Seaton - Gateway Town to the Jurassic Coast

Seaton's exciting Jurassic Coast Interpretation Centre project is on its way. The coast of East Devon and Dorset is the only natural World Heritage Site in England, and Seaton will be launching a visitor centre at the heart of the community, to inspire people of all ages to celebrate, appreciate and enjoy the unique landscape surrounding the town, and to help safeguard it for future generations.

Seaton is the only place on the coast where you can walk on rocks from three major geological eras, including the Jurassic. The new facility will also include fascinating facts about the fossils under our feet and in the sea, the Axe Valley and Estuary wildlife, and the Undercliff National Nature Reserve - giving visitors a chance to have some fun, and experience what is unique about the Jurassic Coast.

Click here to download our Jurassic Trail Information Pack (PDF)

In 2001 this area was awarded a rather special accolade of World Heritage Site, due to the global importance of the rocks, fossils and coastline which form 95 miles of the Jurassic Coast. This makes East Devon and Dorset as important as the Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef and Galapagos Islands and we think you’ll agree too. Come and discover the history of the incredible creatures that roamed, swam or flew across this area of East Devon and Dorset between 250 and 65 million years ago.

The estuary of the River Axe was undoubtedly a lot different from what we see today, as the natural habitat for these monsters were baking deserts, tropical seas and humid swamps; the sort of environments that exist today in Africa and the Caribbean. These environments did not exist all at the same time and our coast records a staggering 185 million years of ancient climate change. From local fossil finds, experts have been able to recreate these giants of the past which inhabited the sea, land and air in a truly awesome, life-like way.