Old Hunstanton
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk District, Norfolk, England
Old Hunstanton refers to a settlement near the newer resort of Hunstanton, in Norfolk, UK.
The chalk cliffs of Old Hunstanton are famous in the UK as the distinct red and white striped sandstone are well known from posters and postcards.
Hunstanton is a public beach and a SSSI, and the cliffs are highly fossiliferous.
Many sites list a variety of fossils, including ammonites, belemnites, brachiopods, bivalves and sponges – during my visits I have never even seen an ammonite there, but perhaps I’m looking in the wrong place!
The cliffs are a striking combination of colours, white and reddy-brown. If you’re there on a hot day, I highly recommend renting a sit-on canoe and going on a paddle out to sea; the view is gorgeous.
The cliffs themselves start, at the base, with a red-brown carstone, a mix of sandstone and glauconite. The second layer is the Hunstanton red sequence – iron stained chalk which often includes marine fossils, especially belemnites.
The white chalk above forms several distinctive beds.
Collecting is allowed on the beach but should be done purely from the beaches and from cliff falls; an eye should always be kept on the cliffs above as some areas are ready to fall.
Further reading:
If you are interested in other classic British locales we may have stock from the following locales.
British locales
I have only included the pieces attributed to specific places; not simply 'Weardale' for example.
Click here for a full list of British minerals.
Angus, Scotland Bridgend, Wales Ceredigion, Wales
- Bwlch Glas Mine, Tal-y-bont, Ceulanymaesmawr, Ceredigion, Wales
- Cwmystwyth Mine, Cwmystwyth, Upper Llanfihangell-y-Creuddyn, Ceredigion, Wales
- Great South Tolgus, Tarewaste, Cornwall
- Greystone Quarry, Lezant, Cornwall
- Hingston Down Quarry, Gunnislake, Cornwall
- Melbur China Clay Pit, St Stephen-in-Brannel, Cornwall
- Penberthy Croft Mine, St Hilary, Cornwall
- Restormel Royal Iron Mine, Lostwithiel, Cornwall - formerly Trinity Mine
- South Caradon Mine, St Cleer, Cornwall
- Trevinnick Mine, St Kew, Cornwall
- West Wheal Jewel, St Day, Cornwall
- Wheal Cock, St Just, Cornwall
- Wheal Sparnon, Redruth, Cornwall
- Wheal Wrey, St Ive, Cornwall
- Brandy Gill Mine, Caldbeck Fells, Cumbria
- Carrock Mine, Caldbeck Falls, Cumbria
- Dry Gill Mine, Caldbeck Falls, Cumbria
- Eskett Quarry, Copeland, Cumbria
- Florence-Ullcoats Mine, Egremont, Cumbria
- Goose Green Mine, Frizington, Cumbria
- Kinniside Mine, Copeland, Cumbria
- Mowbray mine, Frizington, Cumbria
- Old Brandlehow Mine, Keswich, Cumbria
- Red Gill Mine, Roughton Gill, Caldbeck, Allerdale, Cumbria, uk
- Roughton Gill Mine, Caldbeck Falls, Cumbria
- Smallcleugh mine, Nenthead, Alston, Cumbria.
- Drakelands Mine, Sparkwell, Devon
- Hemerdon Mine, Sparkwell, Devon
- High Down Quarry, West Buckland, Devon
- New England Quarry, Yealmpton, Devon
- Virtuous Lady Mine, Buckland, Devon
- Coatsgate Quarry, Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
- Old Glencrieff Vein, Wanlockhead, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
- Chipping Sodbury Quarry - formerly Hampstead Farm Quarry
- Hampstead Farm Quarry, now Chipping Sodbury Quarry
- Breedon Hill Quarry, Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire
- Croft Quarry, Croft, Leicestershire
- New Cliffe Hill Quarry, Cliffe Hill Quarry, Stanton under Bardon, Leicestershire
For the rest of our British stock, see below.
Great Britain
Fossils from Great Britain - Minerals from Great Britain