The area is renowned for its fossils, with The Etches Collection in the village of Kimmeridge displaying fossils found locally by Steve Etches over a 30-year period, especially on the Kimmeridge Ledges when exposed at low tide.
The geology of the area around Kimmeridge Ledges is important as part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.[4] It comprises bedrock formed in the Late Jurassic epoch, overlain in many places by superficial Quaternaryhead deposits.
Kimmeridge gives its name to the Kimmeridgian, the division of the Jurassic period in which the beds were laid down, because of the quality of the cliffs and the fossils they yield. Kimmeridge is also the type locality for the Jurassic age Kimmeridge Clay formation, which is well represented in southern England, and provides one of the source rocks for hydrocarbons found in the Wessex and North Sea Basins.
Wignall P (ed.) (1995) Benthic Palaeoecology of the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay of England (Special Papers in Palaeontology series), Palaeontological Association, 74pp, ISBN0-901702-42-0.