting areas and the landscape is very hilly. In some places there are high, unfenced drops. This site is unsuitable for very young fossil hunters but older children, properly supervised, should be fine.

Moderate access

There are no toilets or other facilities here. The golf club can be hard to find, so consult a map first. Similarly, the old quarries may elude you if you do not have a good map, compass and preferably an aerial view of the hill. The walk to the fossil hunting areas is not for the unfit.

This walk takes you along a geological trail. There are eight sites to visit in total, and we recommend the guide booklet at the bottom of this page, as it will give clear easy access information for each site along the route.

Old quarry faces
and scree

Fossils are mostly found in the scree and weathered rock and earth below and above fossiliferous strata in the old quarry faces. Plenty of fossils will be observed in the in situ rock but these should be left for other people to enjoy.

SSSI
No Hammering Bedrock

Although there are no restrictions at this location, to preserve this site for future generations, hammering the bedrock is not permitted, you can hammer and collect from the loose rocks and scree.

In some places there are high, unfenced drops. This site is unsuitable for very young fossil hunters but older children, properly supervised, should be fine. Please ensure that you keep well away from the cliff face where rocks can frequently fall, we recommend a hard hat

Last updated:
last visited:

Written by:

24/04/09
2009

Joe Shimmin

Other Locations similar to Cleeve Common

There are many locations in the UK that have Oolite fossils. In Dorset, the most famous is Burton Bradstock and West Bay which is Inferior Oolite. Aso in Dorset is Horn Park Quarry, although this is now a highly restricted SSSI and also a business park.

Other locations such as Ketton Quarry in Lincolnshire, and Bearreraig Bay on the Isle of Skye, are also superb locations.

Nearby locations also of interest are the inferior oolite of Gilberts Grave and the oolite of both Leckhampton Hill, and Robinswood Hill.

Geological Tools

Sturdy footwear, some packing material, a bag and some food and drink should suffice at this location. However, a small trowel might also come in handy for sifting through the earth below the faces.


There are plenty of fossils to be found in and below the numerous exposures here. It’s worth spending a few hours at this location: with patience, you should be rewarded with a good quantity of fossils to take home. Fossils are fairly scarce or broken in the distinctive white coloured Lower Freestone (oolitic limestone), but are exposed in various sections both above and below this layer. Below, in the Pea Grit, and above, in the Oolite Marl and the Trigonia, Gryphite and Clypeius Grits, can be found an abundance of brachiopods, bryozoa, corals, echinoids, crinoid parts, sponges and more. You can also collect the famous 'flat' type echiniods of 'Clypeus ploti'. The best collecting is to be had in the scree and weathered earthy parts of the exposures, where nature has done the hard work for you. Old quarry faces

Jurassic, 180mya

The Jurassic rocks of Cleeve Common are of the Bajocian and Aalenian.There are eight sites to visit along this trail, covering three formations, the Salperton Limestone Formation, the Aston Limestone Formation and Birdlip Limestone Formation. One of the most famous beds along this trail is the Cypeus Grit, which is from the Salperton Limestone Member. This bed contains the highly collected Clypeus ploti echinoids...[more]

A Jurassic Oolite boulder, full of brachiopods and other fossils


Large brachiopod in oolitic limestone....[more]

Stone Tumblers

Microscopes

Cleeve Common

If you are interested in fossil collecting, then you may also be interested in a stone tumbler (Lapidary). You can polish stones and rocks from the beach which will look fantastic polished using a stone tumbler.

You can polish rough rock and beach glass whilst collecting fossils, on those days where you come back empty handed. These are all high quality machines to give a professional finish to your samples. They can even be used for amber and fossils.

At most locations, you can find microfossils. You only need a small sample of the sand. You then need to wash it in water and sieve using a test sieve. Once the sand is processed, you can then view the contents using a microscope.

We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, you will need a Stereomicroscope for viewing microfossils. The best one we sell is the IMXZ, but a basic microscope will be fine. Once you have found microfossils, you will need to store these microfossils.

This large booklet contains the full detailed geological trail with information specific to each site along the route. Including local information, resources and grid references. Follow the guided walks to take you on a geological guide.

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