"Mark Godden's Little Bit Of Cyberspace Mk.II"
So Where is Portland, Dorset?
Satellite Image and map showing the location of Portland in the county of Dorset.
A Brief Introduction To The Area
I am privileged to live in the beautiful county of Dorset, that is situated in south-west England. Dorset is a predominantly rural county, bounded by Somerset and Wiltshire in the north, Devon in the west, Hampshire in the east and the English Channel in the south. Measured at its greatest points, Dorset is approximately 52 miles (83 km) long in an east to west direction by 36 miles (58km) wide in a north to south direction, covering an area of 1017 square miles (2634 square km). Dorset's administrative centre and county town is the Roman town of Dorchester.
Agriculture is (and has been historically) Dorset's predominant industry but tourism is now also important, particularly along the coastal fringe in resort towns such as Lyme Regis, Weymouth, Swanage, Poole and Bournemouth, Harbour facilities, docks and fishing are also economically significant in these areas. Both Weymouth and Poole contain ferry terminals offering regular services to France and the Channel Islands. Dorset has good rail links to London and Bristol but is one of the few English counties to have no motorways. The County's mineral wealth includes ball clays extracted around Wareham and dimension stone quarried in both Purbeck and Portland. Dorset's most valuable natural resource is oil, which is extracted at the rate of over 3 million gallons per day, from several bore-holes in the south east of the county, making it a nationally important reserve.
The 95 mile stretch of English Channel coastline (now called "The Jurassic Coast") which lies between Exmouth in East Devon and Swanage in Dorset is a "geological treasure chest," which was finally granted "World Heritage" status by UNESCO on 13 December 2001. This ranks the area's importance, with other globally important sites such as Arizona's Grand Canyon or Australia's Barrier Reef. The whole of the Jurassic system, extending over 1300m in vertical depth (generally dipping and younging east) is exposed along Dorset's coastline, resulting in much spectacular and contrasting costal scenery. The oldest, lower Jurassic (210 million year old) rocks occur around Lyme Regis in the west of the county and the celebrated ichthyosaur fossils found here in the early Nineteenth Century by Mary Anning (1799 - 1847) were a valuable contribution to the then young sciences of Geology and Palaeontology. Interestingly, it is believed that the well known children's rhyme; "she sells sea shells," refers to Mary and her trade in fossils.
Dorset is a beautiful county that has inspired many literary and artistic connections, currently over 22000 acres of land in Dorset is owned and protected by the National Trust. Nineteenth century rural life was brilliantly encapsulated in the works of the local poet William Barnes who wrote his best known poems in local dialect. J. Mead Faulkner's novel "Moonfleet" is largely set along the coastline of South Dorset the text of which is available here, written in the style of "Treasure Island", this is an excellent story of eighteenth century derring-do.
The rural area surrounding Dorchester forms the heart of Thomas Hardy's "Wessex". In the preface to his novel "The Well-Beloved", Hardy describes Portland as being; "carved by Time out of a single stone" inhabited by; "a curious and well-nigh distinct people, cherishing strange beliefs and singular customs, now for the most part obsolescent." Hardy also dubbed Portland as being, "the Gibraltar of Wessex".
Portland is often referred to as an "island" because it juts into the English Channel like the Bill of some enormous bird, connected to the rest of Dorset, only by the isthmus of the Chesil Beach (see photograph below). Prior to the 30 January 1839 and the opening of the first road bridge, passage on and off of Portland was by ferry, this limited the amount of interchange between Portland and the rest of the World, helping to give Portland its unique character.
The Island is a regular stop for migratory birds with over 300 species having been recorded here. Portland is also home to 30 species of butterfly and 720 species of moth. The disused quarries contain unique niche environments which have become colonized by many nationally rare plants and animals. The thin calcareous soils are favoured by many orchids such as the pyramidal orchid, which grow here in their hundreds.
I was born on Portland and still live here, where I work in the island's stone industry. Geographically, Portland is about four miles long by one and a half miles wide (at its widest point), and its principle villages are Southwell, Weston, Easton, Fortuneswell and Chiswell.
Portland is famed for the nationally important Upper Jurassic building stone quarried here. Exploitation of the Island's stone probably started in pre-history, possibly by the very first humans to set foot on the island who made extensive use of knapped cherts, probably collected from accessible cliff sections. The first "dimension" stone quarries were also made in the costal cliffs where extensive land-slips made access to the stone beds relatively easy, also the nearby sea provided a ready means of transport for quarried stone, to London and elsewhere. Christopher Wren popularized the stone when he used it to rebuild St Paul's Cathedral and many smaller churches destroyed in the fire of London, in 1666. Portland stone has been regularly specified on most major building projects in the City of London ever since. During the Nineteenth Century, many Portland quarrymen and their families emigrated to such far flung-places as Australia, South Africa and the USA where they either started new quarries, or went to work in pre-existing ones. It was often the case that stone taken from these quarries helped to build many modern cities. It is interesting to note that "portland cement" has never been produced on Portland (and has nothing to do with the Island). Originally the (now generic) name was adopted, simply in an attempt by a cement manufacturer to cash-in on the good reputation of Portland stone.
As well as its stone industry, Portland is home to three prisons and (because of its strategically important position) a former major Royal Naval Dockyard and Air Station. The military's withdraw (after a presence spanning centuries), was the result of defence cuts during the 1990's. The Royal Navy left a great deal of redundant infrastructure behind which is now gradually being occupied by local businesses. Several new companies specializing in ship repair and heavy engineering, have now taken over areas within the Dockyard. Many of the people employed by these new companies were former support staff employed by the Royal Navy. The large enclosed harbour and deep water piers provide an ideal birth for merchant ships, whilst they are either being loaded or off-loaded or are under repair. It is also hoped that cruise ships will in the future, make regular stops at Portland for passengers who may wish to visit the area.
Convicts were first brought to Portland in 1848 to quarry stone, necessary for the construction of a major new Naval Breakwater here. The cruel conditions in the original Portland Prison and its quarries during the latter half of the 19th century caused a national outcry and were a major catalyst for penal reform in this country. This is reflected in the following poem:
LIX - The Isle of Portland
The star-filled seas are smooth to-night
From France to England strone;
Black towers above the Portland light
The felon-quarried stone.
On yonder island, not to rise,
Never to stir forth free,
Far from his folk a dead lad lies
That once was friends with me.
Lie you easy, dream you light,
And sleep you fast for aye;
And luckier may you find the night
Than ever you found the day.
From "A Shropshire Lad" b y A E Housman 1896.
The average number of convicts imprisoned at Portland during the latter half of the Nineteenth Century was about 1500 of which 700 were employed quarrying stone. A further 450 prisoners were employed squaring the quarried blocks before they were used in the construction of the breakwater. Many prisoners died while working and deaths within the Prison ran at nearly one per week during the 1870's, with floggings being regularly meted out up to the 1890's. Prisoners cries were often heard from outside of the prison walls during floggings. Enterprising local people living adjacent to the prison quarries would allow eager paying visitors, who came to the Island on the newly constructed railway (opened to Victoria Square in 1865) especially, to view the prisoners at work from the upper windows of their houses. The railway finally arrived at Easton in 1900, with the first passenger service between Easton and Weymouth commencing on 1 September 1902. Sadly the line was (shortsightedly) closed as part of the "Beeching cuts" of the early 1960s with the last ever passenger train leaving Easton Station on 27 March 1965.
Portland has always had strong links with the sea, indeed the Anglo Saxon Chronicle records that in 837 AD., the first ever murder by Vikings of an Englishman called Alderman Wulfherd, took place here. The "island" suffered many subsequent raids from the sea through out the following five hundred years by many different marauders. In 1588, watched by local people, The Spanish Armada was fought in the sea off of Portland, but in the end it was the stormy conditions in the English Channel that defeated the Spanish. The treacherous waters around the Island have led to hundreds of Shipwrecks. Despite an infamous reputation for plunder, local fishermen often risked their lives while rescuing passengers and crew from stricken vessels. During the last 280 years, a series of light houses have been built and then superseded at Portland Bill, each designed to assist the safe passage of shipping around the promontory. The present Lighthouse was built in 1905, it is about 120 ft. high and was fully automated during the 1990's, obviating for the first time, the need for a professional Lighthouse keeper. The Lighthouse Keepers house is now a visitors centre.
During the early 1800's smuggling was rife on Portland with many ship loads of illicit French brandy being landed around the Island's shores. More Portland people were committed for smuggling offences during this period than from any other part of Dorset.
The area's links with the sea have continued up until modern times, on the 6th June 1944, Weymouth and Portland were major jump off points for troops going to the "D Day" landings in Normandy, France. This invasion eventually led to allied victory and the end of the Second World War.
View looking north from the top of Portland along the sweep of Chesil Beach.
