The Early-mid Jurassic geology here (185-166 million years old) was laid down in a shallow, tropical sea. The unique ‘starfish bed’ with exquisite brittle star fossils preserved is a beautiful example of some of the fossils found here, as well as abundant fossils from the Inferior Oolite limestone and the rare but globally significant mammal fossils from the Forest marble.
Faulting in this area has displaced the geology vertically in places, creating sharp changes in the coastal landscape at ‘fault corner’, West Bay and Hive Beach.
Must see areas include:
- West Bay Harbour
- West Bay beaches
- Burton Bradstock
- Hive Beach
- River Brit
- The Western end of Chesil Beach
- Thorncombe beacon (one of the coastal braziers to communicate warning of the approaching Spanish armada in Tudor times).
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