Burning Cliff is a cliff under the White Nothe headland at the eastern end of Ringstead Bay, in Dorset, England. The area is well known for its geology and fossils.
Burning Cliff | |
|---|---|
 View of the cliff | |
  Location in Dorset | |
| Coordinates: 50°38′00″N 2°20′28″W / 50.63320160°N 2.34103861°W | |
| Grid position | SY762815 |
| Location | Dorset, England |
| Highest elevation | 31.1m[1] |
The cliff is to the northwest of White Nothe.[1] From 1826, the cliff smouldered with an underground fire for several years due to bituminous shale, hence the name.[2]
Geologically, Burning Cliff is on a Kimmeridge Clay outcrop.[2] It is immediately west of the fault and Holworth House. The cliff was originally named Holworth Cliff.[3] Today, the cliff consists of landslide, scrubland plants, with the Kimmeridge Clay partially visible. The Kimmeridge Clay above a fault connecting it with the Purbeck Formation to the east under Holworth House. There is a footpath on the cliff.
The 1826 fire in the bituminous shale continued for several years.[4] The fire is thought to have been started by heat caused by decomposing pyrite, common in bituminous shale. It emitted sulphurous fumes.
At the top of the cliff is a Church of England church, St Catherine-by-the-Sea, Holworth. The cliff lies on the South West Coast Path[5] and forms part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. The surrounding area is owned by the National Trust.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Burning Cliff, West Dorset (DT2 8NG)". getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. UK: Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ a b West, Ian M. (6 June 2014). "Burning Cliff, Holworth, Ringstead Bay, Near Weymouth, 1826". Burning Cliffs of Dorset – Oil-Shale Fires. UK: University of Southampton. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Damon, R.F. (1884). Geology of Weymouth, Portland and the Coast of Dorsetshire from Swanage to Bridport-on-the-Sea: with Natural History and Archaeological Notes (2nd ed.). Weymouth: R.F. Damon.
- ^ Arkell, W.J. (1947). The Geology of the Country around Weymouth, Swanage, Corfe and Lulworth. London: H.M.S.O.
- ^ a b "Walk – Smugglers Inn – Burning Cliff". UK: South West Coast Path. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
External links
edit
Media related to Burning Cliff at Wikimedia Commons
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