Monkton Nature Reserve was the first place in Kent to receive RIGS (Regionally Important Geological/Geomorphological Site) status. As an abandoned chalk quarry, the exposed cliffs provide an important insight into local geology and a good source of fossils. Full details can be found on the RIGS web-site.

Our Archaeology, Geology and Fossil Exhibition contains a variety of exhibits, many of them local to Thanet and East Kent, and one or two of exceptional rarity. One of the cases contains items from the Roman Villa in Minster, and the Roman Fort in Reculver. We also house Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery shards, bone tools, flint knives and scrapers. Our collection of fossils covers almost 500 millions years of evolutionary time, with special sections covering the Pleistocene, Tertiary and Cretaceous periods, and an exhibition of dinosaur material.

If you have a rock or fossil you would like identified, send us a picture by email or bring it to the Reserve Field Centre and we will do our best to help.

For information on the geology and fossils of Thanet and East Kent click HERE or you can download an article on the geology of Thanet and East Kent from our articles page.

Geology Links (more on Links page)
UK Fossils Network
British Chalk Fossils