It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about 96 miles (154 km), and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-December 2001.

[1] The site spans 185 million years of geological history, coastal erosion having exposed an almost continuous sequence of rock formation covering the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

At different times, this area has been desert, shallow tropical sea and marsh, and the fossilised remains of the various creatures that lived there have been preserved in the rocks.

These have exposed a wide range of fossils, the different rock types each having its own typical fauna and flora, thus providing evidence of how animals and plants evolved in this region.

The area around Lulworth Cove contains a fossil forest, and 71 different rock strata have been identified at Lyme Regis, each with its own species of ammonite.

[2] At Orcombe Point, the "Geoneedle" (2002), an acute pyramidal sculpture, marks the western end of the heritage site; this is built out of fragments of the different types of rocks to be seen along the coast.

[5] The fossils found in the area and the coastal geomorphologic features of this dynamic coast, have advanced the study of earth sciences for more than two hundred years.

[11] The many sedimentary layers on this coastline are rich with fossils, the remains of the animals and plants present in the area whose tissues became immersed in deposits of mud which later hardened into rock.

[15] Areas of the coast near Exmouth, The Fleet Lagoon at Weymouth and the beaches at Studland have also been used for military training but have since been returned to civilian use.

In January 2007 the coast experienced its most environmentally damaging wreck when the MSC Napoli, a 2,400 capacity container ship, was beached at Branscombe near Sidmouth, losing oil and cargo.

The coast is largely an eroding landscape and management of the site aims to allow the natural processes of erosion to continue while protecting people and property.

[20] There was a fatality in 2012 when 400 tonnes (390 long tons) of rock fell onto the beach at Burton Bradstock[21] and another cliff fall took place in 2016 at West Bay, near Bridport.

[22] There was a further cliff collapse at Hive Beach near the village of Burton Bradstock shortly before dawn on 29 August 2020 after prolonged rain fall.