(Crinoids can be found in these layers) - 2007

Before accessing the beach to the East, take the time to look at the strata exposed just to the East of the harbour wall. You should be able to see the layers contorted into an acute ‘v’ arrangement. This is a fantastic example of a geological feature caused by folding, called a syncline.

From here, walk to the East and on to the beach. Beyond the bathing pool you will be able to see a windmill just behind the beach. Below the windmill are numerous structures which are the remains of an old salt production industry, dating back to the 1800s. These remains sit atop a raised beach, with the windmill above sitting on another.

Carrying on from here walk further Eastwards, checking the outcropping rocks for fossils as you go. After a hundred meters or so you will begin to find crinoid pieces in some of the rock layers at the top of the beach. The fossils are abundant and the rock layers are exposed along a reasonable stretch of the beach, so you shouldn’t miss them. If you look upwards around here you may be fortunate enough to see freshly revealed bedding planes in the sandstone above which are absolutely covered with trace fossil burrows.

Following on from the rock layers containing the crinoid fossils are a suite of layers that outcrop for a few meters and which are full of coral fossils. These are easy to spot as the layer containing the corals is white, unlike the rock layers previously seen.

Look above and below the brown layer for crinoids and corals - 2007