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Weymouth is a seaside town in Dorset, England, situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey on the English Channel coast. The town is 11 kilometers (7 mi) south of Dorchester and 8 kilometers (5 mi) north of the Isle of Portland.
The town's population is 52,323 (2011). The town is the third largest settlement in Dorset after the unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole. Weymouth is a tourist resort, and its economy depends on its harbor and visitor attractions; the town is a gateway situated halfway along the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site on the Dorset and east Devon coast, Important for its geology and land forms. Weymouth Harbour is home to cross-channel ferries, pleasure boats and private yachts, and nearby Portland Harbour is home to the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, where the sailing events of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games were held. The A354 road bridge connects Weymouth to Portland, which together form the borough of Weymouth and Portland. The history of the borough stretches back to the 12th century; including involvement in the spread of the Black Death, the settlement of the Americas, the development of Georgian architecture, and preparations for World War II. |
Weymouth originated as a settlement on a constricted site to the south and west of Weymouth Harbour, an outlying part of Wyke Regis. The town developed from the mid 12th century onward, but was not noted until the 13th century. By 1252 it was established as a seaport and became a chartered borough.
Melcombe Regis developed separately on the peninsula to the north of the harbor; it was mentioned as a licensed wool port in 1310. French raiders found the port so accessible that in 1433 the staple was transferred to Poole. Melcombe Regis is thought to be the first port at which the Black Death came into England in June 1348, possibly either aboard a spice ship or an army ship.
In their early history Weymouth and Melcombe Regis were rivals for trade and industry, but the towns were united in an Act of Parliament in 1571 to form a double borough. Both towns have become known as Weymouth, despite Melcombe Regis being the main centre. The villages of Upwey, Broadwey, Preston, Wyke Regis, Chickerell, Southill, Radipole and Littlemoor have become part of the built-up area.
King Henry VIII had two Device Forts built to protect the south Dorset coast from invasion in the 1530s: Sandsfoot Castle in Wyke Regis and Portland Castle in Castletown. Parts of Sandsfoot have fallen into the sea due to coastal erosion.
During the English Civil War, around 250 people were killed in the local Crabchurch Conspiracy in February 1645.
In 1635, on board the ship Charity, around 100 emigrants from the town crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled in Weymouth, Massachusetts. More townspeople emigrated to the Americas to bolster the population of Weymouth, Nova Scotia and Salem, Massachusetts; then called Naumking. There are memorials to this on the side of Weymouth Harbour and near to Weymouth Pavilion and Weymouth Sea Life Tower.
The architect Sir Christopher Wren was the Member of Parliament for Weymouth in 1702, and controlled nearby Portland's quarries from 1675 to 1717. When he designed St Paul's Cathedral, Wren had it built out of Portland Stone, the famous stone of Portland's quarries.
Sir James Thornhill was born in the White Hart public house in Melcombe Regis and became the town's MP in 1722. Thornhill became an artist, and coincidentally decorated the interior of St Paul's Cathedral.
Melcombe Regis developed separately on the peninsula to the north of the harbor; it was mentioned as a licensed wool port in 1310. French raiders found the port so accessible that in 1433 the staple was transferred to Poole. Melcombe Regis is thought to be the first port at which the Black Death came into England in June 1348, possibly either aboard a spice ship or an army ship.
In their early history Weymouth and Melcombe Regis were rivals for trade and industry, but the towns were united in an Act of Parliament in 1571 to form a double borough. Both towns have become known as Weymouth, despite Melcombe Regis being the main centre. The villages of Upwey, Broadwey, Preston, Wyke Regis, Chickerell, Southill, Radipole and Littlemoor have become part of the built-up area.
King Henry VIII had two Device Forts built to protect the south Dorset coast from invasion in the 1530s: Sandsfoot Castle in Wyke Regis and Portland Castle in Castletown. Parts of Sandsfoot have fallen into the sea due to coastal erosion.
During the English Civil War, around 250 people were killed in the local Crabchurch Conspiracy in February 1645.
In 1635, on board the ship Charity, around 100 emigrants from the town crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled in Weymouth, Massachusetts. More townspeople emigrated to the Americas to bolster the population of Weymouth, Nova Scotia and Salem, Massachusetts; then called Naumking. There are memorials to this on the side of Weymouth Harbour and near to Weymouth Pavilion and Weymouth Sea Life Tower.
The architect Sir Christopher Wren was the Member of Parliament for Weymouth in 1702, and controlled nearby Portland's quarries from 1675 to 1717. When he designed St Paul's Cathedral, Wren had it built out of Portland Stone, the famous stone of Portland's quarries.
Sir James Thornhill was born in the White Hart public house in Melcombe Regis and became the town's MP in 1722. Thornhill became an artist, and coincidentally decorated the interior of St Paul's Cathedral.
In the center of the town lies Weymouth Harbour; although it was the reason for the town's foundation, the harbor separates the two areas of Melcombe Regis (the main town center) and Weymouth (the southern harbor-side) from each other. Since the 18th century they have been linked by successive bridges over the narrowest part of the harbor. The present Town Bridge, built in 1930, is a lifting Bascule bridge allowing boats to access the inner harbor. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution stationed a lifeboat at Weymouth for the first time on 26 January 1869. A boathouse was built with a slipway by the harbor and is still in use, although the lifeboat is now moored at a pontoon.
The resort is among the first modern tourist destinations, after King George III's, brother the Duke of Gloucester built a grand residence there, Gloucester Lodge, and passed the mild winter there in 1780; the King made Weymouth his summer holiday residence on fourteen occasions between 1789 and 1805, even venturing into the sea in a bathing machine. A painted statue of the King stands on the seafront, called the King's Statue, which was renovated in 2007/8 by stripping 20 layers of paintwork, replacing it with new paints and gold leaf, and replacing the iron framework with a stainless steel one. A mounted white horse representing the King is carved into the chalk hills of
Osmington.
Weymouth's esplanade is composed of Georgian terraces, which have been converted into apartments, shops, hotels and guest houses. The buildings were constructed in the Georgian and Regency periods between 1770 and 1855, designed by architects such as James Hamilton, and were commissioned by wealthy businessmen, including those that were involved in the growth of Bath. These terraces form a long, continuous arc of buildings which face Weymouth Bay along the esplanade, which also features the multi-colored Jubilee Clock, erected in 1887 to mark the 50th year of Queen Victoria's reign. Statues of Victoria, George III and Sir Henry Edwards, Member of Parliament for the borough from 1867 to 1885, and two war memorials stand along the Esplanade.
The resort is among the first modern tourist destinations, after King George III's, brother the Duke of Gloucester built a grand residence there, Gloucester Lodge, and passed the mild winter there in 1780; the King made Weymouth his summer holiday residence on fourteen occasions between 1789 and 1805, even venturing into the sea in a bathing machine. A painted statue of the King stands on the seafront, called the King's Statue, which was renovated in 2007/8 by stripping 20 layers of paintwork, replacing it with new paints and gold leaf, and replacing the iron framework with a stainless steel one. A mounted white horse representing the King is carved into the chalk hills of
Osmington.
Weymouth's esplanade is composed of Georgian terraces, which have been converted into apartments, shops, hotels and guest houses. The buildings were constructed in the Georgian and Regency periods between 1770 and 1855, designed by architects such as James Hamilton, and were commissioned by wealthy businessmen, including those that were involved in the growth of Bath. These terraces form a long, continuous arc of buildings which face Weymouth Bay along the esplanade, which also features the multi-colored Jubilee Clock, erected in 1887 to mark the 50th year of Queen Victoria's reign. Statues of Victoria, George III and Sir Henry Edwards, Member of Parliament for the borough from 1867 to 1885, and two war memorials stand along the Esplanade.
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Isle of PortlandThe Isle of Portland is just four and a half miles long and one and three-quarter miles wide. For a small island it certainly has some outstanding features. It is of course world famous for its quarrying of Portland stone, limestone, renowned for its hardness and durability. When Sir Christopher Wren was rebuilding St. Paul's Cathedral after the Great Fire of London of 1666, it was Portland Stone that was used. Wren also used Portland stone for the rebuilding of many of London's churches.
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Other places which have utilized Portland stone are: the National Gallery, the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, New Scotland Yard, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Whitehall cenotaph. Around the world it has been used for the building of the United Nations building in New York and government buildings in New Delhi. Naturally, the island itself uses its own raw materials for its buildings.
Portland has three castles. The oldest is Rufus Castle otherwise known as Bow and Arrow Castle, standing on the cliff edge at Church Ope Cove. The castle is in ruins and much of it lies scattered on the shore beneath it.
Portland has three castles. The oldest is Rufus Castle otherwise known as Bow and Arrow Castle, standing on the cliff edge at Church Ope Cove. The castle is in ruins and much of it lies scattered on the shore beneath it.
Henry VIII built Portland Castle as part of his coastal defenses, along with Sandsfoot Castle on the opposite shoreline of Weymouth. The castle was built with walls fourteen feet thick as a defense against the French in the event of invasion. This was at the time of the change of the established religion in England from Roman Catholic to the Protestant Church of England. During the Civil War the castle was one of only three Royal strongholds in the county. At the Restoration in 1660 the Coat of Arms of Charles II was carved over the gateway. By 1826 the castle had declined and William IV granted it to Charles Augustus Manning who spent his life restoring it. The castle is situated on Portland Harbor and alongside the former naval air station now known as Osprey Quay
The lighthouse at Portland Bill, a famous landmark on the promontory for mariners, stands 135 feet high and was built around 1903. Some of the most treacherous currents meet at Portland Bill and all around it is very rocky, so making it one of the most hazardous shipping areas of England. Many a ship has foundered around these parts over the centuries and the coastline around Portland and Chesil Beach is littered with shipwrecks.
Further inland from the end point of the Bill, though still on the coastline is the old lower lighthouse which is now a bird sanctuary. There is also another lighthouse, the higher lighthouse, which is now a guest house.
The rocky coastline around these parts and sheer drops down to the sea make for some splendid and dramatic scenes. The wildness of the untamed sea hitting upon the huge rocks, the splashing of the water in huge waves crashing and spraying all around give a sense of drama. Even on a calm, sunny day as the waves are gentler elsewhere, they still thunder upon the rocks at Portland Bill. Yet even amid this, there is a kind of tranquillity to be found in the presence of nature.
The lighthouse at Portland Bill, a famous landmark on the promontory for mariners, stands 135 feet high and was built around 1903. Some of the most treacherous currents meet at Portland Bill and all around it is very rocky, so making it one of the most hazardous shipping areas of England. Many a ship has foundered around these parts over the centuries and the coastline around Portland and Chesil Beach is littered with shipwrecks.
Further inland from the end point of the Bill, though still on the coastline is the old lower lighthouse which is now a bird sanctuary. There is also another lighthouse, the higher lighthouse, which is now a guest house.
The rocky coastline around these parts and sheer drops down to the sea make for some splendid and dramatic scenes. The wildness of the untamed sea hitting upon the huge rocks, the splashing of the water in huge waves crashing and spraying all around give a sense of drama. Even on a calm, sunny day as the waves are gentler elsewhere, they still thunder upon the rocks at Portland Bill. Yet even amid this, there is a kind of tranquillity to be found in the presence of nature.
