Kimmeridge is located around 4.5 miles south of Wareham. The village is probably best known for its coastline which forms part of the Jurassic Coast, a Natural World Heritage Site. Indeed, it was England’s first such site and was awarded because of the special insight it gives into 185 million years of the Earth’s history. There is a museum nearby based on one man’s lifetime collection of amazing fossils on the Jurassic Coast (see below).
The coastal area is also a site of Special Scientific interest and An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is popular for its scenic cliff top walks.
The cliff top is also the location for the Clavell Tower, built as an observatory and ‘folly’ on Hen Cliff by John Clavell of Smedmore in 1830. It was the model for the Black Tower in P D James’s novel of that name.