KIMMERIDGE, a parish in the hundred of HASILOR, Blandford (South) division of the county of DORSET, 4 miles (S.W. by W.) from Corfe-Castle, con- taining 90 inhabitants. The living is a donative, in the patronage of the Clavell family. The parish is bounded on the south by Botteridge pool, or Kimmeridge bay, the entrance to which, between two high cliffs, is defended by a battery of two pieces of cannon. Here was formerly a pier, one hundred feet long, sixty broad, and fifty high, constructed, by Sir William Clavell, for the convenience of vessels which resorted to his alum, salt, and glass works, in the vicinity. It was, however, demolished by a great storm in 1745, and in 1748 the ruins of buildings and heaps of ashes were all that remained. On the shore are copperas stones in abundance; and in the cliffs of this and the neighbouring parishes is found a sort of coal, of a bituminous nature, which burns with a strong light, and emits a sulphureous smell; it is naturally a hard substance, but, on exposure to the air, splits into pieces like slate, and is sold to the poor at a moderate price.