Monmouth Beach

A fossil beach next to the Cobb

Monmouth Beach is a mile-long stretch of pebble beach next to the Cobb wall, on the west side of Lyme Regis. It leads on to the Undercliffs National Nature Reserve and the South West Coast Path towards Axmouth. The cliffs here date from roughly 189 to 199 million years ago, in the early Jurassic. Holiday chalets and beach huts are next to the beach, with a bowling green and the Lyme Regis Power Boat Club nearby. Lyme Regis Front Beach is on the other side of the Cobb, with different dog rules.

Fossils

Ammonites, belemnites, fossil plants and ichthyosaur vertebrae have been found here. At low tide you can walk to the far end of the beach to the ammonite graveyard, also called the ammonite pavement, a limestone layer known for large ammonite fossils. Lyme Regis is on the Jurassic Coast, which continues east into Dorset and west into East Devon. Visit Dorset’s fossil guidance says never to climb the cliffs or dig for fossils, and to collect only loose fossils.

Tides and cliffs

The beach can get cut off at high tide. Check tide times before you go: Visit Dorset advises hunting for fossils only when the tide is going out, and getting back to your starting point before the sea comes in. The cliffs are dangerous, and rock falls and landslides are common. Visit Dorset’s beach guide says bathing can be dangerous on Monmouth Beach. The RNLI lifeguards at Lyme Regis patrol the sandy part of Front Beach, not Monmouth Beach.

Dogs

Dogs are welcome off lead on Monmouth Beach all year, as Visit Dorset’s Lyme Regis beach page says. Dorset Council also lists Monmouth Beach as open to dogs all year round. The council sets the rules through a public spaces protection order, so check its page on dogs on beaches before you travel. At the harbour and on Cart Road dogs must stay on the lead.

Parking and facilities

Monmouth Beach and Cabanya car parks, with 281 spaces between them, are about two minutes’ walk from the beach. Visit Dorset lists public toilets with baby changing along the Lyme Regis beach front and in the car parks, and accessible toilets at Monmouth Beach. For another fossil beach east along the coast, see Charmouth Beach.