Kimmeridge’s black gold
Alan Taylor tells the story of how Dorset’s first crude oil was found and pumped on the Purbeck coast
Published in January ’22
A mobile drilling rig in use on the clifftop at Kimmeridge in 1936. This could be an image of the first oil well to be drilled in Dorset
THE Kimmeridge oilfield, with its single producing well, is probably the most visited oilfield in the country since it is situated in a major tourist spot on the South West Coast Path. Its history goes back to 1936.
The first well at Kimmeridge was drilled by the D’Arcy Exploration Company during late 1936 to August 1937. It was located at the landward end of the Broad Bench promontory, at the …
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