This panorama was taken on the way back from Broad bench, a headland to the west of Kimmeridge Bay. Whilst the headland was made of one piece of flat rock, here the shoreline was a jumble of boulders worn from the cliffs. The cliffs behind clearly show the different rock strata of this part of the Jurassic Coast.

Broad Bench Cliffs - Kimmeridge - Kimmeridge visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Broad Bench Cliffs - Kimmeridge' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Dorset.

This panoramic picture was taken along the shoreline between the Charnel and Broad Bench, two headlands of Kimmeridge Bay. The cliffs here are formed by soft dark clays and shales that date from the Jurassic era. The layers of clay are interspersed with harder pale rock known as cementstone. The boulders seen in the foreground of the image at the foot of the cliffs are cementstone rocks, that have fallen from the cliff as the softer clays are eroded by the sea. The clays are then quickly washed away leaving the harder rocks remaining.

The rock layers dip to the east, so that older layer become exposed the more west you go around the bay. The cementstone layers can form a long sloping platform at sea level, most evident at Broad Bench and Charnel. This part of Kimmeridge bay is closed to the public as they lie within army shooting ranges.

Kimmeridge Bay lies east of Weymouth, west of Swanage and south of Wareham in Dorset. For more detailed directions please see the main Kimmeridge Bay panorama.