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 most diverse assemblages of Kimmeridge Clay reptiles anywhere in the world. Fossils are typically tiny but abundant, with collectors finding vertebrate remains, fish, and shells scattered across the foreshore, especially after favourable tides and storms.Jurassic, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
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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 yields a diverse range of fossils, including ammonites, belemnites, large bivalves, trace fossils and occasional vertebrate remains, while the Oxford Clay has historically produced marine reptiles and giant oysters such as Gryphaea dilatata. Fresh erosion, heavy rain and scouring tides regularly expose new material, making this an excellent destination for the dedicated fossil collector.
Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
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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 make this an important geological section, but quarry edges and the unverified shore descent require an observation-first visit from open lawful paths. Jurassic, Cliffs, Foreshore, Disused Quarry, Rating: ♦
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 reserve access and collecting restrictions mean that an ordinary visit should stay on public paths. Jurassic, Cliffs and Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
