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 The
Jurassic Coast is a World
Heritage Site on the Dorset and Devon coast.
Its entire length can be walked on the South
West Coast Path – and our part of West
Dorset is a perfect base for exploring it!
West
Bay at Bridport is
a major “Gateway Town” to the Jurassic Coast and a World
Heritage Coast Centre is being built here (completion 2011).
The Chesil beach ends here – twenty miles from Portland
where it begins. Other
Gateway Towns include -
Abbotsbury
famous for its swannery, subtropical
gardens and the Fleet behind the high banks
of Chesil Beach, the largest lagoon in Europe. There
is also the sub-tropical gardens and Tythe Barn.
Bridport
– a lovely old market town with always something going on
including twice weekly street markets with monthly Farmers
Markets.
Charmouth
– a wonderful place to go fossil hunting – also there is the
Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre.
The beach between Charmouth and Lyme
is full of interesting finds – but caution should
always be exercised – walkers must be aware of the tides and
the possibilities of landslips.
Lulworth
– wonderful beach with its Durdle Door.
The geological coastal scenery illustates perfectly the
effects of the sea on rocks of various hardness.
Lyme
Regis – a town steeped in history, with its remarkable
Cobb. Mary Anning was aged 11 when she found the first complete
ichthyosaur skeleton in the Dorset Lias.
Jane Austen recorded her impression of the town in
Persuasion. Also
the Cobb being lashed by stormy seas
has been made memorable to film-goers through John Foiwles’ classic
The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
Golden
Cap is the highest headland on the South Coast of England and
offers fantastic views right
down to Dartmoor.
Marshwood
Vale
A
designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, flanked by a
series of Iron Age hill-forts to the north and the coastal hills
overlooking The Jurassic Coast to the south.
Unspoilt
dairy farmland, superb scenery and delightful hamlets lie in the
vale, including Whitchurch Canonicorum and its parish church.
Nicknamed the Cathedral
of the Vale in medieval times, the shrine of St
Witte was one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the
country and is now the only parish church in England containing
a saint.
Discover
Our Wonderful Countryside & Coastal Scenery
A
different style of walk for every day of your holiday. Through
farm fields and peaceful villages, across rolling hills, ancient
woodland, spectacular cliff – tops or fossil hunting along our
unspoilt beaches, we have it all very close to hand!
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| The
Undercliff, Lyme Regis |
Some
Dorset Beach
Walks |
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