Taddiford Gap (Hordle) fossils and fossil collecting

Taddiford Gap is a classic site, well documented for mammal and crocodile remains. Shark and fish remains along with a wide range of microfossils can also be found. These are found by sieving from the Crocodile or Mammal beds. There is also a black seed bed with a huge variety of fossils seeds.

Locations similar to Taddiford Gap

For similar locations, you could try Barton-on-Sea, Brownwich Cliff, or Milford-on-Sea in Hampshire. Bracklesham Bay in Sussex, or Herne Bay in Kent. At Whitecliff Bay on the Isle of Wight, the Barton Beds are also exposed.

        

There are several beds here to collect from, and some are very thick. When you first come to Taddiford Gap, you may need some trial and error. Sieving is best on site since many beds, including the Crocodile bed in particular, produces very little residue when sieved. Otherwise, you can end up taking many kilograms of sample home with few fossils.

It is easiest to start with the the black lignite beds at beach level for fossil seeds and plant remains, or the Crocodile Beds, which are a green/blue sandy clay in the middle of the cliff, often easily accessible by the help of the Gap. You can also find plants in the plant bed.

You will need to take samples from these beds and sieve to no greater than 0.5mm. Apart from the famous crocodiles, turtle, mammals, fish and shark remains are common along with molluscs, and microfossils. There are other beds such as the mammal bed and rodent bed, but fossils in these are less common to find, the mammal bed being the rarest.

There are four important beds that can be identified along the coast near Taddiford Gap. At the very top of the cliff, the rodent bed can be found. This can be quite hard to access and is generally not that productive. It is identified by a brown marl just beneath the Pleistocene gravels.

 

The easiest bed to collect from is the famous Crocodile Bed. This bed is very thick and identified by Brown sand with white silt at the top, followed by greenish clay and greenish/bluish sandy clay, and white hard sand. Despite its name, fish, shark, turtles and mammals can also be found in this bed. It makes up most of the cliff.

 

The Mammal Bed can also yield mammals and other fossils, but tends to be much less common that those of the Crocodile Bed. These are found below a quick layer of White Brown sands. The Mammal Bed also has several sub beds. The Lignite Beds are a series of black or dark beds found at the base of the cliff. These are rich in fossil seeds and plant remains along with shells...[more]

Fossil leaf from the Leaf Beds (more}