The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site stretching 96 miles along the English Channel coast of southern England, from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset.
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in December 2001, the coastline spans 185 million years of geological history. Coastal erosion has exposed an almost continuous sequence of rock formations covering the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. At different times this area was desert, shallow tropical sea and marsh, and the fossilised remains of creatures that lived here have been preserved in the rocks. The coast features natural formations including arches, pinnacles and stack rocks, whilst in some places the sea has broken through resistant rocks to create coves with restricted entrances. Landslides regularly expose new fossils, with 71 different rock strata identified at Lyme Regis alone, each with its own species of ammonite. The area around Lulworth Cove contains a fossil forest. Mary Anning lived at Lyme Regis and made her major discoveries of marine reptiles here during the early development of palaeontology. The entire site can be walked via the South West Coast Path.
