Unfortunately, there is today little to see in the way of stratigraphy at Harwich. South of
the low lighthouse the Harwich Stone Band, which is about 55 million years old, is well
exposed at the base of the sea wall and upper part of the foreshore. A few odd patches of
silty clay and clayey silt may be seen on the foreshore, underlying the Harwich Stone
Band, again to the south of the low lighthouse. In the last few years the beach has been
severely eroded and has dropped by at least 50cm, following extensive dredging of the
harbour channel to a depth of 15m in places. However blocks of sandstone, areas of
sand and patches of small ovoid black pebbles may be seen on the foreshore, at very low
spring tides. Today very well-preserved sharks' teeth occur abundantly in the beach
gravel and on the foreshore below the low lighthouse.
Lower Tertiary: Recent Lower Tertiary finds from the foreshore, including the number
of specimens found, are listed below.
Plant
4 Platycarya richardsoni (Bowerbank 1840) catkin
Worm
2 Ditrupaplana (J. Sowerby 1815) tubes
Sharks
1 Brachycarcharias lerichei (Casier 1946) isolated tooth
90 Glueckmanotodus heinzelini (Casier 1967) isolated teeth
15 Jaekelotodus robustus (Leriche 1921) isolated teeth
1 Odontaspis winkleri (Leriche 1905) isolated tooth
60 Undescribed species [like Palaeohypotodus rutoti (Winkler 1874)] teeth
2 ? "Parotodus" priemi Menner 1928 isolated teeth
1 Squatina prima Winkler 1874 isolated tooth
3 Squatina prima Winkler 1874 vertebrae
1200 Striatolamia striata (Winkler 1874) isolated teeth
1800 Sylvestrilamia teretidens (White 1931) isolated teeth
Rays - Chimaeroids
2 Amylodon eocenica (Woodward & White 1930) palate
1 Elasmodus hunteri Egerton 1843, right vomerine palate
Bony Fish (Teleosts)
1 ? Accipenser (sturgeon) scute
1 Aglyptorhynchus sulcatus Casier 1966 rostrum
11 Ardiodus mariotti White 1931 isolated teeth
6 Lepisosteus suessionensis (Gervais 1852) (garpike) scales & vertebrae
2 Phyllodus toliapicus Agassiz 1844 palates
16 Trichurides sagittidens Winkler 1874 isolated teeth
10
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 48, September 200S