West, I.M. 2006. Egmont Bight, Houns-tout and Chapman's Pool; Geology of the Wessex Coast (Jurassic Coast, World Heritage Site) of England. Internet site. http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/kimpool.htm. Version 28 Feb 2006.
Egmont Bight to Chapman's Pool

School of Ocean and Earth Science ,
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
Southampton University

Home and Contents | Kimmeridge, - Introduction |Kimmeridge - Fossils |Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge Bay |Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge Bay to Gad Cliff |Kimmeridge - East - Hen Cliff, Yellow Ledge and Cuddle |Kimmeridge - Blackstone, Oil Shale at Clavell's Hard |Kimmeridge - Burning Beach, Burning Cliffs |Kimmeridge - Rope Lake Head to Freshwater Steps |Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge Bay to Gad Cliff |Kimmeridge - Bibliography - Start |Kimmeridge - Bibliography Continued

Houns-tout Cliff - unlabelled
Houns-tout Cliff from the sea
View across Chapmans Pool to Emmetts Hill




Related Kimmeridge Field Trip Guides

Kimmeridge, - Introduction
Kimmeridge - Fossils
Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge Bay
Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge Bay to Gad Cliff
Kimmeridge - Hen Cliff, Yellow Ledge and Cuddle
Kimmeridge - Burning Beach, Burning Cliffs
Kimmeridge - Blackstone, Oil Shale at Clavell's Hard
Kimmeridge - Rope Lake Head to Freshwater Steps
Kimmeridge - Egmont Bight to Chapman's Pool
Kimmeridge - Bibliography - Start
Kimmeridge - Bibliography Continued

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Index to the Egmont Bight to Chapman's Pool Field Guide

acknowledgements
adders
ammonites
bibliography
brachiopods
cliff section
Discinisca
Introduction
Kimmeridge Clay sequence
Lingula
Pavlovia rotunda
Portland Group sequence
rock falls
safety
shipwreck
snakes
Treveal - ship

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Introduction

Chapman's Pool is a fascinating cove of grey fossiliferous Kimmeridge shale, with high Portland Stone capped cliffs on either side. It once known as Shortman's Pool according to Bruce (1989) and it is a place of geologists, fishermen and shipwrecks. There is a small stream valley descending to the beach, and a path down here. This dell is known as Seven Wells Hollow (Bruce, 1989) and has also been referred to as "The Lake". The small steep-sided stream valley is cut into a broader valley and this is a case of rejuvenation as a result of rapid cliff erosion and retreat of the coast up the stream valley (Arkell, 1947) . It is interesting to compare this to the hanging valley of Pier Bottom, a short distance to the southeast (perhaps you would like to consider why Pier Bottom has not cut down to sea-level?). Pier Bottom incidently takes its name from a former pier once used for loading limestone quarried from St. Aldhelm's Head. Bruce (1989) mentions that some odd blocks of dressed stone still remain on the beach.

On the beach crushed ammonites are abundant in Kimmeridge Clay shales. White uncrushed body chambers of perisphinctid ammonites are well-known features of Chapman's Pool. The diligent searcher will find much more; there are some unusual brachiopods here and vertebrate remains occur in the area.

Houns-tout cliff is notable for providing a good section of the top Kimmeridge Clay and the lower part of the Portland strata. The transition is clearly seen and results from shallowing of the Jurassic sea. It is an impressive place but care must be taken in all this area though with regard to falling rocks, soft mud and landslides. These cliffs are certainly interesting for study of landslides and mudslides. Emmetts Hill can be compared to some of the cliffs of Portand (to which it was once joined). The fallen blocks of Portland limestone and dolomite are fossiliferous and the dolomites contain unusual black calcite crystals. On Houns-tout Cliff there was once a carriage drive from Encombe, the stately home, to the west of the cliff round to Chapman's Pool. This was Lord Eldon's carriage drive. It has now been broken away by landslides and coast erosion but the eastern end of it can be seen as a small cutting and a track heading for the existing road.

It is a place full of geological and other interest (even a ghost of a Roman centurion has been seen in the valley!) and a good locality for Jurassic sediments and fossils.

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Safety and Risk Assessment

Care needs to be taken to avoid danger from falling rocks. Wherever possible keep away from the foot of the cliffs. The risk is high in Chapmans Pool, particularly in wet or frosty weather condition and especially in the western part of the bay where the cliffs are high. Egmont Bight presents similar hazards. Safety helmets need to be worn when at the base of these cliffs and watch should be made for fresh fallen shale on the beach, which will indicate particular risk areas. There can be problems with mud-slides on Houns-tout Cliff and soft ground should be avoided. Obviously any cliff edge can be potential hazard, especially with any large group of young people. It is not wise to ascend the south face of Houns-tout cliff, even at the spur, where the angle is less. Please be careful not to dislodge rocks from the top of the cliffs (such as the rocky top of Houns-tout) for the obvious reason that these might injure people below. Slippery shale and algal-covered rock on the beaches can be a cause of falls.

Adder at Seacombe Bottom Adders are common in the Chapman's Pool area but are rarely much of a hazard unless trodden on or attempts are made to handle them. Here is one at Seacombe Bottom. Arkell (1935) drew attention to their relative abundance in the undercliff of Emmetts Hill and elsewhere: " It should be noted that the luxuriant undergrowth and grass here and under St. Albans and Gad Cliffs harbour abundant adders. They are common enough to be dangerous unless gaiters are worn."

For more information on risks please read the Safety Webpage . No-one is being advised here to go onto the shore, cliffs or cliff-top area and geologists and walkers proceed at their own risk. This website only provides geological and general information and no liability is accepted.

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Cliff Section - General

Section of the Kimmeridge cliffs from Broad Bench eastward to Houns-tout, near Chapmans Pool,  Dorset

A cliff section is shown here for a large part of the Kimmeridge Coast. This is based on Arkell (1933), Cox and Gallois (1981) and other information. Amongst other things, it shows the position of the Kimmeridge oil-shale, Clavell's Hard and the location of the mining in the cliffs.

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Cliff Section - Houns-tout etc

Chapman's Pool etc - cliff sections This cliff section shows the main units at the top of the Kimmeridge Clay and in the Portland Group from Freshwater Steps to St. Aldhelm's Head. The cliffs rise to a summit plateau of about 120m. There is much landslipping, but Houns-tout cliff provides quite a good exposure from the Kimmeridge to the Portland (although be careful, the cliff is very steep and climbing of particularly the upper part is not recommended). Chapman's Pool is notable for the crushed ammonites seen on shales exposed on the shore, and for the white, solid body-chambers of of the ammonite Pavlovia (see below). There are various fossils, including ammonites, in the Portland Sand and the interesting curiosity of poikilotopic black calcite crystals in the dolomite beds. Townson (1975) ascribes these to dedolomitisation and records some celestite. Serpulitic chert is an interesting feature of the top of Houns-tout cliff. More details will be given with photographs.

Rope Lake Hole east of Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset, seen from the cliff top at Rope Lake Head - with Houns-tout Cliff and Emmetts Hill in the distance

. Houns-tout Cliff - unlabelled . Houns-tout Cliff - labelled

The passage of the Upper Kimmeridge Clay into the Portland Sand is seen here in Houns-tout Cliff. It is a shallowing-up sequence from the organic-rich shales of the Kimmeridge Clay into the Portland Sand marls with occasional sandstones. Dolomites (the Black Sandstones in old literature) follow and form the top of the cliff here (with the basal Portland Stone). Stratigraphically above are the limestones of the Portland Cherty Series, better seen at St. Aldhelm's Head.

St. Aldhelm's Head & Emmetts Hill

The west side of St. Aldhelm's Head and Emmetts Hill is seen here from the sea in a photograph taken by Dr Clive Boulter on 23rd September, 1997. The lower part of the cliff, partly covered by fallen debris consists of the uppermost part of the Kimmeridge Clay. Above this the Portland Sand occurs. This is mostly mudstone and marl in the lower part in spite of the name, but a sandstone bed, known as the Massive Bed marks the junction and can be seen in the photograph. Some way above is another good marker, the White Cementstone. Higher in the cliff, above the marls are the "Parallel Bands" and the "Black Sandstones", of Arkell (1947). These are actually beds of dolomite. The Portland Cherty Series follows. Notice the dissolution (karstic) features with yellow sandy debris at the top of the cliff on Emmetts Hill. The valley is Pier Bottom and has been truncated by marine erosion and left "hanging", that is with its base above sea-level. Large rectangular blocks of limestone seem to form a natural sea-defence or barrier except at Pier Bottom where this stone is not available. Here there is a shale cliff in the Kimmeridge Clay. More information on the Portland Group and an alternative set of names is available in Townson (1975).

Egmont Point from Emmetts Hill

Here is a view of Egmont Point from Emmetts Hill in the east. The rocks at this clay headland consist of Portland Stone and dolomite and have fallen from the summit over a period of time. Freshwater Steps, beyond, is a small and relatively low headland with a waterfall at the promontory. It is at a valley with a green field clearly visible in the photograph. The far distant headland, with ledges at its foot, is Rope Lake Head (an ichthyosaur locality). In the foreground on Emmetts Hill is the capping of Portland Stone, weathered and with an irregular karstic surface. It is favourable for the growth of lichens.

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Footnote: Shipwrecks at "Dead Men's Pool"

On the 11th July, 1866 the French barque Georgina of four hundred tons was driven ashore at Chapman's Pool, but her crew of thirteen and two passengers were saved by a rocket line fired to the ship by the coastguards. Her cargo of coffee, cocoa and mahogany was largely unloaded when the weather was calm. The ship was destroyed.

The steamship Treveal, of the Hain Steamship Company of St. Ives, was wrecked in 1920 in eight fathoms, a mile offshore of the rocks of Egmont Point. The 5,200 ton ship was carrying jute and manganese from Calcutta to Dundee. For reasons that are not clear and have been disputed, members of the crew were either not attentive enough or not accurate enough to set a correct course from Portland so as to clear St. Aldhelm's Head. As the ship passed Weymouth a Lloyd's officer placed a bet that the ship was on a course that would take her aground. The ship struck a Kimmeridge ledge at 9pm on the evening of Friday 9th January, 1920. The weather was calm and clear and there was no great danger at that time. A tug was sent for but it did depart until midnight and, as the weather deteriorated into rain and choppy seas developed, it did not find the ship. The tug went out again at 5.30am and found the ship but by now there was a gale and sleet and the tug could not approach. At 9.30 am the captain decided, probably unwisely, to abandon the ship. It had broken in two off Houns-tout Cliff but was fixed firmly on the rocks and could not sink further. If the crew had stayed they would probably have survived. A straight inshore landing had been advised by coastguards, but the weather had been better then.

The gale had increased to something like a hurricane and the waves were breaking over the cliff. The air was full of was driving sleet. As the lifeboats tried to land by approaching the rocks and shale of Chapman's Pool they swung broadside to the breaking waves. They were overturned in the crashing storm waves and the crew were thrown into the water. Thirty-six of the crew died from injuries produced by the pounding of the waves on the rocks and from inability to get out of the cold and violent water. The coastguard of nearby St. Aldhelm's Head did not respond. No coastguard came to see, let alone help, although they had known about the wreck from the previous day. A local clergyman, the Rev. Horace Piercy, and a fisherman got down on the shore of the pool and struggled in fierce cold waves to pull some of the seven survivors ashore. There were many dead, some gashed and half-naked, on the beach of Chapman's Pool. It was strewn with wreckage (see Daily Mirror, Wednesday, Jan. 14th 1920 - "The wrecked steamer Treveal, broken in two lying on the rocks in Dead Men's Pool"). Helpers came and the bodies of twenty crew were hauled up the shale cliffs on planks. They were then taken by horse and waggon, heaped up three deep in the cart, up the wooded valley to the reading room at Worth Matravers. The ship remained on the rocks for some time; much of the cargo of jute was recovered; the chief officer of the coastguard was court martialed and lost his post.

For more information and pictures see Legg (1984, Guide to Purbeck Coast and Shipwreck) and Pushman (1999, The Loss of the SS Treveal: Dorset Shipwreck Mystery).
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Kimmeridge Clay - Sequence

The following sequence is based, with modifications, on Arkell (1947) and on Cope (1978). The bed numbers are of Blake (1875; 1880), which increase downwards, unlike the modern system. Thicknesses are in metres, as remeasured by Cope.

Please note - This sequence is discussed downwards from the Massive Bed, taken as the base of the Portland Group. The Portland succession is discussed separately.

The Massive Bed (Portland)

A conspicuous and projecting sandstone marking the base of the Portland sequence. Easily seen at about the middle of Houns-tout Cliff.

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Virgatopavlovia fittoni Zone (Kimmeridge)

16c - Hounstout Marl
Variable pale and dark silty clays with three more sandy, yellow-weathering, indurated bands near the middle. Various partings visible within the thickness. At the base - upper line of seepage on Houns-tout Cliff.
Virgatopavlovia hounstoutensis etc.
21.00m.

16b - Hounstout Clay
Dark silty clays and mudstones, occasional more bituminous layers. Virgatopavlovia fittoni, V. hounstoutensis, Palovia spp. etc. At the base - lower line of seepage on Houns-tout Cliff.
8.35m.

16a and 1d - Rhychonella and Lingula Beds - Upper Part
Monotonous dark silty clays and mudstones.
Virgatopavlovia fittoni, V. hounstoutensis, Pavlovia spp. etc. Rhynchonella subvariabilis. The bivalve Oxytoma and small belemnites occur in the Rhynchonella Marls.
8.00m.

Pavlovia rotunda Zone

16a and 1d - Rhychonella and Lingula Beds - Lower Part
Monotonous dark silty clays and mudstones, passing down into shales.
Pavlovia spp. indet. 15.00m.

1c Rotunda Shales
Shales and clays with layers of crushed white, aragonitic, ammonites.
Pavlovia rotunda, P. concinna, P. spp. indet.
13.50m.

1b Rotunda Nodule Bed
Hard calcareous nodules in clay. The nodules occur in at least two lines, the upper nodules are vertically elongated. The Pavlovia ammonites are strongly ribbed perisphinctid ammonites, referred to in the old literature as Ammonites biplex , but are now in a Russian genus. For illustrations and more information see below . The white body-chambers of the ammonites are sometimes visible in the cliff at this level. Parts of the ammonites are preserved in uncrushed form because of the early development and lithification of the small nodules of septarian type. The Rotunda Nodule Bed is well above the beach at the Houns-tout side of Chapman's Pool but descends with the dip eastward, reaching the beach near the boathouse.
Pavlovia rotunda, P. rotunda gibbosa, P. concinna,
1.80m

1a Shales and Clays
Pavlovia rotunda, P. concinna,
4.25m

2-4. Crushed Ammonoid Shales
Shales with crushed Pavlovia ammonites. These beds form the lower part of the cliff on the west side of Chapman's Pool. The hard shale top of this unit, bed 2 of Blake, is clearly bituminous and is an oil shale (the highest oil shale) according to Cox and Gallois (1981). It forms a slippery platform on which the waves break from the stream at the head of Chapman's Pool to the boathouse. The crushed ammonites can be easily seen. This same hard bed is a good marker horizon and is a useful datum in the cliffs to the west of Chapman's Pool. The Crushed Ammonoid Shales are 33.22m thick according to Arkell (1947).
Below the top hard shale unit of 1.25m (within the Pavlovia rotunda Zone) these shales belong to the Pavlovia pallasioides Zone and the zone fossil occurs in most of the beds. The full details are not given here, and reference should be made to Cope (1978) for more information. It is interesting to note that there is an horizon with partially phosphatised ammonites and with belemnites and oysters about 4m below the top of the Crushed Ammonoid Shales.

Continuation of the Section Downward (i.e. Westward)

The details of the section down to the Freshwater Steps Stone Band are also given in Cope, and are not, at present, given here. Those details would be useful if Egmont Bight is to be studied in detail. In general terms, this bay exposes good sections of shale with some bituminous shale and some small nodules. The shales belong to the Pavlovia pallasioides Zone (above) and the Pectinatites pectinatus Zone (below). The waterfall at Freshwater Steps drops over hard shale of Blake's Bed 8 of the Pectinatites pectinatus Zone, and the Freshwater Steps Stone Band is a coccolith limestone also within this zone. This means that the western part of the foot of the cliffs of Egmont Bight is in the Pectinatites pectinatus Zone.

Particularly useful for details from the Rotunda Nodules downward is graphic log in Cox and Gallois (1981). It is the log entitled Freshwater Steps to Chapman's Pool.

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Portland Group - Sequence

Successions of the Isle of Portland and Purbeck This is a classic diagram, based on Arkell (1933) and repeated in Arkell (1947) and other publications. It shows the general uppermost Portland (top Jurassic) succession at Houns-tout Cliff and the St. Aldhelm's Head area, compared to that of the Isle of Portland. It is very useful in the field provided it is noted that the Parallel Bands and the "Black Sandstones" are actually dolomite. It must also be appreciated, that the old name "Portland Sand" is also a misnomer, because it is, in fact, largely comprised of marls with some sandy horizons. The Portland Stone consists of the Portland Cherty Series overlain by the Portland Freestone, mostly intrasparite limestone in eastern Isle of Purbeck, but oolitic at Lulworth and on Portland. Only the base of the Portland Stone is present at Chapman's Pool, but study of this can be made at St. Aldhelm's Head.

Terminology of the Portland successions Two alternative schemes for the terminology of the Portland and Purbeck successions are given here. Townson (1975) introduced a largely new terminology. However, it has not been widely used and the traditional scheme of Arkell, shown on the left is still in more common use (diagram after Bosence, 1987, from Townson, 1975). See Wimbledon (1987) for some discussion of this, and note also that some correlation problems which affect this are discussed in the section on zones, below.

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The Ammonite Zones of the Portland Group

Wimbledon and Cope (1978) revised the ammonite zones of the Portland Group. Their ammonite zones are listed below with the oldest at the bottom. They are discussed here, only with reference to the Chapman's Pool and St. Aldhelm's Head region. For more information go to the Isle of Portland webpage.

Titanites anguiformis Zone.
Index species: Titanites anguiformis Wimbledon and Cope 1978
The Portland Freestone mostly belongs to this zone, although may start earlier, in the kerberus zone in the Isle of Purbeck. T. anguiformis, the fine-ribbed, evolute Titanites is probably the common giant ammonite of the Portland Stone (Wimbledon and Cope, 1978).

Galbanites (Kerberites) kerberus Zone.
Index species: Galbanites (Kerberites) kerberus (Buckman)
This is common in the Upper Cherty Beds of the Isle of Purbeck. It occurs from the Basal Shell Bed of Portland and from the Prickle Bed or Puffin Ledge (J-J1) of the Isle of Purbeck according to Wimbledon and Cope (1978).

Galbanites okusensis Zone.
Index species: Galbanites okusensis (Salfeld)
This is present in the Black Dolomites ("Black Sandstones") of Purbeck The dolomitisation renders the fossils poorly preserved and difficult to extract. Thus Wimbledon and Cope have defined the base of the zone in the Swindon region and not in Dorset.

Glaucolithites glaucolithus Zone.
Index species: Glaucolithites glaucolithus Buckman 1923
The base of the Zone is defined as the first appearance of the species of the genus Glaucolithites. The type locality for the Zone is Houns-tout Cliff. The White Cementstone with G. caementarius fixes the base of the Zone according to Wimbledon and Cope (1978).

Progalbanites albani Zone.
Index species: Progalbanites albani Arkell 1935
Wimbledon and Cope (1978) defined the base of the Zone as the first occurrence of the genus Progalbanites. The type section is at Houns-tout Cliff Purbeck. The Massive Bed is the lowest horizon with Progalbanites. This sandstone was taken as the base of the Portland Group by Arkell, by Wimbledon and by others but not by Townson, who took the base of the Portland Group as the base of the Rhynchonella Marls. This lower base has not proved popular and it is simpler to use the easily recognised Massive Bed as the base of the Portland.

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Ammonites - Pavlovia

Pavlovia rotunda - ammonite Pavlovia rotunda gibbosa- ammonite

Left: Pavlovia rotunda is an ammonite usually only found in incomplete form as parts of whorls in the Rotunda Nodules of the Upper Kimmeridge Clay at Chapman's Pool. The originally mud-filled body chamber has often been cemented into a nodule at an early stage before compaction. This part is thus preserved uncompacted. It is unusual for the empty inner whorls to be preserved by such early cementation. This image is based on a photograph of Arkell (1947), who figured this as a topotype (a specimen from the same locality as the original holotype). The white powdery material, like chalk, which occupies the site of the shell, is aragonite which has presumably lost its organic binding material and, thus, resembles the "perished bivalves" of the Purbeck Formation.

Right: This ammonite,Pavlovia rotunda gibbosa (Buckman, 1926), is a subspecies of Pavlovia rotunda (Sowerby, 1821). It was described in detail by Cope (1978) and this image is after a photograph of his. He commented that whilst the common P. rotunda was mature at about 100 to 120mm diameter, this subspecies was larger, reaching maturity at an estimated 300 - 400mm diameter. It was clearly quite a large ammonite. The specimen shown is entirely phragmocone, which explains its preservation. Sediment would have had access to all parts because the interior was not closed off by septa. There was again, presumably, early cementation to form a nodule. The stratigraphical range of Pavlovia rotunda gibbosa is: Upper Kimmeridgian, rotunda Zone, occurring in the rotunda Nodule Bed.

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Brachiopods

Lingula - brachiopod Discinisca - brachiopod

Left: Lingula ovalis Sowerby, a brachiopod which occurs in the Lingula Shales, uniform very calcareous mudstones near the top of the Kimmeridge Clay in Hounstout Cliff, west of Chapman's Pool. It is interesting to consider whether the Lingula Shales have any similarity in terms of conditions of deposition to the well-know and much older Lingula Flags of the Cambrian System of Pembrokeshire, South Wales. Those old sediments, which actually contain the related Lingulella, are silty and sandy, though. Note that Lingula still exists at the present day.

Right: Discinisca latissima, a Kimmeridgian brachiopod of unusual circular shape. To see this look in the Crushed Ammonoid Shales at Chapman's Pool and Egmont Point. Here you will see this with crushed pavlovid ammonites, Lucina minuscula and other fossils (Strahan, 1898).

Not shown here is the brachiopod Rhynchonella (Rhynchonella) subvariabilis which occurs in the Upper Kimmeridge, Rhynchonella Marls and adjacent strata of Houns-tout Cliff. The range of its common occurrence here is from the top of Blake's Bed 3 up to the top of Bed 1 (Cope, 1978) .

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. Bibliography and References - Kimmeridge

Please see separate Bibliography and References

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Related Kimmeridge Field Trip Guides

Kimmeridge, - Introduction
Kimmeridge - Fossils
Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge Bay
Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge Bay to Gad Cliff
Kimmeridge - Hen Cliff, Yellow Ledge and Cuddle
Kimmeridge - Burning Beach, Burning Cliffs
Kimmeridge - Blackstone, Oil Shale at Clavell's Hard
Kimmeridge - Rope Lake Head to Freshwater Steps
Kimmeridge - Egmont Bight to Chapman's Pool
Kimmeridge - Bibliography - Start
Kimmeridge - Bibliography Continued

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. Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to Dr Clive Boulter for the use of photographs taken from the paddle steamer Waverley in 1997.

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Home and Contents | Kimmeridge, - Introduction |Kimmeridge - Fossils |Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge Bay |Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge Bay to Gad Cliff |Kimmeridge - East - Hen Cliff, Yellow Ledge and Cuddle |Kimmeridge - Blackstone, Oil Shale at Clavell's Hard |Kimmeridge - Burning Beach, Burning Cliffs |Kimmeridge - Rope Lake Head to Freshwater Steps |Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge Bay to Gad Cliff |Kimmeridge - Bibliography - Start |Kimmeridge - Bibliography Continued |Last week's visitors |

Copyright © 2006 Ian West and Tonya West. All rights reserved. This is a purely academic website and images and text may not be copied for publication or for use on other webpages or for any commercial activity. A reasonable number of images and some text may be used for academic purposes, including field trip handouts, lectures, student projects, dissertations etc, providing source is acknowledged. No permission can be given for reproduction of any images of the Lulworth Cove area in books or in other websites, for special reasons.

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Dr Ian West, author of these webpages

Webpage - written and produced by:


Ian West, M.Sc. Ph.D. F.G.S.

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at his private address at Romsey, Hampshire. under the auspices of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS),and web-hosted by courtesy of the Information System Services (ISS) of Southampton University.