A panorama of Lulworth Cove. This panorama was taken very late on a summer day (around 7:30pm). The sun dropped behind the cliffs and the shadows moved over the bay. I then sat on a hillside near to Stair Hole overlooking the cove and grabbed a bite to eat. It was needed after the mad sprint that had covered Lulworth Cove, Stair Hole, Durdle Door and Man o'War and the hills in between in one mad swoop. Within 20 minutes the cliff shadow which you can see near to the bather to the right, had moved round to where I was standing. A short time later and the whole cove was in darkness.

Lulworth Cove - Beach - Lulworth visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Lulworth Cove - Beach' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Dorset.

A panoramic picture picture of Lulworth Cove, one of the most famous and popular tourist attractions on the South Coast. Lulworth Cove is famous as an example of sea erosion, and for other outstanding features nearby including Stair Hole and the Lulworth Crumple (a famous series of folds of limestone rock), Durdle Door and Man o'War, just a short walk away over the surrounding Hills to the west. To the east of Lulworth Cove is the Fossil Forest.

Formation of Lulworth Cove

The area of Lulworth Cove is made up of several different materials. The outer area towards the sea contains thin hard layers of Portland and Purbeck limestone. Behind this is a larger soft layer of clay followed by chalk beds. Hundreds of thousands of years ago the sea broke through the limestone and began to carve out the clay from behind. This is the stage at which Stair Hole is at today. Eventually the large cove formed as the sea action continued to erode out the area behind the limestone and also enlarge the cove entrance.

This process will continue in the future. Stair Hole will enlarge and eventually merge with Lulworth Cove. Before it does the spit of land joining the two will become very narrow, like the spit that forms Durdle Door and Man o'War just to the west. Eventually the spit will erode to leave a series of stacks standing in the sea. Like the small ones at Man o'War Beach these will be slowly reduced until a long shingle beach is left.

This combination of stages of cove and coastline formation make Lulworth and the surrounding area almost unique, and it is not surprising that they often feature in geology and geography text books as some of the best examples of sea erosion of this kind in the world. This natural action has produced areas of outstanding natural beauty and now Lulworth Cove, along with a large part of the Dorset Coastline which forms the Jurassic Coast, has been declared a World Heritage Site. The area is very popular with tourists and gets very busy in the summer.

Lulworth Heritage Centre (Tourist Information Centre)
Lulworth Cove
Dorset
Tel 01929 400587

Lulworth and Lulworth Cove is on the south coast of Dorset, about 18 miles west of Swanage (A531, then B3070 roads), and 15 miles east of Weymouth (A 353, then A 352, turn left onto Water Land and High Street).