Parkhouse Hill fossils and fossil collecting
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 There is a small road that runs directly below the hill. It is unclear whether parking is allowed on the verges of this road or not. If in doubt, drive past the hill and park when you have gone over a cattle grid.
From your car it is a quick walk to the base of the hill, where loose pieces of limestone can be found. Higher up the hill there are outcrops of solid rock. Fossils can be observed within limestone at all heights.
In some places the hill is steep. There are also some precipitous drops near the summit. Children must be supervised at this location and are best left to examine the lower slopes.
GRID REF: SK 07994 66929
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Medium
There are plenty of loose rocks to investigate for fossils. Outcrops of in situ limestone are also fossiliferous.
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Suitable for Children
In some places the hill is steep. There are also some precipitous drops near the summit. Children must be supervised at this location and are best left to examine the lower slopes. |
Good Access
Car parking is easy, the hill is within a short distance and there is public access to the area.
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Scree, Rock Outcrops
Limestone with various reef fossils can be found over many areas of the hill. |
SSSI
There is a public access to the whole of the hill |
he steeper areas of the hill should be attempted only by the fit and sure footed. Many loose rocks are present within the faces of the limestone outcrops which could pose a threat if disturbed. Near the top of the hill there are steep drops. There are plenty of fossils to be seen lower down though, so this is an ideal location for children under supervision. |
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: |
2007 |
| last visited: |
2007 |
| Written by: |
Alister Cruickshanks |
 
Other Locations similar to Parkhouse Hill
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Parkhouse Hill is an excellent location for corals, other similar locations for Carboniferous Corals are;Parkhouse Hill, Parkhouse Hill, 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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It is worth investigating any exposed rock. As this is an SSSI fossils should not be collected but left for future visitors to see.
Parkhouse Hill represents the remains of a Carboniferous reef atoll and the shape of the hill largely mirrors the shape of the Carboniferous reef that it once was. Overlying softer rocks have been eroded away to reveal the limestone, but the hill remains largely un-sculpted by modern erosive forces. While standing on the summit, with a bit of imagination you can almost see the coral islands around you in the shape of the surrounding hills.Limestone reef fossils are relatively abundant. The most commonly encountered fossil types are brachiopods, crinoids and corals.
Crinoid pieces in limestone
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Carboniferous, 330mya |
Carboniferous Limestone at Parkhouse Hill is of Visean age, being the Reef Limestone series. The limestone is well documented for corals, brachiopods and crinoid stems. ....[more]
How life in the oceans would have looked at Parkhouse Hill 350mya
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Stone Tumblers |
Microscopes |
Castleton Area |
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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 Location guide including access information, What to see and what to collect fossils, rocks and minerals across the Castleton area of Derbyshire. 92 pages.£15.99.
Buy from UKGE |
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