Stonebarrow is a coastal hill and sea cliff in the county of
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
on the south coast of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is a well known
fossil hunting
Fossil collecting (sometimes, in a non-scientific sense, fossil hunting) is the collection of fossils for scientific study, hobby, or profit. Fossil collecting, as practiced by amateurs, is the predecessor of modern paleontology and many st ...
location, close to the coastal village of
Charmouth
Charmouth is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England. The village is situated on the mouth of the River Char, around north-east of Lyme Regis. Dorset County Council estimated that in 2013 the population of the civil parish was 1,310 ...
.
Geography
Stonebarrow is located about east of Charmouth and west of the hamlet of
Seatown
Seatown is a coastal hamlet in Dorset, England, on the English Channel approximately west-southwest of Bridport. It lies within the civil parish of Chideock.
The coast at Seatown is part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site stretching fo ...
. Stonebarrow Hill reaches an elevation of about 155 metres. The cliff face, part of which is known as Cain's Folly, is about 140 metres high, which is about 50 metres lower than the neighbouring
Golden Cap
Golden Cap is a hill and cliff situated on the English Channel coast between Bridport and Charmouth in Dorset, England. At , it is arguably the highest point on the south coast of Great Britain (although the highest point is set back some 250m fr ...
, the highest cliff on the South Coast of England. Rock falls occur on the cliff face very frequently, continually exposing new fossils. There are a couple of examples of
biological weathering, especially on the sandy-soils on lower-lying cliffs.
Geology
The Stonebarrow cliffs are of
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
age, becoming geologically younger further east (the rocks of Golden Cap are early
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
). The bottom of Stonebarrow is home to the Black Ven Marls a layer of rocks similar to those of
Black Ven
Black Ven is a cliff in Dorset, England between the towns of Charmouth and Lyme Regis. The cliffs reach a height of . It is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Nearby is an undercliff with an ammonite pavement. The area is popular wit ...
. Slightly higher are the Belemnite Marls, where a number of
belemnites Belemnites may refer to:
*Belemnitida
Belemnitida (or the belemnite) is an extinct order of squid-like cephalopods that existed from the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous. Unlike squid, belemnites had an internal skeleton that made up the cone. ...
can be found. Slightly higher up is the Green Ammonite beds, where fossils of a species of
ammonite
Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...
exist. Higher still are Eype Clay, Upper
Greensand
Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and c ...
and younger Cretaceous rocks.
See also
*
Geology of Dorset
Dorset (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. Covering an area of ; it borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. The grea ...
*
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Herita ...
References
*Clarke, Nigel J. (2004) ''Lyme Bay Fossils: Jurassic Beach Guide.'' Nigel J. Clarke Publications. {{ISBN, 978-0-907683-01-8
Geology of Dorset
Jurassic Coast