Dorset · Dorset
Fossil hunting at Eype Beach
A small, quiet Dorset beach west of West Bay, with Lias ammonites and belemnites.
Representative photography of this stretch of coast, not a photograph of the site on a particular day.
What can you find?
About the site
Eype is a modest shingle beach between West Bay and Seatown, backed by unstable Jurassic cliffs. It is much less visited than the beaches further west and rewards a slow search of the shingle for ammonite fragments and belemnite guards.
The nearby cliffs at West Bay are Middle Jurassic sandstone and produce relatively little; Eype's Lias foreshore is the more productive ground.
Planning a visit
- Geological period
- Early Jurassic (Eype Clay Member), around 190 million years old
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Suitable for children
- Yes, with supervision and attention to the tide and cliffs.
- Best time to go
- After winter storms, on a falling tide.
- Tides
- Go out on a falling tide and turn back well before low water. Check a local tide table on the day and allow time to return.
- Access
- Steep approach road and a short slope to the beach. Shingle throughout.
- Parking
- Small car park at Eype Mouth; it fills quickly in summer.
- Walking and terrain
- A few minutes from the car park to the beach.
- Location type
- Beach, Cliff
- Collecting
- West Dorset fossil collecting code applies.
Safety
- Unstable cliffs with frequent rockfall — stay away from the base.
- Watch the tide.
What to bring
- Boots
- Tide table
- Small bag