Jurassic Coast

Ninety-six miles of English Channel coast from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, inscribed by UNESCO in December 2001 for what erosion has laid open: an almost continuous rock sequence spanning 185 million years across the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. This ground has been desert, shallow tropical sea and marsh in turn, and the creatures of each are fossilised in it. Seventy-one different strata have been identified at Lyme Regis, each with its own ammonite species. Mary Anning lived there, and made her discoveries of marine reptiles on this shore.