Some of the world's most significant natural assets have been discovered on north Norfolk's unique Deep History Coast. Take a journey along this 36km stretch of coastline and see where the world's biggest mammoth skeleton remains were found. See where you can hunt for fossils and walk the Discovery Trail with a mobile app as your guide. Tread where footprints of the earliest evidence of human British civilisation were revealed from nearly a million years ago and where a 550,000 year old flint axe was unearthed. Discover more about this fascinating coastline steeped in millions of years worth of history. bit.ly/2KBYQKU
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Deep History Coast
The unique Deep History Coast in north Norfolk is home to the earliest evidence of humans in Britain with footsteps left by the UK's first tourists nearly a million years ago. The UK’s biggest mammoth skeleton remains were found at West Runton and a 500,000 year old flint handaxe was discovered in Happisburgh. You can explore the area along the Deep History Coast Discovery Trail which covers 36km of coastline from Weybourne to Cart Gap across the clifftops of the north Norfolk coast. With eleven discovery points along the way, you can find out what the landscape looked like hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Discover the Deep History Coast
Imagine taking a journey back in time to a day when early humans roamed the land and encountered amazing megafauna as part of daily...Read More
The unique Deep History Coast in north Norfolk is home to the earliest evidence of humans in Britain with footsteps left by the UK's first tourists nearly a million years ago. The UK’s biggest mammoth skeleton remains were found at West Runton and a 500,000 year old flint handaxe was discovered in Happisburgh. You can explore the area along the Deep History Coast Discovery Trail which covers 36km of coastline from Weybourne to Cart Gap across the clifftops of the north Norfolk coast. With eleven discovery points along the way, you can find out what the landscape looked like hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Discover the Deep History Coast
Imagine taking a journey back in time to a day when early humans roamed the land and encountered amazing megafauna as part of daily life. Well, you can experience exactly that along north Norfolk’s Deep History Coast. When you explore the Deep History Coast, you will come across wonderful beaches between Weybourne and Cart Gap, ideal for fossil and artefact hunting. Follow the Discovery Trail with fact revealing Discovery Points along the way.
Take a step back in time when you can see a mammoth come to life through the free Deep History Coast app. You can even see how the ancient, now submerged, Doggerland could have looked through amazing technology while letting a Hominin family be your guide!
Then stroll along Happisburgh beach where a flint handaxe was found and footprints were discovered of the first visitors who walked in Norfolk hundreds of thousands of years ago.
For water adventures, go rockpool rummaging and fossil finding at West Runton beach. Some of the creatures you may come across are really not much different from the creatures living here millions of years ago.
It's common to find a fossil along this stretch ranging from a belemnite to hyaena coprolites (fossilised dung!). Good swimmers can snorkel to an underwater chalk reef between Sheringham and Cromer, dating back to a time when huge wild animals roamed the earth.
How The Deep History Coast Story Evolved
The modern-day story of early life in north Norfolk began in 1990 when a local couple discovered a large bone partially exposed at the base of the cliffs in West Runton. Norfolk Museums Service confirmed the find as the pelvic bone of a large Steppe mammoth and further excavations in 1991 and 1995 revealed 85% of the mammoth’s skeleton. The find was not only awe-inspiring for being the largest nearly complete mammoth skeleton known in Britain, but it is also the oldest found in the UK, providing a new understanding of the landscape.
North Norfolk’s beautiful beaches have revealed many other hidden secrets along this 25-mile of cliffed coastline. Fascinating archaeological finds and natural assets have been discovered here and continue to be unearthed, providing an experience of the deepest depths of history! Norfolk has always been shaped by the sea and with every storm comes an artefact waiting to be found, telling a new story from the eroding geology; all of which has provided palaeontologists with evidence of how society evolved.
Exploring the Deep History Coast today, visitors can now see and learn about the life of early humans in Norfolk and the giants who shared this landscape. Experience history first hand through a Discovery Trail, events, exhibitions and exciting new technology, developing history for future generations. So, what are you waiting for? Start your journey back in time today!
North Norfolk’s Deep History Coast is 36km of unique coastline from Cart Gap to Weybourne. The rocks beneath this coastline tell the story of the world millions of the years in the past. It’s the story of an ever changing landscape. The landscape that we see today tells us about the environment of years ago. If it wasn’t for the last ice age, some features of the north Norfolk coast wouldn’t be here at all! Our video reveals some amazing facts about this fascinating stretch of coast.
Did you know West Runton beach is the richest source of fossils anywhere in the British Isles from the Pleistocene epoch between 12,000 and 2.6m years ago? And that north Norfolk has produced finds so important that there’s even a period named after Cromer – the Cromerian stage? And did you know that the Cromer Shoal Chalk Bed is a rich and diverse eco system of animals and plants that rivals even the great tropical reefs of the world? Whether you’re interested in geology or just like to see beautiful landscapes, there is so much to discover on north Norfolk’s Deep History Coast, at any time of the year. Find out more: www.deephistorycoast.co.uk
Fossil Hunting on the Deep History Coast
Fossil hunting along north Norfolk's Deep History Coast is an exciting activity as you may well find your own piece of history dating back millions of years! The stretch of coastline between Weybourne and Cart Gap is home to the earliest evidence of humans in Britain with footsteps left by the UK's first tourists nearly a million years ago, the UK’s biggest mammoth skeleton unearthed at West Runton and a 500,000 year old flint hand axe discovered in Happisburgh. There are many different types of fossils you can come across along north Norfolk's beaches, each telling a different story about the creatures that lived here.