The Spittles is an area of coastal cliff in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 situated between the settlements of

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 ...

to the west and

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 ...

to the east. It forms part of the

Jurassic Coast The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about , and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-December ...

, a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

designated in 2001. The cliff contains layers of

Blue Lias The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassi ...

and clay; in wet seasons the clay causes the layers above to become saturated and hence landslips occur, exposing many

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

Mary Anning Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) was an English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist who became known around the world for the discoveries she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel ...

famously found an

Ichthyosaurus ''Ichthyosaurus'' (derived from Greek ' () meaning 'fish' and ' () meaning 'lizard') is a genus of ichthyosaurs from the Early Jurassic ( Hettangian - Pliensbachian), with possible Late Triassic record, from Europe (Belgium, England, Germany, S ...

in the Spittles. The Spittles also lies just to the west of another popular fossiling location along the Jurassic Coastline at

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 ...

. The base of the Black Ven mudslide is one of the best places to find fossils along the Jurassic Coastline. The sea washes the fossils out of the mud and leaves them to be found amongst the shingle between the boulders.The Spittles - Quick Facts Area
/ref> It is possible to walk here from Lyme Regis, but care must be taken not to get cut off by the tide. The area is also prone to rock falls and mudslides, particularly during winter storms.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spittles Geology of Dorset Cliffs of England Jurassic Coast Lyme Regis

See also

References