Disclaimer: before you throw the kids, your significant other, the Fun Vacuum (mother-in-law) and the dog in your Mitsubishi Carisma and drive down to Dorset: despite what the name might suggest, the Jurassic Coast is not a dinosaur themed park 🙂
Ammonite fossil
But if you were hoping to find yourself a huge T-Rex or a Velociraptor or anything else from the Jurassic Park 1, 2, 3 etc. movies … earning you a place on the cover of National Geographic: perhaps you should downsize your expectations somewhat. The most common fossils found are Ammonites and Belemnites. Not exactly the stuff fossil hunters dreams are made of…
It’s called Jurassic coast because all along the coast, people have found all sorts of amazing fossils among which some dinosaur bones. The Jurassic Coast is one of the most important sources of Jurassic reptile fossils in the world, including ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, giant pliosaurs and even a unique dinosaur called the Bearded Diplodocus Magnificus, pictured above 🙂
Beyond that, the perfect ocean waters, cute pubs, fish and chips and fresh air hikes make this an ideal 3-day or even one week escape into the south of England.
For a relatively small and sleepy county, Dorset is as photogenic as they come in the UK, boasting some of England’s most recognizable landmarks from the geological wonders of Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Old Harry Rocks and the Isle of Portland to the ethereal ruins of Corfe Castle, guardian of the Purbeck ridge. Whilst Dorset is deservedly famed for being home to the Jurassic Coast Natural World Heritage Site, it offers much more than just rugged coastline with over half the county being designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Inland, Dorset offers varied landscapes from elevated chalk downs and steep limestone ridges to extensive heathland areas.
But the coastline and the towering cliffs, that’s where you should head first if you only have one or two days, they are truly spectacular.
Have you seen Broadchurch ? If you haven’t, you should really watch it, it’s a fantastic British crime drama. And the East Cliffs at West Bay provided a stunning backdrop all through the series.
It’s a small world: a Womble from Wimbledon holidaying in Dorset, recognize the cliffs in the background?
West Bay is a harbor village on the outskirts of Bridport, made famous by the English television drama, Broadchurch. Whilst the harbor is quite attractive, the village is now completely ruined by a gigantic holiday park. But the prime interests are the towering sandstone cliffs running from Burton Bradstock east along Chesil Beach to the harbor opening at West Bay.
And then there’s the heart of what must be the Jurassic Coast’s most stunningly beautiful stretch; the majestic Durdle Door is just yards away, whilst fifteen minutes walk west are Bat’s Head and White Nothe. Twenty minutes walk in the opposite direction will take in Dungy Head, Stair Hole and Lulworth Bay. This is a truly fantastic area to spend time taking photos and enjoying the rugged beauty of the coastline.
Durdle Door is without doubt the jewel in Dorset’s crown and whilst it has probably been shot a million times before, we just had to make the one millionth and one photo. It is world famous, a geological wonder and set beautifully at the end of a sweeping bay – it is ridiculously photogenic.
Durdle Door’s existence is owed to the collision of the African and European tectonic plates 25 million years ago; the ripples extended far north and folded the rocks along the coastline here, in what would become south Dorset and Purbeck. Over the millennia, the seas have broken through the hard limestone, washing away the softer rocks behind and creating the arch in the process.
Another one of these fantastic landscapes we enjoy so much in the UK outdoors. The beautiful, secluded village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, in the background Lulworth cove (a World Heritage Site)
The horseshoe shaped Lulworth Cove is a fantastic location, full of photographic opportunity and a perfect example of coastal erosion. The cove was formed approximately 10,000 years ago by the awesome powers of the sea and a river that swept down to the water’s edge; it now resembles a giant amphitheatre, steep cliff faces encircling the cove on all sides with the 100 yard entranceway being the exception; yet another marvel of the Jurassic Coast.
This cliff face on the Jurassic Coast with the layers of rock all playing off at jaunty angles to the horizontal is the Lulworth Crumple. The Crumple was produced when the tectonic plates carrying Europe and Africa crashed into one another about 65 million years ago and the shock waves spread out across the plates, like ripples in a pond, pushing up smaller hills.
My better half, the photographer, fighting her fear of heights to do a sunset shooting of Durdle Door. Watch this space for our upcoming mini-trip: the idyllic villages of the Cotswolds.