Dorset · Dorset
Fossil hunting at Ringstead Bay
A quiet Jurassic bay east of Weymouth with ammonites, bivalves and echinoids.
Representative photography of this stretch of coast, not a photograph of the site on a particular day.
What can you find?
- AmmonitesCoiled shells of extinct marine molluscs, the classic British fossil.Identify →
- BivalvesFossil shellfish with two matching valves, common on most marine sites.Identify →
- Sea urchinsEchinoids preserved in chalk and limestone, from dome-shaped to heart-shaped.Identify →
- GastropodsFossil snails, coiled into a cone rather than a flat spiral.Identify →
About the site
Ringstead Bay exposes Upper Jurassic clays and limestones between Weymouth and Lulworth. The beach is shingle and rock, the setting is undeveloped, and the site sees far fewer visitors than the western Jurassic Coast.
Fossils here include ammonites, oysters and other bivalves, with echinoids in the harder beds. Searching the shingle and the loose material below the landslipped slopes is the productive approach.
Planning a visit
- Geological period
- Late Jurassic (Corallian and Kimmeridge Clay), around 160–155 million years old
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Suitable for children
- Not recommended for young children at this site.
- Best time to go
- Winter and spring, 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
- A rough track and a walk down to the beach; not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs.
- Parking
- Small private car park above the bay, usually with an honesty box or attendant charge.
- Walking and terrain
- Roughly 600 m from parking to beach, downhill on an uneven track.
- Location type
- Beach, Cliff
- Collecting
- Collect loose material only. The Dorset coast collecting code applies.
Safety
- Landslipped ground above the beach is unstable and slippery.
- Parts of the foreshore can be cut off at high tide.
What to bring
- Boots
- Tide table
- Water — there are no facilities