Just west of Seatown lies the quieter collecting area of Eype, where the fossil-rich Beacon Limestone Formation (formerly known as the Dorset Junction Bed) is exposed. Fallen blocks from these beds are scattered across the foreshore and can contain a wide range of Jurassic fossils, particularly ammonites. Collecting here often requires patience and effort, as many fossils are locked within hard limestone blocks that have weathered out of the cliffs above. Although preservation can sometimes be poor, careful searching and splitting of loose rocks can reward determined collectors with well-preserved specimens, especially after storms or fresh cliff falls expose new material on the beach.
DIRECTIONS
♦ The easiest way to reach Eype is via a narrow turning off the A35 just west of Bridport. Follow New Street Lane, which becomes Mount Lane, and continue down through the village of Lower Eype until you reach the beach car park at Eype’s Mouth. The road is very narrow in places and is not suitable for large vehicles, motorhomes or caravans.
♦ There is a small car park at Eype’s Mouth (postcode DT6 6AL) close to the beach. Parking charges now apply all year round, so be prepared to pay on arrival. Parking spaces can be limited during busy periods, particularly in summer.
♦ Alternatively, you can reach Eype by walking west along the coast from Seatown. This is a pleasant coastal walk, but it can be quite long and sections of the beach may become cut off by the tide. If taking this route, always check tide times carefully to ensure you can return safely.
♦ Once on the beach at Eype’s Mouth, walk west along the foreshore towards Thorncombe Beacon. Fossils can often be found almost immediately amongst the loose rocks and fallen blocks scattered across the beach.
♦ Car parking: DT6 6A, Google Maps
♦ What3Words: Collecting area: ///expensive.drones.stylists
PROFILE INFO
FIND FREQUENCY: ♦♦♦♦ – You need to be prepared to take heavy lump hammers and then split the fallen blocks from the ‘Junction Bed’. There is usually plenty to be found. the blocks contain a great range of species of superb ammonites, along with starfish and many other types of fossil.
CHILDREN: ♦ – The foreshore at Eype is very rocky. This site is only suitable for families with older children, as some of the boulders are extremely hard and large. Although you can find fossils on the foreshore, most have to be split from the rock using a geological hammer.
ACCESS: ♦♦♦ – Access to the beach is easy with the car park nearby. However, walking along the beach from Seatown is much harder due to the large number of rocks and slippages.
TYPE: – This is a foreshore and cliff location, so fossils can be found in both. The vast majority of fossils are found by smashing fallen blocks of the Beacon Limestone Formation on the foreshore.
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FOSSIL HUNTING
Eype is a productive but often overlooked fossil collecting location along the Dorset coast, situated just west of West Bay beneath the high cliffs of Thorncombe Beacon. Although it lies close to more well-known collecting sites, it tends to attract fewer visitors, making it a quieter place to search for fossils along the Jurassic Coast. Fossils are typically found on the foreshore amongst fallen blocks and boulders that have weathered out of the cliffs above.
Most fossils at Eype come from loose blocks belonging to the Beacon Limestone, (formally known as the Junction Bed). These yellow, iron-rich limestone blocks frequently fall from the cliffs and can be found scattered across the beach. Many of these rocks contain large numbers of fossils and careful splitting of loose blocks can reveal well-preserved specimens. However, it is equally important to carefully search the surfaces of weathered rocks, as many fossils are exposed naturally by erosion.
Ammonites are among the most common fossils found at Eype. Species typical of these beds include Amaltheus margaritatus and Lytoceras fimbriatum, both of which are regularly discovered within the limestone blocks. Other ammonites that may be encountered include Pleuroceras spinatum, Amaltheus stokesi, Amaltheus subnodosus, Harpoceras falciferum, Harpoceras serpentinum, Dactylioceras commune, Dactylioceras tenuicostatum, Hildoceras bifrons, Eleganticeras elegantulum, Tiltoniceras antiquum, Tiltoniceras scissum and Coeloceras crassum. Many of these occur as flattened impressions within the limestone, although complete specimens can occasionally be found within nodules or freshly fallen blocks.
The beds at Eype also contain a variety of other marine fossils. Belemnites are fairly common and may include forms such as Passaloteuthis and Acrocoelites. Brachiopods such as Terebratula and Rhynchonella can be found within the limestone layers, along with numerous bivalves including Gryphaea, Pecten and Trigonia. Crinoid fragments are also present and can sometimes be seen scattered across bedding surfaces, while gastropods and trace fossils occasionally occur within the sediment.
One of the most famous fossils associated with this stretch of coastline is the brittlestar Palaeocoma egertoni. These delicate fossils originate from the Eype Starfish Bed, a thin bedding plane that occasionally appears within fallen blocks on the foreshore. The brittlestars are preserved flattened on the surface of fine-grained siltstone and are often discovered by carefully examining weathered slabs lying on the beach. Because these fossils are extremely fragile, complete specimens are rarely recovered intact.
Fossil collecting at Eype is often best after storms or periods of heavy rain, when fresh material has fallen from the cliffs and been spread across the beach. Large cliff falls frequently release new fossil-bearing blocks onto the foreshore, and patient searching amongst these rocks can produce excellent finds. As with many locations along the Jurassic Coast, persistence is often rewarded, and careful examination of the beach and fallen blocks can reveal a surprising variety of Jurassic fossils.
GEOLOGY
The cliffs at Eype expose an important section of Lower Jurassic rocks belonging to the Bridport Sand Formation, part of the Lias Group. These sediments were deposited during the Early Jurassic when this part of Dorset lay beneath a warm, shallow sea. The sequence here records changing marine conditions, with alternating sands, silts and limestones reflecting shifts in water depth, sediment supply and energy within the ancient sea.
The majority of the cliff and foreshore at Eype consists of the Bridport Sand Formation, a thick sequence of yellow-brown sands, sandstones and sandy limestones. These sediments were deposited in shallow marine conditions and today weather easily, which is why the cliffs here are prone to frequent landslips and rockfalls. The erosion of these cliffs continually releases blocks of fossil-bearing rock onto the beach, making the foreshore an important source of material for fossil collectors.
Within the Bridport Sand Formation are several distinct members that can be recognised along this stretch of coast. One of the most prominent horizons is the Beacon Limestone, historically known as the Junction Bed. This is a thin but distinctive limestone unit that forms a boundary between different phases of sedimentation within the Early Jurassic seas. The bed is particularly rich in fossils and frequently weathers out as yellow, iron-stained limestone blocks scattered across the beach.
Below the Beacon Limestone lie the Thorncombe Sands Member and the Downcliff Sands Member, which consist mainly of fine sands, silts and micaceous sandstones deposited in relatively shallow marine environments. These beds form a significant part of the cliff section at Eype and are responsible for many of the fallen blocks found on the foreshore. At the boundary between these units occurs the well-known Eype Starfish Bed, a thin bedding plane famous for its preserved brittlestars. This bed represents a quiet marine environment where fine sediment settled on the sea floor, allowing delicate organisms to be preserved.
At the base of the exposed sequence lies the Eype Clay Member, a darker clay-rich unit that represents calmer offshore deposition in deeper marine conditions. These mudstones contrast with the sandier deposits above and form the lowest visible beds along this part of the coastline.
This is a full stratigraphic breakdown of the Lower Jurassic succession exposed at Eype, Dorset. It covers the classic Eype Clay, Down Cliff Sand and Thorncombe Sand sequence, with the principal named horizons used by collectors and researchers, including the Three Tiers Sandstone, Eype Nodule Bed, Day’s Shell Bed and Eype Starfish Bed.
LIAS GROUP
Dyrham Formation (Lower Jurassic: Pliensbachian)
Eype Clay Member
The Eype Clay Member forms the lower and middle part of the Eype cliff section and consists mainly of pale grey, micaceous, variably silty mudstone with many small siderite nodules. It is the dominant soft cliff-forming unit at Eype and contains a number of important named fossil horizons rather than one universally used formal bed-by-bed numbered scheme.
Typical ammonites from the Eype Clay include Amaltheus margaritatus, Pleuroceras spinatum and related upper Pliensbachian forms, with bivalves, brachiopods and occasional vertebrate remains also present.
Three Tiers Sandstone
A sandstone horizon at the base of the Eype Clay Member used by BGS to define the lower boundary of the member. It forms a strong field marker beneath the mudstone-dominated Eype Clay succession.
Lower Eype Clay
Pale grey silty mudstones with scattered siderite nodules and subordinate thin sandy partings. Fossils are generally more scattered in the lower part of the member but include ammonites, bivalves and shell debris.
Eype Nodule Bed
A distinctive nodule band visible in the cliff, commonly marked by spherical or rounded calcareous to sideritic nodules. This is one of the best-known internal marker horizons in the Eype Clay Member and can be more fossiliferous than the surrounding mudstones.
Middle Eype Clay
Pale to medium grey silty mudstones with numerous small nodules and local sandy partings. This interval forms much of the soft, recessive cliff profile and yields ammonites, bivalves and occasional crinoid debris.
Day’s Shell Bed
A fossil-rich shelly horizon near the top of the Eype Clay Member, lying about 0.9 m below the Starfish Bed. It is known for concentrated shell material and is an important marker immediately beneath the overlying sandy unit.
Upper Eype Clay
Silty mudstones and sandy mudstones forming the upper part of the member, transitional upwards into the Down Cliff Sand Member. Fossils include upper Pliensbachian ammonites, bivalves and shell-rich concentrations close to the top.
Total Thickness Of Eype Clay Member: Approximately 60 Metres
Down Cliff Sand Member
The Down Cliff Sand Member succeeds the Eype Clay and consists mainly of fine-grained sand, silty sand and sandy mudstone. At Eype it forms a more resistant part of the cliff and contains the famous starfish-bearing basal sandstone.
Typical fossils include ammonites of the Margaritatus and Spinatum interval, bivalves, crinoid debris and the classic brittle stars from the Starfish Bed.
Eype Starfish Bed
A famous fine-grained sandstone at the base of the Down Cliff Sand Member. Its underside preserves brittle stars and crinoid remains, including Palaeocoma and Balanocrinus, and it is one of the most distinctive marker beds on this part of the Dorset coast.
Lower Down Cliff Sands
Fine-grained sandstones and sandy mudstones overlying the Starfish Bed, forming a more resistant ledge-forming interval. Fossils are less evenly distributed than in the Eype Clay, but shelly concentrations and ammonites occur.
Middle Down Cliff Sands
Sand and silt with subsidiary mudstone and sandy mudstone. Trace limestone and sandstone bands may occur, and the interval is transitional upward into the more sandstone-dominated Thorncombe Sand Member.
Total Thickness Of Down Cliff Sand Member: Approximately 10–20 Metres
Thorncombe Sand Member
The Thorncombe Sand Member forms the upper sandy part of the Dyrham Formation at Eype and neighbouring Thorncombe Beacon. It consists mainly of yellow-brown fine- to medium-grained sand and sandstone with subordinate silt and sandy mudstone.
Fossils are generally less abundant than in the mudstone units below, but bivalves, trace fossils and occasional ammonites occur, commonly in harder sandstone bands or weathered fallen blocks.
Lower Thorncombe Sands
Yellow-weathering sands and silty sands with subordinate mudstone partings, forming resistant ledges above the Down Cliff Sand Member.
Main Thorncombe Sandstone Sequence
Sand-dominated cliff-forming succession with more massive weathering than the units below. This interval forms much of the upper part of the cliff profile around Eype and Thorncombe Beacon.
Total Thickness Of Thorncombe Sand Member: Approximately 20–35 Metres
Beacon Limestone Formation (Lower Jurassic: Toarcian–Aalenian boundary interval)
Eype Mouth Limestone / Junction Bed Equivalent
A thin but very fossiliferous limestone unit above the Thorncombe Sand Member, represented around Eype Mouth by the classic Junction Bed facies. It is rich in ammonites and other marine fossils and is an important source of fallen fossiliferous blocks on the foreshore.
Typical ammonites from the Junction Bed facies include Toarcian and earliest Aalenian forms, and the unit is especially noted for mixed condensed faunas.
Total Thickness Of Beacon Limestone Formation At Eype Mouth: Typically Thin, Commonly Less Than 2 Metres In Place
Total Thickness Covered Here: Approximately 90–115 Metres
References
British Geological Survey Lexicon of Named Rock Units: Eype Clay Member; Down Cliff Sand Member; Thorncombe Sand Member; Dyrham Formation; Beacon Limestone Formation.
BGS Memoir: Geology of South Dorset and South-East Devon and its World Heritage Coast.
Wessex Coast Geology: Eype Mouth and Bridport West cliff sections.
Discovering Fossils: Seatown and Eype field guides.
Wilson, V., Welch, F.B.A., Robbie, J.A. & Green, G.W. (1958). Geology of the Country Around Bridport and Yeovil.
SAFETY
Common sense should always be used when fossil collecting at Eype, and checking tide times before visiting is essential. This stretch of coastline is affected by rapidly rising tides and large parts of the foreshore can become covered, particularly around the headlands. Always plan your visit around low tide and allow plenty of time to return safely before the tide begins to rise.
The cliffs at Eype are very high and prone to frequent rockfalls and landslips. Material regularly falls from the Bridport Sand cliffs, especially after heavy rain or stormy weather. Large blocks can fall without warning, so collectors should never work directly beneath the cliffs and should keep a safe distance whenever possible. If you are searching near the base of the cliffs, wearing a hard hat is strongly recommended.
The foreshore itself can also be hazardous. The beach is made up of large boulders, uneven rocks and loose stones, many of which can be slippery when wet or covered with algae. Walking across these rocks requires care and there is a risk of slipping or twisting an ankle, particularly when concentrating on searching for fossils. Sturdy walking boots with good grip will help reduce this risk.
After storms or periods of heavy rainfall the beach may contain large quantities of freshly fallen material, which can make walking more difficult. Always remain aware of your surroundings, avoid unstable ground and keep well clear of areas where recent cliff collapses have occurred. With careful planning and attention to safety, fossil collecting at Eype can be both rewarding and enjoyable.
EQUIPMENT
Equipment requirements at Eype are fairly simple, as most fossils are found within loose blocks and boulders on the foreshore that have fallen from the cliffs above. Because this section of coast lies within the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and parts are protected, collectors should never hammer directly into the cliff or in situ bedrock. Fossil collecting should be limited to material that has naturally fallen onto the beach.
A strong geological hammer can be useful for splitting loose limestone blocks, particularly those belonging to the Beacon Limestone (formerly known as the Junction Bed) which often contain ammonites and shells. A splitting chiselmay also help to open layered rocks more cleanly. Safety goggles are strongly recommended when breaking rocks to protect your eyes from flying fragments.
Many fossils at Eype can also be found simply by carefully examining weathered rock surfaces, so patience and a good eye are often just as important as tools. Delicate fossils such as brittlestars should be handled carefully, so bringing wrapping materials such as tissue, newspaper or bubble wrap is advisable. Small specimen boxes or containers are also useful for transporting fragile finds safely.
Because the foreshore is made up of large, uneven and sometimes slippery rocks, sturdy walking boots with good grip are strongly recommended. After storms or high tides the beach may also be covered with freshly fallen material, so taking care when walking across the boulders will help reduce the risk of slipping or ankle injury.
CLEANING AND TREATING
Begin by removing any loose sediment very carefully using a soft toothbrush. Take your time, as many fossils—particularly pyritic specimens—are fragile and easily damaged. Once cleaned, fossils should be desalinated by soaking them in fresh water for at least 24 hours to remove residual salt. After soaking, allow specimens to dry naturally at room temperature. Do not dry them on radiators or other heat sources, as rapid drying can cause cracking or long-term damage.
Once fully dry, we recommend sealing fossils with Paraloid B-72, dissolved in acetone. This is a museum-grade consolidant that is widely available in pre-mixed bottles. Paraloid B-72 is stable, long-lasting, and does not yellow or react chemically over time. Importantly, it is also fully reversible, making it suitable for scientifically important or display-quality specimens.
Some collectors prefer to treat ammonites with artists’ varnish. This is acceptable for common species that are not of scientific importance, as it enhances colour and contrast and can make a specimen really “pop”. However, varnish is not reversible and is therefore not recommended for rarer or research-grade fossils.
ARTICLES
ACCESS RIGHTS
This site is an SSSI and forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage Jurassic Coast. This means you can visit the site, but hammering the bedrock is not permitted. For full information about the reasons for the status of the site and restrictions please download the PDF from Natural England – SSSI Information – West Dorset
It is important to follow our ‘Code of Conduct’ when collecting fossils or visiting any site. Please also read our ‘Terms and Conditions‘
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