Dalmellington Tip fossils and fossil collecting |
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 The tip can be seen when you enter the village of Dalmellington. From the A713, through the village, take the B741 north towards New Cumnock.
Just before the bridge with the steam and the view of the tip to the North, are some side roads. You can park here, then walk towards the Tip.
Access to the tip is found by walking up along the B741 hill, and walking through the trees along the side of the road. From here, take care when walking through the grass for large boulders.
GRID REF: 55.33182°N, 4.38962°W |
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Not for children
This spoil heap is dangerous as material can fall from the top; it is so high that it is not a place for children. Some blocks of hard limestone could easily slip and fall down. The steel slopes can be slippery. |
Good Access
The location is easy enough to find, and from the main road you cannot miss it! Parking is nearby and you can walk through the trees along the road and cut through over the grass to the heap. The reason this is not high is that the short distance between the road and heap can be tricky. The long overgrown grass hides many very large boulders of limestone and even an old wall....you cannot see these and it is easy to trip and fall. Once through the long grass for just 20 or so metres and you are there! |
Spoil Heap
This site was once a dumping ground for the local open coal mines, all of the waste material they didn’t want got dumped here by rail. A quick and convenient way of dumping the waste material. The material is a mixture of limestone and shale. |
No Restrictions
This site is not an SSSI, so there is no restrictions on collecting or hammering the rocks, but be aware that this site is on private land for which you may need permission. |
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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Safe and sensible collection should be followed with all locations. The dangers at this site are mostly from falling rocks. The spoil heap is so tall that large limestone rocks can easily fall. The height of the heap is actually quite shocking and its made worse by having steep sides. The other danger is that it is very easy to slip and fall because of the steel sides. |
| Last updated: |
2010 |
| last visited: |
2008 |
| Written by: |
Alister and Alison Cruickshanks |
 
Geological Tools
A splitting pick is very handy at this location, you will need plenty of paper to wrap your finds.
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When you first arrive at this site after making your way through the long grass, you will see the very tall spoil heap. There is much more limestone here than shale, and it is the shale you need to find. However, there is still enough shale to keep collectors going for years! The black shale can obviously be found anywhere, but where weathered on the surface, the fossils will turn bright white. You can spot them very quickly without even trying. The white teeth and coprolites stand out against the black shale. Walk around the edges of the spoil heap but do not attempt to climb the steep sides as this is dangerous. There should be plenty of material for you to collect from around the edge.
Once you have searched initially for any white obvious fossils, then you can start turning over slabs and splitting the fine shale. The shale is packed with black fish teeth, bones, coprolites and scales. The teeth and scales are easiest to find as they shiny. You should also be able to find plant material including bark and leafs although they are not as common as the fish remains. Shells are also found here too and because this is a spoil heap taken from various zones, you could find anything here!
The shale is quite brittle and so you should take plenty of paper. Larger slabs or shale is fairly stable, but when split thinly, it can make the fossils very fragile.
Carboniferous shale amongst many limestone blocks
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Carboniferous, 310mya |
The rocks at Dalmellington Tip are a mixture of marine shales and Carboniferous limestone. They are Westphalian B age, but as all the zones have become mixed up over years of extracting coal from local open cast mines, the exact zones are not known.
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Stone Tumblers |
Microscopes |
Geological Supplies |
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 Dalmellington, you can find very small fish bones using a microscope. There are plenty of finds to be made without the need of a microscope, but a microcope will enable you to see the smallest fossils. It will also show detail on the fossil fish remains.
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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UKGE, the owners of UK Fossils, are your market leader for Geological Supplies and Geology Equipment. Suppling Retail, Education and Trade in the UK, Europe and beyond.
We sell a wide range of geological hammer and geological picks as well as fossil tools, starter packs and geological chisels.
UKGE is your geological superstore, selling a wide range of field equipment, rocks, minerals, fossils, geological and even microscopy! |
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