Top 20 Natural Monuments around Colyton

Jurassic Coast - here, as a touring cyclist, you get a nice access with wonderful views, swimming options and good restaurants.

A mile-long beach with a mix of sand and shingle, clear water, and a gently sloping shore. It's a great place for swimming, water sports, and walking. The beach is surrounded by cliffs and green hillsides, and is a popular spot for photographers. A flat walking area that runs alongside the beach, with a cafe at one end and the town at the other.

I have no idea why they call it the tombstone. Maybe as it looks like one? I don't know. Anybody know?

Quite the section this. Has a little bit of everything.

Little bit of useless trivia for you. on the section outlayed on my page, this is the only gate you'll need to go through. That is something that doesn't happen often. The area is predominately open meadow land and woodland preserved by the National Trust. The area was an important Armada look-out point and later when a French invasion was feared, the warning beacon sited here, when lit, would have started a chain from the coast north to Trinity Hill near Axminster and west to Rousdon in the direction of Seaton. With vigilance, the entire country to the north coast could be alerted within half an hour thanks to the well worked out network of sightlines joining hilltop to hilltop.

The Black Ven has been historically renowned for paleontology. Mary Anning found an ichthyosaurus in The Spittles, and James Harrison found the first fossil remains of a Scelidosaurus while quarrying Black Ven in 1858. In 2001, the Black Ven and the whole of Lyme Bay became part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Black Ven has the largest mudslides in Europe,[3] and this constantly brings new material (such as fossils) to the base of the cliff and beach. The reason for this is the types of stone found through the cliff. There is porous limestone, which lets the water on rough days flow through it, below which you will find clay, which lets water in, but not out. When the clay becomes saturated, it becomes very slippery and the limestone above can slide off in large chunks. Black Ven for this reason is a famous fossil hunting location, although the mudslides can be surprisingly damaging to the fossils, especially to soft parts such as scales. The Black Ven has a layer called Blue Lias where famous fossilised fish are known to be found. The geological dating of the rocks of the whole of the area (Lyme Bay) is Jurassic. The Black Ven and the Spittles contain rocks from the lower (early) Jurassic. Ammonites, Belemnites, and the occasional Devil's toenail are common finds in this area

Seaton's coastal beach is a mile long and overlooks Lyme Bay on the Jurassic Coast. The beach is ideal for swimming, paddling and fishing. The town itself, Devon's easternmost seaside resort, has plenty of cafes, pubs, shops and restaurants to refuel and recharge your batteries.

A clear recommendation to read if you’re into Crime Novels - the stories about Detective Caine, aka the mindful detective. Written by Laurence Anholt, by the way (no, it’s not me). Caine is described to live in a remote hut at the Undercliff close to Lyme Regis.