Woodland Bay fossils and fossil collecting |
Medium
Fossils can be hard to find it you don't have the correct tools. You will need to split the flaggy beds in order to find fossils, fossils are found inside the shale, although they are poorly preserved and will need treatment.
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Older Children
The rocky foreshore makes this location only suitable for older children. Since you need to split rocks to find fossils, an adult should help with the splitting, and the child should only help search in the shale from the split rock. |
Very Good Access
Along the A77, there is plenty of parking. You can also park at the main Shallock car park, which is free like most car parks in this area, and a lovely cafe is provided on site. They do excellent cups of tea which we highly recommend! The walk to Whitehouse is nearly 2 miles, so you might want to park further south at the Southern end of Woodland Bay, and do the sections in two parts. |
Foreshore Rocks
Fossils are found in the flaggy beds exposed on the foreshore. Most of these are vertical and so can be easily split. Fossils are found in one some of the rocks, therefore if you don't have any luck splitting one rock, try another. |
No Restrictions
There are no restrictions at this location, but please follow the Scottish Fossil Code below, and also our own UK Fossils Code of Conduct. |
If you collect fossils in Scotland, the advice on best practice in the collection and storage of fossil specimens, set out in the Scottish Fossil Code, applies to you. The Code may be viewed and downloaded from www.snh.org.uk/fossilcode.
 
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Woodland Bay is usually a fairly safe area, although the tide reaches the small embankment, this can easily be climbed and it is not possible to be cut off here. The rocks can be quite hard so care should be taken when using sharp tools. |
Last updated:
last visited:
Written by: |
08/11/08
2008
Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
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Geological Tools
A hammer and splitting chisel is essential, but the best tool is an Estwing Pointed Pry Bar. This will make your work very easy and you can find fossils quickly. We sell these on our UKGE website.
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This area can be a little hit or miss. You will certainly need the correct tools if you are going to find anything, as you will need to split the flaggy beds on the foreshore. This is not a location where you can easily pick up fossils just lying loose on the beach.
If you have parked at the Shallock main car park, then the rocks begin with the Shallock Formation, which is Ordovician in age. These rocks can contain graptolites, but can be hard to find.
Graptolites can also be found at Woodland Bay, but these are Silurian in age. These are the easiest to find, although you will still need the correct tools. The best rocks are at the middle of the bay.
The best beds are just south of Woodland Bay, just before Ardwell Bay. These rocks not only contain graptolites, but also contain trilobites including Dionide, Novaspis and Agnostids and the large eyed forms. They can be found in pale green shaley mudstone belonging to the Whitehouse Formation.
Flaggy beds exposed on foreshore
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Silurian-Ordovician |
There are three different formations spanning the Ordovician and Silurian along the coast from Shallock to Whitehouse, and including Woodland Bay.
The Woodland Formation (Silurian) is exposed on the shore at Woodland Bay, it is21m thick up to Woodland Point and rests directly on Shalloch Formation. The basal part of the formation consists of find to medium-grained blue-grey sandy beds with thin interbeds of green find grained sandstone and light dark grey banded siltstone Graptolites can be found in thin layers of shale.
The Shalloch Formation (Ordovician) is exposed on the shore from Woodland Bay to Shalloch. This is a sequence of alternating fine to medium grained turbiditic sandstone and pale green silty mudstone, Graptolites can be found in this bed
The Whitehouse Formation (Ordovician) is exposed on the shore at Whitehouse. This is a calcareous sandstone, graded coarse to fine, pebbly at the base and interbedded with pale green shaley mudstone. Trilobites including Dionide, Novaspis and Agnostids and the large eyed forms. Graptolites.
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Woodland Bay is one of a few locations nearby which are all quite similar. The Girvan guide covers the rocks north of Shallock, the Ardwell Bay guide covers rocks south of Whitehouse, and we also feature the beds at Kennedy's Pass. There are many location around this area.
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Related Books |
Microscopes |
Test Sieves for Microfossils |
The best guide available for this area is the small booklet on Girvan published by the Geological Survey and available from our online store. It is a sheet explanation and covers the geological formations around Girvan in great detail, along with the fossils found and further locations not featured on this website.
Click here for this book.
The standard geological map of Girvan is also an excellent buy showing you exactly where the best beds are, and is related to from the sheet explanation.
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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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Our International Rock
and Fossil Magazine |
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This guide looks at the area from Shallock to Whitehouse, including Woodland Bay. 
