KIMMERIDGE

'Kimmeridge' is a small village in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England, situated on the English Channel coast. The village has a population of 110 (2001). Non-resident parking is managed by the nearby Smedmore Estate.
The village stands on Jurassic shale cliffs, and gives its name to the division of the Jurassic period in which the beds were laid down, because of the quality of the cliffs and the fossils they yield. It is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site because of the quality and variety of geological landforms along the coast. There is a Jurassic Coast Visitor Centre at Kimmeridge.
The Bay is also the Type locality for the Jurassic age Kimmeridge Clay formation, that is well-represented in southern England, and provides one of the source rocks for hydrocarbons found in the Wessex and North Sea Basins.
Beneath the cliffs there is a large wave cut platform and rocky shore, with good quality rock pools and variety of rocky shore wildlife.
On the cliff toward the west, is the BP "nodding donkey" oil pump at its Wytch Farm site, which is the oldest working oil pump in the world, having been pumping continually since the late 1950s. The pump has achieved this by tapping into a network of connected reserves.
Directly east of Kimmeridge bay (above Hen Cliff) is a folly known as Clavell Tower which inspired P.D. James's novel ''The Black Tower''. Because it was in danger of falling down the eroding cliff, the tower has been dismantled and will be reassembled a safe distance from the cliff edge.

Contents

See also

References

External links

See also

★ List of Dorset beaches

★ Jurassic Coast
Kimmeridge coast is usually warm, and perfect for studying seaweed and other organisms. The top, middle and lower beaches are not easily definable without markings, but these are relatively easy to place.

References

★ James P D (1975) ''The Black Tower'', Sphere books (1987 edition), 288pp, ISBN 072-215110-1.

★ Wignall P (ed) (1995) ''Benthic Palaeoecology of the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay of England'' (Special Papers in Palaeontology series), Palaeontological Association, 74pp, ISBN 090-170242-0.

External links

★ Census data

★ Clavell Tower information

★ Wytch Farm environmental award

★ Purbeck District Council