Leckhampton Hill fossils and fossil collecting

A pleasant few hours can be spent at Leckhampton Hill. There are numerous old quarry faces with their associated scree piles to investigate. Fossils are not abundant but, with patience, some should be collected. The views from this hill are impressive and the walk to the various sites is an enjoyable, if hilly, one.

Other Locations similar to Leckhampton Hill

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 Robinswood Hill.Hill, and Cleeve Common

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 and above the faces.

        

Various fossils can be found at this location with some effort. There are three main exposures to visit, each offering different strata. You may not go home with too many specimens but you should be able to pick up a handful.

It is worth investigating the weathered material below the entire face here, but the best collecting is to be had at the right hand end, where brachiopods and other fossils may be found in the earthy material at the top of the face. However, the ‘peas’ of the Pea Grit which has weathered to make this material effectively camouflage the brachiopods as they are of a similar size and shape.

The quarry faces and their scree accumulations above this site are not fossilferous. To get to the next fossiliferous site, carry on up the hill, heading south west. You should come across a large quarry face to your left. Check the rocks at the base of this for fossils. From this point, it is a short walk away from the face to view the Devil’s Chimney, a relic from the hill’s quarrying past.

To reach the third site, you need to climb the hill to the right of the face, up to the top. Walk east and a little north across the plateau, past the Iron Age camp and barrow. Continue along until you see a gate to your right which has a path cut into a metre or so high exposure of rock on the left hand side, and a fence and field on the right.

Walk along this path, investigating the exposure where it appears well weathered. This rock is Trigonia Grit and, hence, you may be able to find impressions of the bivalve Trigonia in it. Continue along this path until you get to a gate. Just before this gate, to your right and below, is a small exposure of weathered material. It is worth looking through this for brachiopods. Through the gate and to the right are the remains of a very shallow quarry. Look in the weathered material at the top of the quarry sides for brachiopods.

The Jurassic rocks of Leckhampton Hill are of the Bajocian, Aalenian, and Toarcian. There are six sites to visit along this trail, with four main quarries covering different geological times.

Brownstone Quarry - This quarry is situated to the far east of the trail, and covers the upper Trigonia Grit Member, Nolgrove Member, Gryphite Grit Member and Lower Trigonia Grit Member, marked in this guide as location number 3.

Deadmans Quarry - Starts from the base of the Lower Trigonia Grit Member, and follows through the Upper Freestone of the Lower Inferior Oolite, Soottsquar Member, and the Oolite Marl, and the lowest beds being he Lower Freestone of the Cleeve Cloud Member.

Firsbrake Quarry - Contains the Middle part of the Lower Freestone Beds.

Lower Limekilns Quarry - Starts from the Lower Freestone Beds, and follows through the Pea Grit, Lower Limestone and Scissum Beds with the lowest formation being the top of the Lias Group, the Whitby Mudstone Formation. ...[more]

Trigonia...[more]