Have you ever been treasure hunting on the beach? If you're planning a visit to Charmouth, try searching for ancient fossils or gem-like pieces of seaglass to add a hunting challenge to the day.
Charmouth beach is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is best known as part of the Jurassic Coast due to the large number of fossils that can be found on the beach. It’s an unspoilt beach neighbouring the seaside resort of Lyme Regis, on the coast of West Dorset.
Fossil hunting and Charmouth Heritage Centre
(Charmouth Heritage Centre – free entry, open April – October daily; open November – March Fri, Sat, Sun & Mon)
Right next to Charmouth beach you’ll find Charmouth Heritage Centre. Run by volunteers, this little centre is free to visit (donations welcome) and packed full with fossil finds. You can chat to staff about where to find all the best fossils, or pre-book a tour guided by an expert.
Have a look around the exhibits of what you might find on the beach – anything from a woolly mammoth tooth to the more common ammonite, or even a dinosaur skeleton or fossilised fish! Little kids can spend a bit of time ‘excavating’ in the sand tray and cleaning up the things that they find with a brush. Fossil guides are available to purchase and you’ll leave the centre inspired to find some Jurassic treasure on the beach. The Heritage centre also has a hot drinks machine, biscuits and some nice Jurassic coast-themed gifts, with profits going back into the centre.
If fossils are what you’re after, first check the Charmouth tide times online then spend some time hunting on the shoreline and in the rockpools on the beach between the back of the Heritage Centre and Lyme Regis (West Beach). I’m no expert but I’ve heard that this is the best spot. Digging in cliffs is prohibited, in fact cliff falls and mud slides are very regular here – keep your distance and never climb on mud slides even if they look solid. This beach is only accessible at low/falling tide and gets cut off as the tide rises.
You can take any fossil finds back to the Heritage Centre where a warden can help you to identify your finds.
Seaglass hunting
Image credit thisisdurham.com
Add a fun little twist to a trip to the beach and hunt out some coloured glass jewels! The best place to find seaglass in Charmouth is on the beach in front of where the beach huts are in summer. For those unfamiliar with Charmouth, that’s the central area of beach between where the river Char meets the sea, and Foreshore car park. Coloured nuggets of glass, worn smooth, are washed up and found in the coarse sand before it meets the big chunky stones and pebbles. Sometimes you’ll find loads! And other times only a few pieces. The most common colours are bottle green, white/clear and bottle brown, but to add a bit more challenge to the activity see if you can find the rarest colours. You might also find marbles and bits of broken pottery with all sorts of patterns on.
There’s lots of info online about where your seaglass might’ve come from (old medicine bottles, inkwells, etc) if you want to have a look – here’s a link for starters.
What to do with the ‘treasure’? Either put it back for someone else to find, or take home to use in a craft project (make a mosaic with some glue? Put it in a glass as a decoration? Make some homemade jewellery? Or build up a collection to add to each time you go.)
The best bit? Apart from the parking charges, and maybe the odd refreshment in the shop, this is a free activity which can be enjoyed in all seasons and most weathers so long as you’re dressed in the right gear.
Public toilets can be found behind the Heritage Centre. In high season, a café under the heritage centre serves snacks and some takeaway hot food, as does the Soft Rock café over the river bridge in the beach (think bacon sandwiches, chips and pasties etc.) There are several car parks near the beach (pay per hour) which only get completely full on the warmest of sunny beach days.
What else to do in Charmouth?
Charmouth: also good for sunsets, sandcas and swimming!
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