FOSSIL HUNTING BY REGION
Dorset is one of the UK’s top fossil hunting locations, forming part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. The area is best known for Jurassic fossils, especially ammonites, belemnites, and occasional marine reptiles like ichthyosaurs.
Lyme Regis, often called the fossil capital of the UK, is a popular starting point, along with nearby beaches such as Charmouth and Seatown, which regularly produce finds after storms. While these locations can be busy, Dorset offers many other productive sites.
The county also includes exposures from the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous, including fossil-rich areas on the Isle of Portland, making it a must-visit destination for collectors.
36 location guides
36 locations
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Burton Cliff combines towering Bridport Sand cliffs with a thin but exceptionally fossiliferous cap of Inferior Oolite limestone. Detached limestone can contain ammonites, sponges, echinoids and shells, but the cliffs are…
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Black Ven is one of the most iconic and geologically dynamic fossil locations on the Jurassic Coast. Located west of Charmouth, its constantly shifting cliffs and large landslips make it one…
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Stonebarrow, to the east of Charmouth, is one of the busiest and most productive sections of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Renowned for its rich ammonite beds, including the famous…
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West Beach at Charmouth is one of the most accessible and productive fossil hunting locations in the UK, attracting collectors of all levels throughout the year. Situated at the heart of…
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The eastern shore of Lyme Regis exposes Early Jurassic limestone and shale at Church Cliffs, East Cliff and Broad Ledge. Ammonites, belemnites and shells are the familiar fossils, while named limestone…
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Seatown is one of Dorset’s classic fossil-hunting locations, offering rich Jurassic material set against some of the most dramatic coastal scenery on the south coast. However, it can be more dangerous…
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Tidmoor Point, on the edge of The Fleet lagoon opposite Chesil Beach, is a small but highly productive Oxford Clay locality. Best known for its pyritised and limonitic ammonites, the low…
Read the guide →The coastal section at Black Head, near Osmington, displays Jurassic rocks from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation of 152-157 million years ago. Fossils to be found include ammonites, brachiopods, coral, worm tubes…
Read the guide →Bowleaze Cove exposes both the famous Oxford Clay Formation and the overlying Corallian Group, making it one of the most geologically interesting locations around Weymouth. While the historic Oxford Clay exposures…
Read the guide →Chapman’s Pool is a remote cove beneath Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay and younger cliff-capping rocks. Ammonites, shells and trace fossils record the changing sea, but a long descent, unstable cliffs and…
Read the guide →Church Ope Cove on Portland offers views of Portland limestone and basal Purbeck rocks, with oysters, other bivalves and occasional ammonite fragments recorded in fallen material. Observation and photography are the…
Read the guide →Cogden’s shingle beach, east of Hive Beach, borders low exposures of Frome Clay and basal Forest Marble. Bivalves, brachiopods and occasional small gastropods occur in mudstone, cementstone and loose shelly slabs,…
Read the guide →From the Zig Zag path to Durlston Head, the western half of Durlston Bay reveals some of the finest and most complete exposures of the Purbeck Limestone Group in the UK.…
Read the guide →Just west of Seatown, the quieter stretch of Eype exposes the fossil-rich Beacon Limestone Formation. The foreshore is scattered with fallen limestone blocks, many containing ammonites and other Jurassic fossils. Collecting here…
Read the guide →Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Portland records the change from marine Portland limestone to the lagoonal limestones and soils of the basal Purbeck succession. Shell-rich beds, chert and microbial structures…
Read the guide →Hengistbury Head preserves Eocene sands, clays and ironstone horizons beneath younger river gravels. The headland’s burrows, sparse marine fossils and scientifically recorded plant remains are best explored through geological observation and…
Read the guide →Kimmeridge Bay’s dark Jurassic mudstones and resistant limestone ledges reveal a detailed marine succession. Ammonites and other shells can be seen in suitable exposures, and loose foreshore fossils may be collected…
Read the guide →The Fleet-side exposures near Langton Herring preserve Bathonian shell beds and brachiopod-rich limestone in a varied Jurassic succession. Oyster banks, encrusting organisms and separate marker horizons are of specialist interest, but…
Read the guide →Lulworth Cove’s shape reveals the contrast between resistant Portland limestone and softer inland strata, backed by folded and faulted Chalk. Shells, lagoonal beds and the separately accessed Fossil Forest tell a…
Read the guide →Monmouth Beach, Lyme Regis, exposes classic Lower Jurassic Lias beds similar to those at Church Cliffs, making it one of the most iconic fossil sites on the Dorset coast. The foreshore…
Read the guide →Osmington Mills, west of Ringstead Bay, reveals a varied Upper Jurassic Corallian succession of sandstone, clay, marl and limestone. Bivalves, ammonites, echinoids and distinctive burrows and ooidal beds help explain changing…
Read the guide →The stretch of coastline from Peveril Point into the eastern half of Durlston Bay exposes part of the renowned Purbeck Limestone Group, one of the most important Late Jurassic–earliest Cretaceous sequences…
Read the guide →Pirates Cove, near Wyke Regis, is a small but highly productive section of Corallian cliffs, offering a rich and varied fossil assemblage. The easily accessible foreshore, when conditions allow, yields abundant…
Read the guide →Redcliff Point is one of Dorset’s most rewarding Upper Jurassic fossil localities, exposing both the fossil-rich Oxford Clay Formation and the overlying Corallian Group within a spectacular coastal setting. The foreshore…
Read the guide →Ringstead Bay is a wonderful location, with rocks and fossils from the Corallian, Kimmeridge Clay, Purbeck Beds and Portland Beds to be found. The site consists mostly of Kimmeridge Clay from…
Read the guide →Smallmouth Sands, located within Portland Harbour near Weymouth, is one of the UK’s most remarkable yet often overlooked fossil sites, exposing the Lower Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay. It is one of the…
Read the guide →Visit Spyway Dinosaur Footprints near Langton Matravers to discover sauropod tracks, Early Cretaceous geology and the story of their discovery at the former Keates Quarry site. An outdoor National Trust attraction…
Read the guide →St Oswald’s Bay and Man O’War Cove expose a steeply tilted Jurassic–Cretaceous succession, with resistant offshore limestone and high Chalk cliffs. Fossils include shells, echinoids and ammonites, but Lulworth Estate’s conservation…
Read the guide →Studland’s South Beach and Redend Point bring together Upper Cretaceous Chalk and Eocene sands and clays. Marine shells occur in the Chalk, while plant debris and occasional leaves characterise part of…
Read the guide →This varied Cretaceous site offers a refreshing contrast to Dorset’s more famous Jurassic locations, exposing a mix of Chalk, Greensand and underlying Wealden deposits. The foreshore and cliffs can yield a…
Read the guide →Thorncombe Beacon is a highly productive Jurassic location, yielding a wide range of fossils including ammonites, bivalves, brachiopods, belemnites, crinoids and occasional starfish specimens. The foreshore is scattered with fallen blocks…
Read the guide →Watton Cliff is one of Britain’s most important Middle Jurassic microfossil localities, exposing the fossil-rich Forest Marble Formation above the Frome Clay. While larger fossils such as brachiopods, crinoids, sharks’ teeth…
Read the guide →West Bay’s East Cliff is a striking exposure of yellow Bridport Sand, where harder sandstone bands stand out against softer sand. Belemnites, occasional ammonite moulds and burrows and shell remains reward…
Read the guide →West Weare on Portland exposes Kimmeridge Clay and the Portland succession among landslipped ground and old quarry waste. Shells and ammonite fragments are recorded, but mixed blocks, slippery clay and difficult…
Read the guide →White Nothe, between Ringstead and Lulworth Cove, is a dramatic and lesser-visited section of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. This steep headland exposes a mix of Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks,…
Read the guide →Wyke Regis (West), along the sheltered shoreline of the East Fleet lagoon behind Chesil Beach, is a productive Upper Jurassic site exposing the Kimmeridge Clay Formation. The foreshore and low cliffs…
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