Fossil Collecting at Great Ormes Head
One of the best places to look for fossils at this location is near to the summit car park. Park up and walk in the opposite direction from the visitors’ centre, towards an old quarry face that is surrounded by limestone pebbles that have been arranged into peoples’ initials and names etc. To the left of this there is a shallow gully with exposed limestone sides and scree at its base.
Walk along this gully and investigate the scree as you go. At the end of it you will come to an area where large blocks have fallen from the face. These blocks are covered by very large brachiopod casts and moulds. The rock face is also packed with these fossils.
Smaller pieces of limestone with brachiopods and corals can be collected. Please do not disturb the larger pieces, leave them for future visitors to enjoy.
There are many natural and artificial exposures on the headland. The natural ones tend to be covered by lichens and fossils are hard to find but the manmade ones are often full of easily visible fossils.
Other features of interest include numerous limestone pavements and also glacial erratics; an information board at the summit will show you the location of these.
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