Sunset over Kimmeridge Bay Dorset
Sunset over Kimmeridge Bay Dorset 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, which 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 (known as The Flats) and a rocky shore with good quality rock pools and variety of rocky shore wildlife. The coast at Kimmeridge is usually warm, and perfect for studying seaweed and other organisms. The top, middle and lower beaches are not easily definable without markings, but are relatively easy to place. On the cliff towards the west is the BP "nodding donkey" oil pump which has been pumping continually since the late 1950s, making it the oldest working oil pump in the world. The well currently yields around 65 barrels per day from the Middle Jurassic strata that lie around 350 metres below the cliff. The well has been operating for this long because it has tapped into a network of connected reserves; however the yield is decreasing year on year. The oil is transported by tanker to the BP site at Wytch Farm from whence it is piped to the main refinery on Southampton Water. Directly east of Kimmeridge bay (above Hen Cliff) is a folly known as Clavell Tower which inspired James's novel The Black Tower. Because it was in danger of falling dow
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Photo credit: © Ivor Toms / Alamy / Afripics
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