erosion during the formation of a Pleistocene river channel deposits (Stage 7 about
210,000 years old). The Stour is currently actively eroding brick earth and gravels on its
north and south banks at Stutton and Harkstead, Suffolk and Wrabness, Essex.
It is of course possible that the fossils come from several sources. My own feeling is that
the Lower Tertiary fossils occur locally and cither crop out on the beach or were dredged
from the harbour a century or so ago and dumped on the beach, where they are now
being exposed by the rapid downward erosion. Wherever the fossils come from they are
beautifully preserved and occur in great abundance.
Bibliography:
Dale, S. (1704) A letter from Mr. Samuel Dale to Mr. Edward Lhwyd, Kcepper of the
Ashmolean Repository Oxforde, concerning Harwich Cliff, and the Fossil Shells
there. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Vol 24 pp. 2568-1578.
Dale, S. (1730) The History and Antiquities of Harwich and Dovercourt ...to which is
added a large appendix containing the natural history.
Daley, B. & Balson, P. (1999) British Tertiary Stratigraphy. Joint Nature Conservation
Committee. ISBN 1 86107 469 7.
Jolley, D.W. (1996) The earliest Eocene sediments of eastern England: an ultra-high
resolution Palynological correlation. In: Knox, R.W. O'B. et al Correlation of the
early Paleogene in Northwest Europe, Geological Society Special Publications
No. 101, pp 219-254.
Kalm, P. (1892) Kalm's account of his visit to England on his way to America in
1748. Translated by Joseph Lucas. Macmillan and Co.
Lindsey, W.H. (1851) A Season at Harwich.
Nichols, J. (1822) Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century.
Volume 4 pp. 761-762.
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 48, September 2005
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