Pakefield SSSI

Modern visitors walk by 700 000 year old dark-coloured muds containing flint flakes made by earlier humans.   Glacial boulder clay at the top of the cliff shows that a major ‘Ice Age’ separated the two sets of humans.

Thorpeness Cliff CGS

A temporary exposure in the cliff which degraded very quickly, this was fortunately reported to GeoSuffolk by a local resident.

Thorpe Ness CGS- the beach at this location forms one of the Suffolk 'nesses'.

Suffolk Estuaries

The Deben Estuary

The Orwell Estuary - Nacton Cliff CGS , Bridge Wood CGS

The Stour Estuary - Stutton SSSI

Suffolk Geocoast

Sunrise; amber; bracing; Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; Orfordness - the Suffolk coast is special.   For geologists, cliff exposures are witnesses of time and beaches are evidence of process.

East Beach, Bawdsey

Slippery ‘London Clay’ is exposed at low tide.   Always check tide times when visiting the coast.

Dunwich RIGS

A landslip has exposed a fresh face of ‘Norwich Crag’ sand and Westleton Gravel.   The pebbles from erosion of this gravel in the cliffs supply much of the shingle for Orford Ness and other beaches to the south.

Find out more

The Suffolk coast is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.   Use the Suffolk Coast and Heaths web site to find out more.

Lowestoft Museum (Nicholas Everitt Park, Oulton Broad) has excellent geology displays.   Use their web site to find out about Pakefield.

Walton-on-the-Naze on the Essex coast also has exciting geology. Use the Nazeman site to find out more.

Dunwich Museum has useful downloads on coastal processes on its library page.