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Introduction to Spittal

Fossils and Scottish Fossil Collecting in Spittal
North Scotland Geological Guide and Geology Info

Spittal is home to the famous Caithness flagstone, There are a few disused pits around, but Spittal quarry is still working. Spittal fossil museum is close by.

Spittal - North Scotland
Last updated: [07/05/04]  last visited 2003
Devonian
Written by Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
Fossils & Scottish Collecting in spittal
(Spittal Quarry) - 2003

Location Information

The Caithness Flagstones at Spittal Quarry, do yield fossil fish but these are much rarer than other caithness flagstone sites.

(Not Suitable)

All working quarry locations are not suitable for children or families and are only suited to enthusiasts and professionals.

 

Spittal quarry is easy to find and has its own car parking area.

Quarry

This is a working quarry location. Hard Hats, High Visibility Vests/Jackets and Safety Boots are essential along with permission to enter.
ACCESS
RIGHTS
Permission obtained from;

A & D Sutherland, Spittal Quarry,
By Watten, Caithness, KW1 5XR
Telephone : 01847 841239
E-mail : alexander@caithnessflagstone.co.uk

Please follow our national fossil collecting code

A UK Fossils & Discovering Fossils initiative (c) 2006

! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES !

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken.

Normal Health and Safety Rules apply when visiting any working quarry, hard hats and high visibility jackets are essential. The owners also prefers steel toe cap boots to be worn and wearing goggles is highly recommended.

Some areas of the quarry contain deep channels of water, keep well away from these. Stay clear of any moving vehicles. The slate is extremely heavy and can easily fall or slip, do not climb any slate mounts and keep alert at all times.


Other areas where you can find fossil fish

Within the local area, Achanarras is another very good location where complete fish can be found. At Thurso on the north coast of Scotland, fish fragments are plentyful, and complete finds can also be made. Fish can also be found at Cromarty, Tarbat Ness , John o' Groats and Eathie, Queensferry, North Berwick

Some of the best fish come from County Durham. where a number of quarries yield some of the best specimens in the UK.

Fish Remains from the Devonian can also be found at Portishead in Avon.

Of course fossil fish can be found at many locations during many periods, such as fish from the Jurassic of Dorset, Cretaceous of Norfolk, Eocene of Essex, Pleistocene Crags of Suffolk, and the Triassic beds from Aust and Blue Ancher along with many others.


Spittal Quarry Website

Spittal Quarry Website

Stone Tumblers (Lapidary)


Stone Tumblers are used for tumbling and polishing rough rock, stones and pebbles including those found on the beach and glass.

Whilst collecting fossils, on those days where you come back empty handed, you could collect rocks, stones and glass from the beach and tumble then at home.

These are all high quality machines to give a professional finish to your samples. The tumblers can be used with a variety of grits, most commonly Silicon Carbide Grit and Cerium Oxide. We have a wide range of rough rocks for sale too.

Microfossils are much easier to collect because they are so small that the vast majority of collections only concentrate on large finds. These small finds can simply be found by taking small samples of sands, crags, clays and soft rocks and examining them under a microscope.

We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, both for the study of fossils, but also educational and professional for use in the laboratory. We have Stereo microscopes, Compound Microscopes, Polarising Microscopes and Monocular Microscopes.


We have thousands of Test Sieves for Particle Analysis.

Endecotts Sieves: For accurate dependable results you can't buy a better test sieve than Endecotts. At every stage of manufacture each test sieve is individually inspected.

High Precision Tecan manufactures precision apertures as small as 3 microns for a wide array of applications such as filtering, sieving and nozzles. Its high-performance, ASTM/ISO compliant test sieves satisfy the most demanding fine particle grading requirements.




Images, Graphics & Content - (C)opyright 1998-2005 Alister Cruickshanks.
UK Fossils Management - Alister Cruickshanks & Roy Bullard
UK Fossils Curator - Ian Cruickshanks
UK Fossils is a division of CWA Design and run in conjunction with UKGE. Whilst we try to ensure that all content is accurate and up to date we cannot guarantee this. UK Fossils takes no responsibility in the accuracy of this content, nor takes any liabilities for any trips, events or exchanges between visitors using either the discussion board or the UK Fossils planner. Any posted trips and events by UK Fossils are personal and not arranged by UK Fossils, therefore visitors should seek their own personal insurance cover. Please remember to always check the tide times.
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