Halkyn fossils and fossil collecting
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 The fossil hunting area can be found approximately one kilometre to the south-east of Halkyn. Parking can be found close to the top of the road that leads into the modern quarry on its eastern side.
Much of the land surrounding the current quarry is covered by waste piles of limestone and chert, which, although largely obscured now by soil and grass, do yield occasional fossils.
In other areas, old quarry faces can still be seen and fossils can be observed in situ here or collected from scree at their bases. Many public footpaths cross this land, making access easy.
GRID REF: 53.22757°N, 3.19168°W
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Medium
In places many good brachiopods, corals and pieces of crinoidal limestone can be found. In other areas the old quarry waste is virtually barren of specimens. |
Supervised Children
The terrain here is flat in places but pock-marked in others by pits, old quarry faces and infilled shafts. Children should be well supervised to ensure their safety. |
Fair Access
Many footpaths cover the area surrounding the modern quarry. The ground is covered by vegetated piles of scree and is heavily pitted in places but any reasonably fit person should be able to fossil hunt here. |
Disused quarries, Quarry Waste
Fossils can be found among the piles of old quarry waste and also beneath the faces of old quarries. |
No Restrictions
Free access – many footpaths criss-cross the land surrounding the modern quarry. |
The relief of the area makes it easy to sprain an ankle. In some places old quarries have been cut into the ground and it is hard to see them until you reach them. Keep an eye out for such features. Do not enter the modern quarry. |
Last updated:
last visited:
Written by: |
05/06/08
2008
Joe Shimmin
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Other Locations similar to Halkyn
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Halkyn is an excellent location for corals, other similar locations for Carboniferous Corals are;Parkhouse Hill, Castleton, Portishead, Weston-Super-Mare in Avon. In Derbyshire, you can find corals from Monsal Dale
In South West Wales, you can also find Silurian Corals from Freshwater East, Marloes Sands. Mortimer Forest, Shadwell Quarry, Upper Millichope , Llanymynech Quarry, and Wenlock Quarry, Wenlock Edge
in the Shropshire District. Along the South West Coast, you can also collect Devonian Corals from Torquay along Hopes Nose and Daddy Hole. In Scotland, you can also find corals at St Monans. From Wales, Carboniferous Corals can be found at Lydstep Headland, West Angle Bay, Caim, Halkyn, Great Ormes Head, Red Wharf Bay, Prestatyn, Llangollen, and Manorbier Bay.
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Geological Tools
A map, a number of bags and newspaper in which to wrap your finds is all that is really needed at this location. A hammer may come in handy for breaking up larger blocks of fossiliferous limestone at the base of old quarry faces.
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Fossils can be picked up from virtually any waste pile in the area surrounding the modern quarry. However, these finds tend to be infrequent, small and weathered. Pieces of chert with moulds of fossils that have since dissolved away are to be found among some piles principally composed of chert, while crinoid stem pieces, brachiopods and small corals may occasionally be found among limestone waste piles.
To find fossils in the area surrounding the modern quarry some exploring must be carried out. In places hardly anything will be collected but elsewhere fossils are abundant. The current, working quarry is also an impressive feature, worth taking a look at from the field boundaries.
Large crinoid stem sections and huge brachiopods can be seen weathering out of sizeable blocks of rock placed outside the quarry, next to the car park.
The best places to look for fossils are within the faces of the old quarries that litter the area. Some rock layers are virtually devoid of specimens, while others are crammed with brachiopods and pieces of crinoids. Many specimens will be found below productive quarry faces.
One old quarry that is especially fruitful may be found next to the road north of the modern quarry, just next to a bridge - you will need to drive here from your original parking area.
Buildings and walls in the surrounding area also often have fossiliferous limestone blocks incorporated into their structures. These often present impressive coral, crinoid and brachiopod specimens, which have weathered partially free from their matrix over time...[more]
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Carboniferous, 330mya |
The Carboniferous Limestone Series at Halkyn is of Visean age. It is part of the Craven Group, This is around 330 million years old....[more]
How life in the oceans would have looked at Halkyn 350mya
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Stone Tumblers |
Microscopes |
Test Sieves for Microfossils |
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.
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Test Sieves are used when searching for microfossils. Microfossils can be found in many locations, and all you need is a small amount of sample such as clays, sands and shales, or if you have acid, limestone, oolite or chalk.
Our UKGE Store sells Endecotts Test Sieves, which are the highest in accuracy and extremely durable and long lasting. These Test Sieves are fantastic for microfossils. Endecotts Test Sieves come in a variety of sizes, frame material and types, they are certificated to EU Standards. |
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