Lavernock Fossil Hunting Guide

Lavernock is pretty fascinating and showcases a blend of Jurassic and Triassic rocks. You’ll find cool Jurassic formations which provide an opportunity to find ammonites and molluscs, while the Triassic Rhaetian bone bed is similar to the one you’d see at Aust.

Location and Directions

If you’re trying to get to Lavernock Point, it is at Lavernock Road, Penarth, in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales CF64. From the B4267, look for the signpost to Lavernock and follow the road right on to Lavernock Point. There’s a little track road you’ll need to turn down. Keep going until you hit a small car park at the end. It’s got room for about 4 cars. The beach is right in front of you from there.

What Fossils You’ll Find

Most commonly, you’ll find brachiopods and bivalves in this fossil bed. There are ammonites too, but they can be a bit worn down or broken. You’ll can also come across fish remains and some reptile fossils, including ichthyosaur and plesiosaur bones and teeth, dating back from the Rhaetian to Hettangian stages, or about 205 to 199 million years ago!

Geological Formations

This site is special because it shows off the Penarth Group type section, which represents the Rhaetian stage (late Triassic) and the Lower Jurassic deposits above it. Some key formations to look out for include the Westbury Formation bone bed, the Mercia Mudstone Group (also known as the Blue Anchor Formation), and the Blue Lias Formation, which features interbedded limestone and shale.

Geologic History

The Triassic Westbury Formation bone bed tells a story of storm deposits in a tropical coastal setting. In the Triassic, frequent storms swept materials from land and sea into a tidal zone, creating a rich ecological mix with marine reptiles like ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs swimming around, while dinosaurs roamed the land.

Then the Blue Lias, dating back to around 201 to 190 million years ago, reflects deeper marine conditions in those warm, shallow tropical seas. It’s a record of how the Triassic-Jurassic transition happened, shifting from marginal marine to fully marine environments. During the Late Triassic Rhaetian (205-201 Ma), South Wales was actually part of the supercontinent Pangaea, near the equator in a hot tropical climate (think Caribbean). In the Early Jurassic, things were still warm and tropical. But as Pangaea started to break apart and the Atlantic Ocean began to take shape, rising sea levels flooded the Triassic deserts, leading to extensive shallow seas.

Site History

Lavernock has a rich history as the type section of the Penarth Group and has been famous for its vertebrate fossils for over 150 years! Collections dating back to the 1870s are now at the National Museum of Wales. The 2014-2015 discovery of Dracoraptor hanigani was significant because since it’s considered the earliest known Jurassic dinosaur and a major find for Wales. They managed to recover about 40% of the skeleton, which is roughly 2 meters long. Interestingly, recent research from 2024 suggests that Lavernock might have yielded more dinosaur bones than any other British Rhaetian bone bed.

Collecting Rules and Regulations

Please note Lavernock is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Visitors are welcome, but hammering the bedrock is a not permitted. Fossils are usually nestled in large boulders and slabs along the foreshore, and those do require a hammer and chisel to split.

Safety tip: Keep an eye on tide times, as it’s easy to get cut off at Lavernock. Cliff falls can happen, so wearing hard hats when searching below the cliff is a smart move. And when you find fossils, make sure to wrap them up well and put them in containers or bags for transport.

Sources

• UK Fossils Network
• University of Bristol
• ScienceDirect - Evans et al. (2024). Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association
• National Museum Wales
• Accessed December 13, 2025