Notable locations on the Durham Coast include Hartlepool Headland[citation needed], Seaham, Sunderland Docks and Whitburn Beach.

[2] The geology of the area is characterised by the exposure on the cliffs and beaches of the dolomite and limestone formed in the late Permian period.

In more sheltered places, the calcareous grasslands, support a biodiverse range of flowering plants including pyramidal orchid and such specialities as marsh helleborine, grass-of-Parnassus, round-leaved wintergreen and bird’s-eye primrose.

[2] The Durham coast also supports a variety of birds, including nationally important populations of sanderling, wintering purple sandpiper and breeding little tern.

There is also a rich variety of invertebrates, including colonies of the Durham Argus butterfly, Aricia artaxerxes salmacis, and the least minor moth, Photedes captiuncula.