Blue Lias Limestone

This specimen consists of two small pieces of Blue Lias limestone, collected from Golden Cap, a prominent coastal cliff near Chideock, Dorset. The Blue Lias Formation is composed of rhythmically alternating limestone and shale beds, deposited in a shallow marine environment during the Early Jurassic period.

Golden Cap, rising approximately 300 feet, marks the easternmost extent of the Blue Lias Formation along the Dorset coast. Although these particular pieces do not contain visible fossils, they are representative of one of the most historically and scientifically significant stratigraphic units in the United Kingdom.

The Blue Lias is internationally renowned for its fossil content and is closely associated with the work of Mary Anning (1799–1847), the pioneering fossil collector of nearby Lyme Regis. Her discoveries of complete marine reptile skeletons from this formation played a foundational role in the development of palaeontology as a scientific discipline.

A contemporaneous handwritten provenance note accompanies this specimen, recording that the pieces were collected informally and returned by a third party (“Penny”), with the explicit observation that no fossils were found. This personal annotation adds curatorial and historical value, documenting both the geological context and the human story of collection.

63 x 40 x 15mm

35g