Report of the East Riding Boulder Committee

2011 to 2021

This is a list of glacial erratics found on field meetings of the Hull Geological Society or records contributed by members and friends.

This list was compiled by Mike Horne** from fieldwork, with additional data contributed by Anne Horne, Janet Harrison (Jan Robson), Richard Ablett, Jim Whittaker and Stephen Whittaker. 

The sites are arranged geographically. The order in which the erratics are listed is a crude indicator of abundance. There are different lists for material recorded in the boulder clay cliffs, beach exposures and loose on the beach. The specimens recorded were seen loose on the beach unless otherwise specified.

Carnelian Bay - Cannon Ball Limestone, Lithostrotion in red Carboniferous Limestone, syenite, Cardinia in limestone, Brockram, garnet gneiss, Cheviot Porphyry (common), jasper, carnelian, New Red Sandstone, granite, gneiss, yellow quartz, white quartz, Gryphaea, amygdaloidal basalt, chert, Productids in Carboniferous Limestone, Larvikite, muscovite schist, green Lake District conglomerate.

Speeton - Brockram, Norwegian porphyry, Cheviot porphyry, Lake District green conglomerate, pink granite, gneiss, Corallian Limestone with Thalassonoides, jasper, Lithostrotion.

South Landing in situ in the "West Nook Gravels" exposed in the cliff - black Cheviot Porphyry, black flint, amygdaloidal basalt, gneiss, yellow quartz, Old Red Sandstone, limonite, brown sandstone, red amygdaloidal lava, basalt, white quartz, porphyry, grey flint.

South Landing (on beach) - Jurassic plant bed, red granite, basalt, Old Red Sandstone, Carboniferous Limestone.

Danes Dyke - Larvikite, black shelly Carboniferous, Limestone, New Red Sandstone, black flint, grey flint, rhomb porphyry, pink granite.

Bridlington in situ beach exposure of shelly till (Basement Till) - Arctica islandica (broken shells), black flint, Gryphaea.

Barmston (north of road end) - black flint (common), New Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, Lithostrotion, black Carboniferous Limestone, Cannon Ball Limestone, shelly Jurassic limestone, brown sandstone, granite, Jurassic rootlet bed, porphyry, gneiss, yellow quartz (relatively rare), jasper, green sandstone, Norwegian porphyry, ripple marked sandstone, Larvikite, red flint, brown quartzite, Gryphaea, red granite, red conglomerate.

Barmston cliff in situ -  Jurassic belemnite, basalt, jasper, yellow quartz, jasper, Dactylioceras commune, Magnesian Limestone, brown quartzite, green chert, grey-brown sandstone, Carboniferous Limestone, pale brown sandstone.

Barmston (south of Barmston Drain) -  black flint, Chalk, Arnioceras, granite, porphyry, Cheviot Porphyry, white quartz, "Haggis Rock", brown flint, Old Red Sandstone, Gryphaea, grey flint.

Ulrome - pyrite crystals.

Skipsea beach - jet, corals in red Carboniferous Limestone, Larvikite.

Skipsea Cliff in situ in the cliff - Chalk (common), grey flint, belemnite from the Speeton Clay, black shale, black flint, Gryphaea, Jurassic belemnite, Tilberthwaite Tuff, ice-scratched Carboniferous Limestone. "porphyry, medium grained", yellow chalk (bored by sponges when on a beach), phosphate nodule, banded grey flint, pale brown layered sandstone, red sandstone with crinoid stem, grey sandstone, gneiss, white vein quartz, New  Red Sandstone, ironstone nodule, dark grey shale, orange quartzite,  yellow quartz, dark grey sandstone, coal, ? rhyolite, pink granite, grey mudrock, pale grey careous flint,  Old Red Sandstone, jet,  dolerite, basalt, Larvikite, green jasper, pink quartzite, Carboniferous Limestone, Magnesian Limestone, Jurassic rootlet bed.

Skipsea Withow Mere in situ in cliff - Norwegian Porphyry, Jurassic rootlet bed, ice-scratched Carboniferous Limestone, New Red Sandstone, Chalk.

Skirlington beach - Hildoceras.

North of Mappleton (ca. TA 225 447) in situ in the Red Band in cliff and beach exposure (TA 224 446) -  grey sandstone, New Red Sandstone, yellow quartz, black mudstone, Carboniferous Limestone, Magnesian Limestone, red mudstone, brown quartzite, white quartz, green conglomerate, charcoal, Gryphaea, ? Hibolithes, dark grey flint, Old Red Sandstone, pale grey septarian nodule, green jasper, Tilberthwaite Tuff, coarse orange sandstone. Note - almost no Chalk.

Mappleton (in situ in cliff) - Jurassic belemnite, Chalk, red chalk, pink chalk, Middle Jurassic Sandstone, New Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, Gryphaea, black flint, septarian nodule, Hibolithes, NeoHibolithes, Kimmeridge Clay, porphyry, Pecten in grey sandstone, yellow quartz, black shelly Carboniferous Limestone.

Mappleton going south - Quartz, Canninia, Chalk, crinoidal Carboniferous Limestone, Lithostrotion, black flint, pink chalk, Cheviot porphyry, Polyptichites, Jurassic belemnite, Kimmeridge Clay, red granite, Gryphaea, coal, Pecten in Jurassic limestone, Oxyteuthis, belemnite in soft Chalk raft, New Red Sandstone, Middle Jurassic Sandstone, Norwegian Porphyry, Pentacrinus, Jurassic oolitic limestone, Jurassic plant bed, Kellaways belemnite, Offaster, Cardinia, grey flint, Kimmeridge septarian nodule, Dactyllioceras tennuicostatum, Arnioceras, Echinocorys, jasper, D. commune, horsetail tree trunk, red flint, brown sandstone, basalt, pyrite, Acroteuthis, Larvikite, quartzite, green jasper, Exogyra, Cannon Ball Limestone, Speeton Clay nodules, gneiss, ice-scratched Chalk, rusty brown sandstone, Gonioteuthis, Infulaster, Hildoceras, Belemnitella mucronata, Asteroceras, black Cheviot Porphyry, brecciated Chalk, Pseudomytilloides dubius. Gryphaea in shelly limestone, ripple marked shale, green sandstone, red chalk, sandstone with trace fossils, Dogger, Chalk bored by piddocks, belemnite from the Speeton Clay, septarian nodule from the Speeton Clay, fossil wood, NeoHibolithes, ice-scratched Carboniferous Limestone, black shelly Carboniferous Limestone, Modiolus..

Aldborough - Lithostrotion, fossil wood, Phylloceras.

North of Sand-le-Mere - ca. 305325 - in situ in the cliff in "Withernsea Till" - New Red Sandstone, Carboniferous Limestone, brown sandstone, coal, Chalk, late Cretaceous belemnite, coarse grey sandstone.

North of Sand-le-Mere - ca. 305325 – in situ on the beach - Lithostrotion (common), Gryphaea (relatively rare) Dactylioceras, red Norwegian Porphyry, Larvikite (relatively common), brown septarian nodules (relatively common), Dogger, black flint, Chalk, Middle Jurassic rootlet bed, carnelian, yellow quartz, basalt, Old Red Sandstone, dark grey gneiss, large grey septarian nodules (from the Kimmeridgian and/or Speeton Clay), red flint, NeoHibolithes, pyrite, pink chalk, granite, green conglomerate, Jurassic fossil wood, Pleuroceras, Lithostrotion in red limestone, Frosterly Marble.

Sand-le-Mere in situ in the cliff - Chalk, coal, New Red Sandstone, Kimmeridge Clay.

Sand-le-Mere - on the beach - Norwegian Porphyry, Cheviot porphyry, Dactylioceras commune, Lithostrotion (common), gneiss, augen gneiss*, grey flint, jasper, Whin Sill, Larvikite*, red granite, Chalk, vesicular basalt, yellow quartz, white quartz, shelly Jurassic limestone, Frosterly Marble, Gryphaea, red flint, grey granite, carnelian, orange agate, ironstone, Pentacrinus, green jasper, Feldspar pegmatite*, Old Red Sandstone, Arnioceras. [* are these natural erratics or have they been transported from sea defences?]

Withernsea beach ca. 500m north of North Promenade - jasper, white quartz, Lithostrotion, Gryphaea, black flint, chert, gneiss, New Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, Dactylioceras, Chalk, dolerite, middle Jurassic Rootlet Bed, Carnelian, Cheviot Porphyry, Larvikite, yellow quartz, grey flint, pink granite, Dogger, Inoceramus, brown sandstone,  crinoidal Carboniferous Limestone, Lower Jurassic shelly limestone, red flint, bored chalk, echinoid in black flint, amygdaloidal basal, belemnite from the Chalk, green slag (not an erratic).

Withernsea in situ in the cliff south of the Promenade (now hidden by 2021 sea defences) - Chalk, black igneous rock, Old Red Sandstone, New Red Sandstone, brown sandstones, grey flint, black flint, ?chert, coal, shale.

Withernsea beach south of the Promenade - Black flint, Gryphaea, Lithostrotion, grey flint, pale brown sandstone, white quartz, yellow quartz, basalt, Jurassic grey rootlet bed, pink chalk, Arnioceras, belemnite from the Chalk, red flint, pink gneiss, New Red Sandstone.

Withernsea beach south of the 2021 sea defences - Chalk, New Red Sandstone, grey flint, yellow micaceous sandstone.

Withernsea south of the 2021 sea defences in situ in the cliff - Chalk, New Red Sandstone, Carboniferous Limestone, coal (common), black flint, yellow micaceous sandstone, basalt, Acroteuthis, Harpoceras, Magnesian Limestone, grey flint, pink granite, grey shale, Gryphaea, grey sandstone, yellow quartz, Pecten in mudstone, Middle Jurassic Plant Bed, grey chert, pink chalk, brown porphyry, brown sandstone, orange sandstone, buff sandstone, jasper veins in red sandstone, ? chert, red chalk, white vein quartz, Old Red Sandstone, Pseudomytilloides dubius, shale, Jurassic belemnite.

Easington Beach - yellow quartz, white quartz, dolerite, Cheviot porphyry, Lithostrotion, black shelly limestone, pink granite, black flint, "dogger", gneiss, jasper, pyrite, grey flint, Norwegian porphyry, Gryphaea in limestone, Old Red Sandstone, septarian nodule (? Kimmeridgian), crinoidal Carboniferous Limestone, Liassic ammonite, Chalk, brown sandstone, red flint.  Note - the Larvikite on the beach probably comes from the sea defences for the Gas Terminal.

Easington walking north from Seaside Road, in situ beach exposure of shelly till (probably "Basement Till") - Arctica islandica (broken shells), Chalk, black flint, Gryphaea, sandstones, pale grey chert, jasper, gneiss, Middle Jurassic rootlet bed, coal, Old Red Sandstone, dark red sandstone, amygdaloidal basalt,  Cheviot Porphyry,  pink syenite, Scrobicularia, Macoma, pink quartzite, white quartz. . Note - no grey flint.

Kilnsea beach (site of the Godwin Battery, now on the beach) - Old Red Sandstone, New Red Sandstone, Lithostrotion, grey flint, black flint, Gryphaea, Larvikite, Cheviot Porphyry, white quartz, yellow quartz, granite, Norwegian Porphyry, Middle Jurassic rootlet bed, carnelian, red flint, gneiss.

Kelsey Hill - Ostrea, Cardium, grey flint, Gryphaea.

Keyingham New Pit (south of the main road) - Gryphaea, Exogyra, black flint, vesicular basalt, weathered Chalk pebbles, rhomb porphyry, oysters, Scrobicularia fluminaris, cockles, quartzite, ammonite in orange sandstone, grey flint, jasper, gneiss, crinoidal Carboniferous Limestone, red granite, belemnite from the Chalk, carnelian, Jurassic belemnite, Old Red Sandstone, coal, whelk, yellow quartz, rotten grey granite, Chalk, pale brown cross-bedded sandstone, Inoceramus in flint, scaphopods, winkles, Buccinum, Astarte, Corbicula.

Keyingham Old Pit in situ "Basement Till" - Gryphaea, Jurassic belemnites, brown sandstone, yellow sandstone, Chalk.

Keyingham Old Pit - Whin Sill, Brockram, Shap Granite, Asteroceras, gneiss, Kimmeridge Clay, ammonite in Kimmeridge Clay, black flint, grey flint, red flint, granite, ironstone, brown sandstone, Jurassic plant bed, New Red Sandstone, Cheviot Porphyry, weathered dolerite, piddock-bored Chalk, Magnesian Limestone, Old Red Sandstone, Larvikite, Lithostrotion, Norwegian porphyry, fossil horsetail, garnet schist, coal.

Keyingham (mixed pits) - Flamborough Chalk sponges, grey flint, black flint, Gryphaea, red flint, porphyry, Old Red Sandstone, New Red Sandstone, Lower Jurassic shelly limestone. sandstones, jasper, Kimmeridge Clay, Dogger, Brockram, Shap Granite, lignite, basalt, brown sandstone, ironstone, pink quartz, brown flint, Jurassic belemnite, Arnioceras, flow banded rhyolite, garnet schist, Chalk bored by piddocks, Lithostrotion.

Red Cliff, near North Ferriby - Chalk, Kimmeridgian ammonite in shale, grey flint, black flint, ice scratched Carboniferous Limestone, Old Red Sandstone, brown sandstone, grey quartz, yellow quartz, white quartz, yellow sandstone, B. mucronata, grey porphyry, carnelian, gneiss, Middle Jurassic rootlet bed, limonite, quartzite, ice scratched Chalk, Gryphaea, jasper, Chalk pebble with small borings.

South Ferriby Foreshore (Lincolnshire) on beach - crinoidal Carboniferous Limestone, grey granite, Old Red Sandstone, scaphopods in shelly Lower Jurassic limestone, basalt, New Red Sandstone, ice-scratched Carboniferous Limestone, porphyry.

References/further reading:

Harrison R & M Horne 1992. The East Yorkshire Boulder Committee, report for the years 1987 to 1991. Humberside Geologist 10, 18-22.

Horne M 1992. Starting Geology in East Yorkshire. Humberside Geologist 10, 13.

Horne M 2000. Report of the East Riding Boulder Committee 1992 to 2000. Humberside Geologist 13, 42-45

Rockett T 1992. Glaciation and the Yorkshire Coast. Humberside Geologist 10, 14.