• Fossil Hunting on Charmouth Beach

Welcome to Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre

Visit the Centre to see our amazing fossil collections and find out how to discover your own fossils on the beach.

Our guided fossil hunting walks are a great family day out on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

With free entry to the Centre, come and meet the Charmouth dinosaur and explore the past and present of this incredible coastline.

Attenborough’s Sea Dragon

The incredible ichthyosaur that starred in the BBC documentary ‘Attenborough and the Sea Dragon’ is now on display at the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre for all to see and learn about this unique fossil. The ichthyosaur was discovered by local collector Chris Moore who has loaned the Sea Dragon to the Centre for a year. The Centre has free entry and is on the beach at Charmouth, one of the best and safest areas to collect fossils on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

Fossil Events

fossil walksJoin us for a guided fossil walk and take home your own fossil from the Jurassic Coast

We run both private and public fossil hunting walks and send you an introductory video before your session.

For more information and to book your places please visit our Events Calendar.

Marine Events

hermit crab

Join us on a Seashore Safari to explore the creatures of the seashore and how they live, love and do lunch! To book, visit our Events Calendar.

We also run beach cleans and citizen science events to help raise awareness of environmental challenges that our delicate marine ecosystems are facing.

During the season we have a catch and release tank showcasing the varied marine life of Lyme Bay rockpools.

Education and Schools

We offer hands-on curriculum linked activities focused on rocks, fossils, marine habitats and ecosystems, coastal geography and geomorphology. Find out more: Primary Schools | Secondary Schools