The County of Dorset

The glory of Dorset is its dramatic coastline. In 2001 ‘The ‘Jurassic Coast’ was declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site because of its geology and fossil record, as well as its awe-inspiring beauty. It is England’s first natural World Heritage Site and it covers 95 miles of mind-blowing coastline from East Devon to Hampshire. A geological ‘walk through time’ spanning the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods is very easy to see in West Bay by standing at the end of the pier and looking back. Hardly less remarkable is Chesil Bank, a 17 mile long blade of graded silvery pebbles separated from the coast by the river Fleet and its lagoon which, sheltered by this massive breakwater, is home to the Abbotsbury Swannery.

1Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole were ceded from Hampshire to Dorset in 1974, a fact that doubled its population to 693,000 but added little to its total area of 1,017 square miles. From Southbourne in the East to Studland in the West runs an unbroken sandy beach for seven miles. For bathing, kite surfing and many water sports, it is as good as it gets. Poole Harbour is said to be the second largest natural harbour in the world, after Sydney, and contains Brownsea Island where the Boy Scout Movement was born in August 1907.

Bournemouth is not only a favourite residential area, but has also put itself on the map as a cosmopolitan centre for education, the arts and recreation. With its own symphony orchestra, conference centre and a renaissance of nightlife, it caters for a range of tastes and pockets. A short ride out of town is Tower Park, said to be the largest leisure complex in Europe, with facilities ranging from a swimming pool and ice-rink to an eightscreen cinema and ten-pin bowling. This one centre also has a nightclub, as well as restaurants and a bar. Bournemouth and Poole account for most of the visitors to Dorset, leaving the rest of the county much less crowded than its position and natural advantages would suggest. That it has neither highspeed rail links nor a single motorway could be considered as a conspiracy to keep it beautiful. There are, however, from Weymouth, hourly trains to Waterloo, and less frequent ones through delightful country to Bristol.

Monkey World, near Wool, is a leading family attraction and nearby are Bovingdon Tank Museum and Clouds Hill, where Lawrence of Arabia lived from 1923 until he was killed in a motorbike accident in 1935. Though the house is small, the man’s character makes it interesting.

Inland is Dorchester, the heart of Thomas Hardy’s fictional Wessex. He was born in 1840 at Upper Bockhampton, three miles east of the town. Max Gate, the house he designed and built on the outskirts of Dorchester, was his home from 1885 until his death in 1928. Both these houses are open to visitors and draw an international public.

The county also boasts England’s biggest prehistoric forts – Maiden Castle, by Dorchester, is said to be the largest Iron Age hill fort in Europe. It was built on a Stone Age fort from about 3000 BC and was much reworked over the millennia down to Roman times. Now, it affords the best view of Prince Charles’s traditional suburban community, Poundbury. Pilsdon Pen is an Iron Age fort and the highest point in Dorset. It has wonderful views over the Marshwood Vale and out to sea.

A walk on Eggardon, six miles from Bridport, is worth the trip.

The 629 mile South West Coast Path ends or begins by the chain ferry from Studland to Poole Sandbanks, the site of the world’s fourth most expensive seaside property. On the way, it passes through such attractive towns as Lyme Regis, with its famous literary associations from Jane Austen to John Fowles and his French Lieutenant’s Woman. Weymouth has a delightful working harbour, elegant Georgian terraces as well as the traditional donkeys, Punch & Judy and fish & chips. Its choice of things to do with children is second only to Bournemouth’s. Bicycling or walking the two miles from the Boot pub along a paved-over railway to the start of the Portland causeway and lunch at the Crab House Café, on the beach, is a favourite jaunt of mine. It gives close-up views of the immensity of Portland Harbour, which is preparing to host the 2012 ‘Sailing Olympics’.

Corfe Castle is the most dramatic and beautiful ruin in the county, and Kingston Lacy and Forde Abbey are stately homes and gardens on the grand scale. The former has a world-class art collection: Velásquez, Titian, Raphael, Rubens, Veronese and Van Dyck for starters. Christchurch Priory is one of the greatest churches in England, and Sherborne Abbey is too. The cheerfully obscene chalk figure of the Cerne Abbas Giant is a very different thing.

There is a fine choice of small, bustling market towns, each with its own special focus: Beaminster, Bridport, Sherborne, Shaftesbury, Wimborne and Blandford. Three-quarters destroyed by fire in 1731, Blandford was designed and rebuilt by John and William Bastard and their work is still intact. This makes the town the best and most complete small Georgian town in England.

Dorset takes pride in the range and quality of its natural produce, as you might expect from the presence of River Cottage, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s famous enterprise – but he is one among many and his shop is just into Devon, at Axminster.

The entrance to one field west of Swyre’s Head is called ‘Heaven’s Gate’. From here the view is the best I have ever seen, and that is no mean claim. In 1506 the local squire, John Russell, was called to Wolfeton House because he could speak Spanish and the Archduke of Austria and his Spanish princess had taken refuge there, after being forced to land at Weymouth in a storm. He escorted them to court and so began the rise of the Russells, Dukes of Bedford.

May Dorset bring you luck too!

How to enjoy it at its finest? We compiled a distillation of expert opinion on the county’s pleasure points, and now this is yours to enjoy.

Ross Harvey