Fossil Hunting at Portishead | UK Fossils Road Tour

Join the UK Fossils Road Tour as we explore Portishead, North Somerset, where the Severn Estuary coastline exposes two contrasting fossil-hunting areas. We visit the Carboniferous rocks at Portishead Point, also known as Battery Point, and the Devonian succession at Woodhill Bay. Early Carboniferous marine limestones contain corals, crinoids and brachiopods. Farther south-west, the Late Devonian Portishead Subgroup preserves river and floodplain deposits, including the famous Woodhill Bay Fish Bed. Fish remains are rare, but regularly found, usually as isolated scales, teeth, bone and armour fragments. In this video, we cover: The Carboniferous geology of Portishead Point The Devonian rocks and famous Woodhill Bay Fish Bed What fossils can be found in each area The discovery credited to the Reverend B. Blenkiron and William Sanders’ published account in 1863 SSSI rules and responsible fossil collecting Fossil preparation This episode also includes a guide to preparing fossils from this location. Parts of this coast lie within the Portishead Pier to Black Nore SSSI. Public access does not automatically permit fossil removal. Obtain the necessary permissions and leave protected bedrock and fish-bearing horizons undisturbed. Life construction Image credits (Wikimedia Commons): Asterolepis and Holoptychius by Dmitry Bogdanov, and Groenlandaspis by Entelognathus (CC BY-SA 4.0); Bothriolepis by PlacodermReconstructions (CC BY 4.0); Phyllolepis by Dmitry Bogdanov (CC BY 3.0); Holoptychius nobilissimus from H. Alleyne Nicholson (1876), public domain. Images resized and arranged. Sources: Asterolepis: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Bothriolepis: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Groenlandaspis: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Holoptychius: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Phyllolepis: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Holoptychius nobilissimus: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Licences: CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... CC BY 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ⚠️ Always check tide times, weather conditions, cliff stability, local restrictions and access information before visiting any location. Never hammer cliffs, keep away from unstable slopes, and always collect responsibly. Subscribe to UK Fossils for more fossil hunting videos, location guides and Road Tour episodes from around the UK. INSTAGRAM:   / ukfossils_com   FACEBOOK:   / ukfossils   TIKTOK:   / ukfossils   UK Fossils website: https://ukfossils.com FULL WRITTEN GUIDE: https://ukfossils.co.uk/portishead/ MUSIC FROM UK FOSSILS: https://ukfossils.co.uk/uk-fossils-mu... All UK Fossils music is available on major streaming platforms worldwide, including Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Tidal, YouTube Music, SoundCloud, and many more. Simply search for UK Fossils on your preferred streaming service to listen.