Broom Pit, fossils and fossil collecting
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The Coralline Crag at Broom Pit, is extremely fossiliferious. It is rich in a wide variety of molluscs and bryozoans. You will be sure to come home with plenty of finds. The shells are in excellent condition and some are very large. A site definitely worth visiting. |
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Not for Children
Quarries and pits either working or disused are no places for children as they present many dangers. |
Good Access
Broom Pit is easy to find, and has recently been cleared so the faces are nice and clean. There is a short walk from the parking area of a quarter of a mile.
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Disused Pit
Fossils are found in the cliff face which is constantly being eroded by wind and rain and in the pit floor.
The best fossils are found by digging into the floor of the pit, and this is the safest way of collecting, away from the steep sides. Digging is NOT permitted in the face of the cliff.
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SSSI
PRIVATE LAND
Seek Permission
This site is an SSSI, whilst you are free to visit and collect, digging is not permitted in the cliff face. This site is situated on PRIVATE land, and you must seek permission to visit, or join on an organised groups.
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The cliff face at Broom Pit, is very high and overhangs in places. Please keep away from the areas which overhang and be cautious at all times when collecting here. We recommend that you collect from the pit floor. |
Last updated:
last visited:
Written by: |
31/08/08
2005
Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
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For other Coralline Crag locations, the most well known is Ramsholt, where excellent corals, scallops and bryozoans can be found. At Thorpeness, blocks of Coralline Crag, full of fossils can be found on the beach, washed from the Sizewell Reef. You can also collect from another pit, Crag Pit Farm.
There are also a number of Red Crag locations, you can try, Neutral Farm Pit, Capel Green, Walton-on-Naze and Ramsholt as first locations of choice, with Bawdsey, Alderton and Wrabness as second choices.
If you enjoy collecting fossil shells, there are many other sites for collecting in Suffolk from other types of crag including the Norwich Crag, Coralline Crag and in Norfolk, the Wroxham Crag.
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Broom Pit
is rich in mollusc's and bryozoans. There are a vast number of different species to be found and they are all in excellent condition. We recommend that you bring plenty of paper to wrap the fossils in, and a field box to keep the specimens safe.
The best fossils are found by digging into the quarry floor, all of the specimens shown on this website were collected that way. Collecting can be made in the cliff face, but digging in the face is both not permitted and too dangerous.
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The pit at Broom Pit is of Pliocene age being the lower levels of the Coralline Crag. This crag is made of carbonate-rich skeletal sands. The acid-insoluble sand fraction is moderately- to poorly-sorted medium-grained sand. It has a low mud content and the basal lag gravel is rich in pebbles of phosphatic mudstone largely derived from the Thames Group...[more]
Coralline Crag at 'Broom Pit'
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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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Our International Rock
and Fossil Magazine |
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The Coraline Crag at Broom Pit yields some superb shells ...