Jurassic Coast
The Jurassic Coast is England's only natural World Heritage Site, a 95-mile stretch of the Dorset and East Devon coastline that exposes 185 million years of the Earth's geological history in the cliffs, beaches and rock formations from Orcombe Point at Exmouth to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage. The site was designated in 2001 in recognition of the unique and complete record of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous geological time preserved in the coastal exposures, and the quality of fossil preservation in many of the rock types makes it one of the most important palaeontological sites in the world.
The geological story told in the cliffs moves chronologically from west to east, the oldest Triassic red rocks at the western end giving way to the Jurassic limestones, clays and sandstones of the central section and then to the white Cretaceous chalk of the eastern Purbeck section. This orderly progression, visible in the changing rock types and colours of the cliff faces as you travel along the coast, provides a unique opportunity to read Earth history directly from the landscape rather than from textbooks or museum displays.
The best-known fossil sites are concentrated in the Jurassic section. Charmouth beach is one of the most productive ammonite and ichthyosaur localities in the world, the regular erosion of the Lias clays exposing new fossils after every winter storm. Mary Anning, who grew up in nearby Lyme Regis and made many of the most significant fossil discoveries at Charmouth and Lyme in the early nineteenth century, established the scientific importance of this section of the coast and contributed directly to the development of palaeontology as a discipline.
The natural landmarks along the coast, including Golden Cap, Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, the Chesil Beach and Old Harry Rocks, provide some of the finest coastal scenery in England alongside the geological interest.