St Oswald's Bay

St Oswald’s Bay lies on the Dorset coast within the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. It sits between Lulworth and Durdle Door, where high chalk cliffs rise above a narrow shingle beach. The western end of the beach becomes cut off at high tide, leaving walkers stranded. At the eastern end the path down is steep and slippery when wet. No facilities exist on the shore and visitors must carry everything they need. The bay is known for occasional rockfalls and landslides from the cliffs. In April 2013 a large collapse destroyed part of the South West Coast Path on the clifftop. Despite the hazards, the bay remains a quiet spot favoured by geologists and photographers. Hambury Tout and Dungy Head stand nearby as landmarks on the same stretch of coast. The isolation and raw geology give the place a stark beauty. Visitors find a wild pebble beach backed by towering white cliffs. The shingle stretches for a short distance before the cliffs close in on either side. The constant threat of rockfalls keeps the path above narrow and sometimes closed. Those who reach the shore see the remains of earlier landslips in the cliff face. The bay offers no shelter, only open sea and sky. It is a place for those who want to experience the untamed edge of the Jurassic Coast.