Monsal Dale fossils and fossil collecting
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 Parking can be found in front of the Monsal Head Hotel but this car park can only be used for one hour. If you drive past the hotel, a public car park can be found behind it. There is plenty of pay and display parking here and you can park for as long as you want. Alternatively there is a layby that will accommodate three or four cars about 150m in front of the hotel. This is free.
If you have parked in the layby, it is worth having a look for fossils in the stone walls as you head towards the hotel. Obviously these should not be collected, but they are interesting none-the-less.
The Monsal Head Hotel marks the start of the walk into... [more]
GRID REF: 53.24014°N, 1.72532°W
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Medium
Fossils can be seen in amongst the scattered rocks by the side of the path which descends into the dale. There is also a large rock outcrop within the dale itself which is packed with crinoid pieces.
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Suitable for Children
A fairly long walk with plenty of uphill stretches is required to fully investigate this location. The paths are well maintained however, so children should be able to manage it. |
Good Access
There is plenty of parking near to the
Monsal Head Hotel and the route taken follows public footpaths. Please be aware that it is a fairly long walk. |
Scree, Rock Outcrops
Fossils can be found within loose limestone and chert pieces next to the path and can also be observed in a large rock outcrop later on in the walk. |
SSSI
Public footpaths are followed at this location, but it is an SSSI, so please no hammering the cliff face, collect from loose scree. |
Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken. This is a fairly safe location, with few hazards. As the dale is set within a deep valley, mobile phone signals may be lost. |
Accommodation
The Fox House Inn
Hathersage Road
Sheffield S11 7
Tel: 01433 63 0374
Accommodation and restaurant. Rooms cost around £50 and are excellent. They are spacious, well maintained and comfortable.
If you would like to advertise on this page, please 'contact us'.
£10/Year or 'FREE' for return links from accommodation website pages. |
Last updated:
last visited:
Written by: |
25/04/08
2008
Joe Shimmin
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Other Locations similar to Monsal Dale
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Monsale Dale is an excellent location for corals, other similar locations for Carboniferous Corals are;Parkhouse Hill, Castleton, Portishead, Weston-Super-Mare in Avon. In South West Wales, you can also find Silurian Corals from Freshwater East, Marloes Sands. Mortimer Forest, Shadwell Quarry, Upper Millichope , Llanymynech Quarry, and Wenlock Quarry, Wenlock Edge in the Shropshire District. Along the South West Coast, you can also collect Devonian Corals from Torquay along Hopes Nose and Daddy Hole. In Scotland, you can also find corals at St Monans. From South Wales, Carboniferous Corals can be found at Lydstep Headland, West Angle Bay and Manorbier Bay.
For Corals from Younger period, the Coralline Crag at Ramsholt makes ideal collecting.
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Look amongst the loose rocks at the side of the path as you descend into the dale. Here you will find limestone pieces with fossils as well as curious lumps of chert which are packed full of gaps representing fossils that used to be present but have since been dissolved away.
At the cliff you will see many, many crinoid stem pieces both in the limestone and in the black coloured chert nodules that are found within it. As this location is an SSSI, collecting is prohibited but there are plenty of fossils to observe.
Crinoid pieces in black chert
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Carboniferous, 185mya |
Carboniferous Limestone at Monsale Dale is of Avonian age (Tournaisian). The limestone is known as the 'Monsal Dale Limestone', and is well documented for corals, brachiopods and crinoid stems....[more]
How life in the oceans would have looked at Monsale 350mya
(C)opyright - Free Software Foundation (FSF)
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The most common type of fossil at this location is undoubtedly the crinoid; stem pieces of which are abundant. Other fossils encountered include corals and brachiopods. ....[more]
Brachiopods and crinoid stem parts from Monsale Dale ....[more]
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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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