Lyme Bay

Lyme Bay

The Ammonite Path

Gateway-Towns - Lyme Regis

The Jurassic Coast by its very nature is 95 miles long, but only a few metres wide. It is served by a handfull of towns, known as gateway towns. They are located very close to the Coast, providing serves for visitors such as hotels, guest-houses, restaurants, shopping facilities, museams and information



The clay cliffs around Lyme Regis are about 200 million years old, marking the start of the Jurassic period, capped by sandstone of about 100 million years in age. After heavy winter rains, huge mudslides flow onto the beach, where they are washed away by rough seas, uncovering the fossils

Lyme Regis is served by a Tourist Information Centre and Museum. You can also take boat trips from here, enabling the viewing of the Jurassic Coast from the sea, possibly the best way to see it

Lyme Regis



Lyme Regis is notorious for the fossils that are found there. The rocks here are of the Jurassic era, making them in the region of 140 - 200 million years old

Mary Anning (1799 - 18470) lived for her entire life on Lyme Regis and has been described as 'the greatest fossilist who ever lived'. She collected fossils at a time when scientific enquiry was leading to a change in the way people thought about the evolution of life and our planet. A story that would culminate with Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species', published in 1959

Source: The Official Guide to the Jurassic Coast