Vale of Belvoir fossils and fossil collecting |
 From Grantham, take the A1 South, then the A607 South West towards Melton Mowbray. Turnoff at Denton and head towards Woolsthorpe by Belvoir and from here head to Belvoir. From here, take Belvoir Road to the North West, then right at “Long Lane” and follow until you get to the Crossroads. Park down Wood Lane.
From Bingham, follow the A52 East and turnoff towards Granby. Follow through Granby, then Plungar. At Plungar, head North East to Barkestone-le-Vale. From here, take the road “Wood Lane” to the South East until it comes to crossroads, with “Long Lane”. There is parking at this crossroads to the South.
Walk North East along “Long Lane” until you get to the public footpath. This is about ¾ mile from the parking area. Both the North West and South East footpaths can be examined.
If visiting the North West path, keep to the left hand path when it splits. The fields from here to Barkestone-le-Vale can be visited.
For the South East path, sites along the route all the way to Belvoir can be visited.
GRID REF: SK 79389 34464
|
|
High
Providing you visit during late September to April, the chance of finding fossils is very high. If you visit outside these times, fossils can still be found by the chance is reduced somewhat.
|
Older Children
We recommend this site for families, but take care when walking along “Long Lane” which is busy with heavy traffic. There is no footpath along this road. A fair walk, so older children only |
Good access
We recommend the use of a clear map, and the OS 1:50,000 map of Nottingham is ideal. Providing you have a map, the location is easy to find and easy to access. This is a fair walk, just under a mile to the start of the footpath and depending on how many fields you examine, can be anything from one to 5 miles walking.
|
Farm Fields
Fossils are found on the farm fields. When farmers plough the fields, the fossils come to the surface. The best time to visit is late September to April, otherwise many fields will be overgrown or have crops on them.
|
No Restrictions
There are no restrictions at this location, but you should always collect sensible and safely, please see our code of conduct below.
This location is on old MOD land, parking is free at the top of the cliff. |
This is a safe location, although we ask you to take care when walking along “Long Lane”, which is busy. As with all locations, common sense should be taken.
|
| Last updated: |
2011 |
| last visited: |
2011 |
| Written by: |
Alister Cruickshanks |
Other Locations similar to Belvoir
|
 
You don’t need to bring any tools, just something to put the fossils in. Fossils are found mostly loose along the farm field. You just need a keen eye.
|
|
  |
|
|
 |
|
|
The Vale of Belvoir is rich in Lias fossils. Fossils can simply be found loose along farm fields. Once you reach the public footpaths along “Long Lane”. The North-western path is the easiest and shortest, the South-eastern path is the longest, hardest but more productive, the following areas can be explored.
North-western Path
The first field contains “Littlegate Limestones”, rocks are exposed along the field, Gryphaea shells are most common here, they are found plentiful. Well preserved ammonites can also be found.
Further on, the footpath continues North West and also splits North East. On the North West path just past this split, ammonites of the “Fenton Limestone” can be found loose along the field.
Continue North West, about a mile from the “Long Lane” and just before the footpath splits again Gryphae can be found again but this time from the “Lodge Farm Limestone” and a little further on from the “Plungar Ironstone”
Further locations exist north of Barkestone-le-Vale, but are not covered in this guide. See the book “Geology of Midlands”. Fossils found include ammonites, belemnites, bivalves, brachiopods, corals.
South-western Path
From the south-western path of “Long Lane”, continue about a quarter of a mile, this field also contains the “Littlegate Limestone” like the North-western path with ammonites and bivalves to be found.
Further along, about ¾ mile from “Long Lane”, the rocks change to “Bradon Sandstone” with ammonites being very common along wth bivalves. The path from here veers East then along a small woods and south again. About 1¼ mile from “Long Lane” at this point is the most productive part of the area. The Glebe Farm Bed is oolite, and contains many different ammonites, bivalves, belemnites. A nodule bed is often ploughed with well preserved ammonites of Gagaticeras.
Further locations exist South from here, but are not covered in this guide. See the book “Geology of Midlands”. Fossils found include ammonites, belemnites, bivalves, belemnites.
|
 |
Jurassic, 200mya |
The Vale of Belvoir covers the lower Jurassic Lias of the Sinemurian. Most of the rocks fall under the Scunthorpe Mudstone Formation, with a few locations falling under the lower Brant Mudstone Formation.....[more]
|
|
Stone Tumblers |
Microscopes |
East Midlands Guide |
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.
|
 Locations of Geologicl interest and for collecting rocks, minerals and fossils in the East Midlands Area. Includes the Geological History of the area. Areas covered are Charnwood Forest, The Peak District & The Vale of Belvoir. 130 pages. £15.95.
Buy from UKGE |
|
|
