The Coastline

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Turn South at the Church in Chideock and within approximately three quarters of a mile is the "sea town of Chideock", Seatown.  This pretty hamlet consists of a pub "The Anchor Inn" a few houses and thatched cottages, the Golden Cap Caravan Park and some of the most glorious scenery you will find anywhere.  This coastal area of the Parish of Chideock and Seatown has World Heritage Site Status.

Seatown is steeped in history, the Anchor Inn, originally a smugglers haunt and the cottages above were originally the Coastguard Station.  Many of the original buildings have been destroyed by the sea which, it is said, encroaches on the coast an average of 3' every year.  

The beach is a great place for fishermen.  The occasional whale will pass through and in those still, balmy summer evenings, dolphins can often be seen passing through when feeding on the plentiful mackerel shoals.  

The Golden Cap which stands imposingly over Seatown is the highest point on the south coast at 618 feet high.  The golden nature of the sand-stone cap makes for a very distinctive coastal feature.  An immense amount of satisfaction is to be gained by reaching the top of the Golden Cap if only to take in the most breathtaking views from both sides. 

Our coastline at Seatown contains some of the finest sequences of Jurassic aged rocks to be seen anywhere in the world, beginning 200 million years ago and lasting for 65 million years.  This ancient world of tropical swamps and shallow seas was full of wildlife - from huge dinosaurs and plesiosaurs to tiny mammals and dragonflies.  Sediments washed from the land settled on the sea floor, eventually forming a thick sequence of rocks.  When earth movements heaved up the rocks, erosion began to carve them into the dramatic formations we see all along the coastline.  The remains of many of the ancient plants and animals became buried on the sea floor where they slowly turned to rock.  These remains can be found on the beach mainly ammonites and belemnites.   Fossil hunters should always remember never to dig the base of the cliffs, apart from being potentially dangerous the best fossils are to be found on the beach along towards the Golden Cap.  Always beware of a cliff fall, especially after wet weather and watch the tide before setting out.