The Spittles are a type of cliff on the Jurassic coast world heritage site in Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, a southern county

County

A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. They contain Blue Lias

Blue Lias

The Blue Lias is a geologic 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 Jurassic times, between 195 and 200 million years ago...

 rocks where a number of fossils have been found, including fossilised fish that the whole of lyme Bay

Lyme Bay

Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel situated in the southwest of England between Torbay in the west and Portland in the east. The counties of Devon and Dorset front onto the bay,-Geology:...

 is famous for.

History

The whole of Dorset, including Lyme Bay that the Spittles are found in, became declared a world heratige site in 2001. Mary Anning

Mary Anning

Mary Anning was a British fossil collector, dealer and palaeontologist who became known around the world for a number of important finds she made in the Jurassic age marine fossil beds at Lyme Regis where she lived...

 found her Ichthyosaurus

Ichthyosaurus

Ichthyosaurus is an extinct genus of ichthyosaur from the Early Jurassic of Europe . It is among the best known ichthyosaur genera, with the Order Ichthyosauria being named after it...

 in the Spittles; and past the Spittles is her famous Church cliffs site.

Geology

The Spittles has a layer of rocks called Blue Lias, where a rich variety of fossils can be found, including the famous fossilised fish. The cliffs between Charmouth

Charmouth

Charmouth is a village at the mouth of the River Char in West Dorset, England, with a population of 1,687 according to the 2001 census.-The village:...

 and Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...

 (Black Ven

Black Ven

Black Ven is a cliff in Dorset, England. It is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage site. The cliff is famous for its mudslides, in fact, it has the largest mudslides in Europe. The area is popular with tourists because a number of fossils are found in the area.- History :The Black Ven has...

 and Spittles) contain cliffs of lower (early) Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

. A few miles west hences the start of Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, and the red-coloured Triassic

Triassic

The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...

 cliffs.

Geography

The whole of the Lyme Bay area is located in West Dorset, and some areas round the border between Devon and Dorset (such as Lyme Regis). The exact geographical location of the Spittles is between Charmouth and Lyme Regis, closer to Lyme Regis. The cliffs can be seen from The Cobb

Tourism

The concentration of fossils in the area are unique, and so attract lots of tourists. A number of tourist facilities are in Lyme Regis, including fossil shops, large car parks, and a number of other tourist facilities, many reflected upon fossil hunting.

External links

• Geology of Dorset: wikipedia
  Geology of Dorset
  Dorset, England, rests on a variety of different rock types which give the county its interesting landscapes and habitats. Dorset is particularly noted for its coastline, the Jurassic Coast, which in 2001 was designated a World Heritage Site because of the variety of landforms and fossils...
  
  
• Mary Anning: wikipedia
  Mary Anning
  Mary Anning was a British fossil collector, dealer and palaeontologist who became known around the world for a number of important finds she made in the Jurassic age marine fossil beds at Lyme Regis where she lived...
  
  
• Lyme Regis: wikipedia
  Lyme Regis
  Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...
  
  
• Charmouth's tourist industry