Crimplesham fossils and fossil collecting

From the West, Crimplesham is to the East of Downham Market and best accessed from the A1122. From here, drive through the village past the church and continue along this road.
From the East, Crimplesham is best accessed via the A134 . Only 500 metres from the A134 turnoff towards Crimplesham.
Quarries are dangerous places, and are not for children. This is also a working quarry. Due to health and safety, children under the age of 16 are not allowed in working quarries. You will also need permission to visit this location.

GRID REF: 52.60538°N, 0.45415°E

Ammonites, molluscs, belemnites

At Crimplesham, Kimmeridge Clay and Oxford Clay is exposed. Within the Oxford Clay is large nodules which contain ammonites, brachiopods and bivalves. The quarry is slowly being backfilled, so collecting is become more limited.

Medium

Finding fossils depends on where they are currently digging. The quarry is after the top sands, so the Oxford Clay and Kimmeridge Clay are found at the bottom of the pit. Once the quarry takes all the sand, they backfill. This means that collecting can be unpredictable.

Not for Children

Quarries are dangerous places, and are not for children. This is also a working quarry. Due to health and safety, children under the age of 16 are not allowed in working quarries.

Good Access

This quarry is easy to find, to the East of Crimplesham. It has a large car park near the main offices.

Working Quarry

Fossils are found from the Kimmeridge Clay and Oxford Clay. The best fossils are found in the hard Oxford Clay nodules.

Permission needed

This is a working quarry, and you will need permission to visit. This can be obtained by telephone:
Frimstone Pit 01366 388900

This is a very busy working quarry and large vehicles frequently move around the quarry, extra care must be taken at all times. There is also a number of areas of sinking sand, these are signposted clearly. The bottom of the pit can also be very dangerous and is normally filled with deep water.

Accommodation

The Grove

The Grove was built in 1797, by Joseph Gurney of Norwich as a holiday home for his family. It stands in 3 acres of gardens, trees and fields. It is just a short distance from the cliffs which can be reached by walking through the grounds and neighbouring woods. Although only half a mile from the town centre, The Grove is situated in tranquil surroundings within easy reach of the main road into Cromer town centre. The house has nine bedrooms for its guests, two of which are family rooms, four are doubles, two twin-bedded and one single. All the rooms have en-suite bathrooms with either a bath or shower. Six cottages in the grounds can cater from two to six people each with its own distinct character. Our heated indoor swimming pool is always a popular attraction. With a constant depth of 1.2m even non-swimmers can enjoy themselves safely.

The The Grove, 95 Overstrand Road, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 0DJ, Telephone: 01263 512412, English Tourism Council 4 Diamonds

If you would like to advertise on this page, please 'contact us'.
£10/Year or 'FREE' for return links from accommodation website pages.

Last updated:	2010
last visited:	2003
Written by:	Alister and Alison Cruickshanks

You will need a good heavy hammer to split the nodules at Crimplesham, fossils can be found inside these nodules. Containers will also come in handy and paper to wrap any fragile fossils especially from the Kimmeridge Clay.

Other similar locations

Most locations in Norfolk are Cretaceous or Pleistocene age, this is the only locality where you can find Jurassic fossils.

Further West in Cambridgeshire, Yaxley and King's Dyke Pit, both have excellent exposures of Oxford Clay.


To find fossils at Crimplesham, you need to split rocks. Shells & ammonites are common, but only if you look hard for them. The best places to look are those at the lowest point for the Kimmeridge Clay fossils and just above for the Oxford Clay. Many areas of the quarry are now backfilled, but this is also where most of the large Oxford Clay boulders can be found that contain the best ammonites. You will need a heavy hammer to crack them, but they normally contain at least a good shell. Ammonite impression Belemnite Bivalve

	Jurassic, Pleistocene
At the top, the pleistocene deposits with chalk fragments contains occasional derived fossils. Below this the Jurassic Oxford clay and then Kimmerige clay at the base of the pit. The later is not always exposed and often in accessible by water....[more]

Stone Tumblers

Field Loupes

Gold Pans

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.

Field loupes are an essential part of your field equipment for any fossil hunting trips. We sell a wide range of Field Loupes, including our own brand name and the Ruper range. Field Lenses will enable you to view small fossils in detail.

At Scremerston, Field Lenses can be used to look at the detailed coral structure. A hand lense is a very handy piece of equipment to carry around with you!

For our full range, see our website.

We sell a very wide range of equipment at UKGE, and one of our popular lines is Gold Pans. Gold panning is popular in the UK, in Scotland and Wales. Panning for Gold can be done by using Gold Pans in streams. You can find flakes of gold or if your lucky, nougats.

We have a wide range of gold pans, which are availble in plastic or steel and manufactuered by the Estwing, USA. We offer sizes of 12", 14" or the full size 16". We keep them all in stock and available next day.