Lady Burn fossils and fossil collecting |
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 From the A77, just North of Girvan, immediately after the last roundabout, Turn right down the B741 towards Dailly. At Craighead, take the minor road on your left to Drummuck. Follow until you get to the giveway at Drummuck, turn left and continue until Crossroads. At Crossroads, turn right.
Follow road, you will pass the large North Threave Farm. At the second smaller farm, "East Threave", park in the space just outside their drive. The owners allow this providing you leave space for farm vehicles and only leave one car.
Walk back up the road you just came from (West), and start counting the fields on the left. CONT...
GRID REF: 55.29557°N, 4.76136°W
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Trilobites, Starfish, Brachiopods, Bivalves, Orthcones, Gastropods, Gonatites, Crinoids, Bryozoans, Corals, Cephalopods. |
PDF - PRINT FRIENDLY GUIDE
Lady Burn is a very famous site in Scotland, and has highly fossiliferous rocks including three famous 'starfish beds', and some superb, complete trilobites to be found. There are so many different fossils to be discovered here. It is well documented and you are sure to find something! |
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Older Children
Older children can visit this site, providing that they are supervised by an adult. The location is near to the Lady Burn, which the sides are steep. |
Can be hard to find
This is not the most easiest of locations to find, we HIGHLY suggest that you take the PDF print out version with you and follow directions step by step. Once you find it, you will never forget it. It is not just the burn you have to find, but the area where excursions have been done. |
Cuttings, Pits, Stream
Most of the fossils are found in the small pits and cuttings at the top of the hill on the opposite side of the burn, so when you cross over, climb the hill and you should see these. Of course, the first fossils recorded from this location where from the burn itself, so this is worth a look, although, most of your time should be spend at the top of the hill in the pits! |
Classic site
Permission allowed
The farmer at East Threave owns the field to Lady Burn, he is happy for collectors to visit the burn, providing that they shut the gate and park sensibly just outside his house at the drive entrance, allowing farm vehicles to pass.
This is a 'Classic Site', and of great scientific value. We therefore ask that you only collect from the loose rocks and scree to preserve this location for future generations, and only take a few specimens. |
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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Please be aware that you will need to walk through a field of cows. Whilst they are normally harmless, be cautious and try to keep away from them. The best advice is to ignore them, if they feel you are looking at them, they may feel threatened. Take care in the burn, it can be slippery and you can easily trip or fall. |
Last updated:
last visited:
Written by: |
08/11/08
2008
Alister and Alison Cruickshanks
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Geological Tools
A hammer and splitting chisel is essential, but the best tool is an Estwing Pointed Pry Bar. This will make your work very easy and you can find fossils quickly. We sell these on our UKGE website. Most fossils can however be collected by picking up the loose material.
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The first fossils found at Lady Burn, came from the burn itself. Although fossils can still be collected this way, by far the best fossils are found at the top of the hill on the opposite side of the burn. Here, past excavations for scientific study as well as small pits and trenches made by collectors over the years, yields most of the fossils.
The rocks are constantly being weathered and crumble, so there is plenty of material to search through loose on the floor. There are a number of pits and trenches, but the best one is the largest with the good face showing a good section of the Farden Formation.
Unlike most formations, whereby fossils are normally found in horizons, at Lady Burn, you will find 'pockets' of fossils. So often, you will see the same fossil type in the same rock, but other rocks at that horizon may not contain any fossils. For example, when UK Fossils visited this site, a section had slipped down, and in one of the rocks, 4 complete trilobites were found, but no others in the rest of this section.
The largest pit at Ladyburn
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Ordovician, 445mya |
The Ashgill, Lady Burn Formation and Farden Member are the most famous and most high fossiliferous in the Girvan area.
The Lady Burn Formation is pale grey, poorly bedded with nodular siltstones and mudstones. It is very shelly.
Below this, the Farden Member is equally famous, being a bed of greyish-green well-bedded silty mudstones with thinly bedded greenish-black fine- to medium-grained sandstones in the upper part. This member includes three famous starfish beds at the top of the sequence.
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Related Books |
Microscopes |
Test Sieves for Microfossils |
The best guide available for this area is the small booklet on Girvan published by the Geological Survey and available from our online store. It is a sheet explanation and covers the geological formations around Girvan in great detail, along with the fossils found and further locations not featured on this website.
Click here for this book.
The standard geological map of Girvan is also an excellent buy showing you exactly where the best beds are, and is related to from the sheet explanation.
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At most locations, you can find microfossils. You only need a small sample of the sand. You then need to wash it in water and sieve using a test sieve. Once the sand is processed, you can then view the contents using a microscope.
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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Test Sieves are used when searching for microfossils. Microfossils can be found in many locations, and all you need is a small amount of sample such as clays, sands and shales, or if you have acid, limestone, oolite or chalk.
Our UKGE Store sells Endecotts Test Sieves, which are the highest in accuracy and extremely durable and long lasting. These Test Sieves are fantastic for microfossils. Endecotts Test Sieves come in a variety of sizes, frame material and types, they are certificated to EU Standards. |
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