Westbury on Severn fossils and fossil collecting

The A48 runs through Westbury on Severn. If coming from the West, after passing a church, at the next crossroads, take the right hand road. If coming from the east, just before the main village centre, you will see some crossroads, take the road on the left.
The road will come to a junction, turn right and continue. This is all Strand Lane. Once you reach the end of the road, you will come to the river wall. There is a private road running alongside the river, do not go down this road, but instead there should be space for one car just before, ensuring you don’t block the entrance to the private road.
If parking is not available here, you will need to drive back to the top of Strand Road and walk back down. The cliffs are just the other side of the wall on the left.

Grid Ref: 51.81699°N, 2.41453°W

Fish teeth, coprolites and scales, reptile bones and teeth and bones, molluscs.

Further up the River Severn from other classic sites such as Aust and Hock Cliff, Westbury on Severn is one of the finest localities for collecting from the famous Rhaetian Penarth Boned Bed. Out of all of the localities along the Severn, this has the most rapid erosion, with bone bed to look through.

High

Fossils at this location are very common, although, the best bones found in the bone beds are over collected these days. The rapid erosion here makes a regular supply of material to search through.

Not for Children

This location is not suitable for children, the high winds cause the beach to become steep with scree, and you can easily slip down into the river.

Good Access

Parking can sometimes be made at the bottom of Strand Land providing you do not park on the private road and leave access to the private road. Here the cliff is immediate the other side of the road. The alternaitive is to park at the top of Stand Road and walk down.

Cliffs and Foreshore

This is an SSSI, loose fossils are allowed to be collected from the foreshore. The best area is at the far end of the cliff, but where the beds dip to the base of the cliff, but hammering or collecting from the bedrock is not permitted.

SSSI
No Hammering Bedrock

Under no circumstances should hammers be used on any in-situ material in the cliff face.

Garden Cliff at Westbury on Severn is the fastest eroding cliff along the River Severn. The river regularly reaches the base of the cliff, so you can easily get cut off. Also, the steep angle of scree makes the beach quite slippery, especially at the end with the mud flats. Take extra care. The cliffs are crumbling all the time, so keep well away from the cliff face.

Tide Times

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

This is an SSSI, collecting is allowed, but hammering the bedrock is not permitted.

Locations similar to Garden Cliff

If you are interested in other similar locations to that of Westbury on Severn, you can also try other neaby locations along the River Servern including Hock Cliff, Sedbury Cliffs, Wainlode Cliff, and Aust.

Along the Somerset coast, Blue Anchor and Lilstock are the best locations for Rhaetian fossils with Lavernock and Penarth both in South Wales being very popular locations.


When you first enter the beach at Westbury on Severn, the majority of the cliff consists of the Red Marls with bands of Teas Green Marls, these of course are unfossiliferous. It is only when you pass the middle part of the cliff that you will notice the beds start dipping quite rapidly. At the very end of the cliff, the Rhaetian beds reach the base of the cliff, unlike Aust which are far too high to study. Westbury on Severn, or also known as Garden Cliff has some of the finest exposures of the Rhaetian Penarth beds, and it is for this reason, they were named the Westbury Formation. Head towards the end of the cliff, where you will see plenty of blocks on the foreshore. If you look carefully at the majority of the fallen slabs here, you will notice, they have ripple marks with pockets of bones. The blocks will reveal fish scales and fragments of bone. Within this ‘Pullastra Bed’ there seems to be very few fish and shark teeth. The best bones are found in the layer on top of this bed. There are also two bone beds, upon one is a yellowish, orange highly pyritic hard layer, and a second hard layer with pockets of yellowish orange sand which also contains bones. It is these thin layers that are highly productive. Ichthyosaurs remains are more common here than at Aust. Of course you can also find coprolites, fish remains and bones of other reptiles. As this site is an SSSI, you can only collect fossils loose, from the foreshore. Hammering the bedrock, or any insitu fossils is not permitted by law. Please respect this scientific important site.

Triassic, 210mya

The geology of Westbury on Severn (Garden Cliff)

All of the first section of the cliffs are of the Triassic Red Marls with bands of Tea Green Marls. The high and regular winds cause the mud to flake of and fall to the ground causing very steep scree slopes. Once you reach the middle part of the cliffs, you will see the Ryaetic Beds, which dip to beach level at the very end of the cliff. At the top of these, is a thin layer of Jurassic Lower Lias....[more]


Large fragment of bone within the blocks of bone bed...[more]

Fossils from the Rhaetian Penarth

Geology Explained
in the Severn Vale

Test Sieves for Microfossils

Fantastic book covering 32 plates full of the fossils found at Aust in high resolution. Over the years, many fantastic finds have been made in the Rhaetian Penarth beds, most at Aust. This book is ideal for identifying your finds from this location as well as others including Blue Anchor in Somerset, Westbury on Severn and Sedbuary Cliffs.
FREE UK DELIVERY - Click to buy

This classic book explains the geology in the Severn Vale and Cotswolds including locations to visit, fossils to find and is full of excellent diagrams and drawings. It has an excellent chapter on Aust, including other locations along the Severn; Westbury on Severn, Wainlode Cliff and Hoc Cliff, and the building of the Severn bridge including the Severn Bore.
FREE UK DELIVERY - Click to buy

Test Sieves are used when searching for microfossils. At Westbury on Severn, you can find many small teeth and bones in the famous bone bed. The bone bed at Westbury on Severn is packed with microfossils which when broken down can be viewed under a microscope.

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.