It is on the coast of Bridgwater Bay on the Bristol Channel, near the Hinkley Point nuclear power stations.

This sequence and the good Rhaetian succession beneath are repeatedly affected by faulting,[7] making it of interest to geologists and fossil hunters.

It also displays coastal geomorphology which demonstrates a particularly well-developed series of intertidal shore platforms varying in width from about 200–600 m. The cliff and beach are rich in reptile remains, including complete skeletons.

Around 1820 Sir John Acland built a boat house on the beach with a pier and breakwater to form Lilstock harbour.

[11] A plan for a ship canal from Seaton in Devon to terminate at Lilstock was considered by the Board of Admiralty in 1888.

The harbour was apparently abandoned following damage during a storm on the night of 28/29 December 1900,[15] and the pier finally being destroyed after the First World War.

[12] The sea off Lilstock has been used as an air gunnery practice range connected to RNAS Yeovilton, and ordinance presumed to date to the Second World War has been found offshore.