A Dorset bay of dark shale ledges on the Jurassic Coast, with a marine reserve, a snorkel trail and superb rock pools
The rock is the thing at Kimmeridge — flat, dark ledges of shale stepping out into the sea below low cliffs on the Dorset coast, part of the Jurassic Coast. When the tide drops, the ledges hold some of the best rock pools in the country, and the bay is a marine reserve with a marked snorkel trail out over the reef, so people come to swim, snorkel and see what is living in the pools rather than to lie on sand. Fossils weather out of the dark Kimmeridge Clay along the shore. On the headland above stands Clavell Tower, a round Georgian folly that was taken apart and rebuilt further back from the crumbling cliff. The South West Coast Path climbs west from the bay towards Worbarrow Bay and the abandoned village of Tyneham.
