Yaxley fossils and fossil collecting

From the A1139 Peterborough bypass, taking the A1260 heading towards Yaxley
After passing Hempton Hargate, you will come to a junction and you will need to turn off to Hempton Villa, the second (and new) housing estate along this road.
Park along the road of the entrance to this estate, then walk back to the main junction, walking South towards Yaxley. You will see a public byway, follow this walk round the lake, and the Oxford Clay cliffs can be found on the South East banks. There are wide entrances from the byway on the right hand side across to the banks.

GRID REF: 52.52552°N, 0.27284°W

Ammonites, Belemnites, Crinoids, Brachiopods, Bivalves, Reptile remains.

Most of the old clay pits have been swallowed up by the building of huge housing estates at the South of Peterborough. One area has been left as a nature area with public byways taking you around the rim of the pits, now filled with water. On the banks, the Oxford Clay is highly rich in fossils.

Very High

The Oxford Clay here is extremly rich in fossils, you are almost certainly going to come home with some finds. This location is even better during the summer when the water levels drop, or after a long period of heavy rain.

Not for Children

This location is not suitable for children since the water is extremely deep, and fossils are found along the embankment beside the water.

Good Access

This area of Peterborough is under massive development, most of the clay pits to the far North of Yaxley, on the southern edge of Peterborough are now under extensive house building. This area can be busy and hard to find, but with the aid of a map, you should not have any problem. Simply head to Hempton Villa, park up, walk back along the road Southwards until you come to the byway.

Old Quarry
Embankments

Fossils are found along the banks of the old quarry where water has now filled them. The huge lakes now erode the Oxford Clay banks, and one area particularly, has excellent exposures of fresh Oxford Clay, constantly being eroded.

No Restrictions

Although there are no restrictions, this area is rich in wildlife, so please take care and try not to walk on any plants as you cross the land to get to the embankment.

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken. The water at Yaxley pits is extremely deep, please ensure you keep well away from the bank and do not enter the water, even if it looks shallow. The area can also be very sticky after rain, so take care not to get stuck.

Last updated:
last visited:

Written by:

16/08/08
2008

Alister and Alison Cruickshanks


Geological Tools TOOLS: A pick and knife are very handy when looking in the clay, mostly though all you really need is a good eye, fossils are mostly found either scattered on the surface or poking out of embankments and dykes. CONTAINERS: Fossils from Yaxley can be placed into small containers, any fragile fossils such as shells should be separated and wrapped well.

Other Locations similar to Yaxley

Other locations where fossils can be found in the Oxford Clay are, King's Dyke Pit, Grafham Water and Yaxley in the Cambridgeshire region, or in Dorset, try Weymouth, Bowleaze Cove. In North Scotland you can also try Brora which also has Oxford Clay. In Yorkshire, you can try Cayton Bay. Gristhorpe.


The South-East Embankment at Yaxley is constantly being eroded. The Oxford Clay here is extremely rich in fossils. The most common find is Gryphaeas, both the small Bilobissa dilobotes and the giant variety. Belemnites are also plentiful, including the most common large Hibolithes hastatus and the torpedo type, Hibolithes hastatus. You are also likely to find worm tubes, crinoids and ammonites. Reptile remains are surprisingly quite common here, Ichthyosaur and Pliosaurs being fairly common. Crocodile remains (Croxodile Steneosauraus) and shark teeth also turn up from time to time. The best area to search is at the base of the embankment, where the water has 'sieved' the clay and has left a find layer of shingle. Fossils are also found down the slopes of the bank and you can take sample back home for wet sieving to search for small teeth. This location is best visited when the water-levels are low. In summer, a dry season will be far more productive than a wet season, and during times of drought, this location could be extremely productive when the water level drops and all of the fossils that would otherwise be submerged, displayed on view. After heavy rain, this site is also productive since the rainfall washes the fossils down from the embankment. Ammonite fragment at the base of the slope

Jurassic, 160mya

Peterborough is famous for brick making, and at one time had clay pits all around the district. Today only a few remain open, with the rest closed and have naturally filled with water. Most of these have been turned into nature reserves, or walkways. Some are currently being filled in, with new housing estates being built or have been built.

It is the Oxford Clay that makes an excellent material for bricks. This clay also happens to be extremly rich in fossils. The Oxford Clay has been reclassified and now falls under the Peterborough Formation. It is Mainly brownish-grey, fissile, organic-rich (bituminous) mudstones with shelly fauna dominated by crushed aragonitic ammonites and bivalves, including nuculoid and meleagrinella shell-beds. Subordinate beds of pale-medium grey, blocky mudstone exist with several bands of cementstone nodules/concretions. The basal beds are commonly silty, with Gryphaea-rich shell beds...[more]


Reptile bone found at Yaxley ....[more]

Geological Tools

Microscopes

Test Sieves for Microfossils

We sell a wide range of geological tools from our online store. These include hammers, chisels, and picks.

We also sell starter packs with everything you need to start fossil collecting.

Our online store includes books and publications on fossils and geology, and a range of geological maps on the East Mersea area.

We have over 10,000 items for sale, covering almost every aspect of geology and fossils.

At Yaxley, you can find small teeth from the Oxford Clay. We recommend taking samples of clay and then leaving the samples in water for a few weeks to break down. You can then wet sieve and examine the remaining contents using a microscope.

We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, you will need a Stereo microscope 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.

Test Sieves are used when searching for microfossils. We recommend that you use a test sieve with water at different levels. Test sieves for Oxford Clay should be 500 microns.

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 fully certificated to EU Standards.

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