Isle of Portland

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Image:Chesil and fortuneswell.JPG Image:Dorset pl from ac.jpg The Isle of Portland is a 4 mile (6 km) long by 1.5 mile (2.4 km) wide limestone island in the English Channel. It is near Weymouth in Dorset. The island is connected to the mainland by a large pebble tombolo called Chesil Beach, and by the A354 road bridge to Weymouth. Grid reference: SY 690 721.

The island is a central part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

Contents

Portland Bill and the Race

Portland Bill should not be confused with the Isle of Portland. Portland Bill is a narrow promontory (or bill) of Portland Stone which forms the most southerly part of Tophill. The Bill has a lighthouse as it is an important waypoint for coastal traffic passing the navigation obstacle caused by the Isle and its Race.

The tidal race to the south of Portland Bill is caused by the Portland Ledge, a 10 metre / 33 foot deep, 1.3 nautical mile long, underwater extension of the land into the English Channel at a place were the general depth of Channel is 20 metres / 65 feet to 40 metres / 130 feet. The current only stops for brief periods during the twelve and half hour tidal cycle and can reach 7 knots at spring tide.

Settlements

The island of Portland comprises several distinct settlements, the largest being Fortuneswell and Easton, the other villages are Weston, Southwell, Castletown, Chiswell, Wakeham and the Grove.

Fortuneswell, Chiswell and Castletown are at the north end of the island, and occupy a steeply - sloping area of land called Underhill. Easton, Weston, Southwell, the Grove and Wakeham are relatively flat as they occupy the top of the island, atop of the slab of Portland limestone. This area is known as Tophill.

In Thomas Hardy's Wessex the "Isle of Slingers" is based on Portland, with Street of Wells representing Fortuneswell and The Beal is Portland Bill.

Climate

Portland has a rather milder and sunnier climate compared to most of Britain. This is because the prevailing wind is from the southwest, which brings warm air from the tropics, and clear skies from over the sea. In winter temperatures rarely dip below 2°C at night, frost is rare and it almost never snows - even when it does it never settles and evaporates quickly. In summer the area around Portland, and Weymouth, recieves little rain, and little cloud in comparison to most of Britain, being in the 'rain shadow' of Dartmoor, and surrounded by the sea. Overall the Isle of Portland has a resonable climate, very good for holidaymakers.

History

Portland has been inhabited since at least the middle stone age. There is strong evidence of Mesolithic inhabitants near Portland Bill, and of all ages since. The island was occupied by the Romans, who reputedly called the Island "Vindelis" (although there is no exidence to support this). One of England's best loved authors Thomas Hardy called Portland "The Isle of Slingers", as it is well documented that the inhabitants were expert stone-throwers in the defence of their island. He also named it "The Gibraltar of the North", not just from its physical geography, but also partly from its warmer climate and the winding Mediterranean streets in Underhill.

Portland is recorded in an Anglo Saxon Chronicle as the site of the earliest Viking raid on mainland England in the year 789.

Portland Castle was built by Henry VIII in 1539 in response to attacks by France, and cost £4,964 to construct. The castle is one of the best-preserved castles from this period of British history. It is administered by English Heritage and is open to the public.

The island is an ancient Royal Manor and was recorded as "being held by the king" in the Domesday Book. It was the crown who opened many of the quarries which make Portland famous. After the Great Fire of London Christopher Wren used six million tons of white Portland limestone to rebuild much of London, and some well-known buildings which are built of Portland Stone include St Paul's Cathedral in London and the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City. After World War I a dedicated quarry was opened to provide stone for the Whitehall Cenotaph and half a million gravestones. A further 800,000 gravestones were carved after World War II. Portland Stone is still used to renovate and expand some of the world's most prestigious buildings, a recent example being the British Museum.

Image:Dorset pl sp 26.jpg

Portland harbour, at 2130 acres (9 km²), is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world, and the second deepest. The harbour and Weymouth Bay have an unusual feature in the world - a double low tide, caused by the time it takes for high tide to round the island, and it's tidal race at the Bill. The first stone of the Breakwaters was laid by Prince Albert in 1849, and the last stone of the first phase by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1872. The breakwaters were constructed mainly civilian contractors but all the stone was quarried by convicts. 22 men lost their lives during its construction. The breakwaters contain 5,731,376 tons of stone and cost, in 1871, £1,167,852. The final cost was much higher.

The island and its harbour were home to much of the Royal Navy during World War II, and because of this the island was heavily bombed. To protect the harbour from torpedo and submarine attack, HMS Boot was sank in the Southern Ship Passage between the southern two breakwaters. Much of the naval base closed at the end of the Cold War, and the Royal Naval Air Station closed in 1998. The island is still home to HM Prison the Verne and HMYOI Portland, and the harbour contains Britain's only prison ship, HMP Weare, but this will leave during 2005.

Portland Today

The harbour is now in civilian hands as 'Portland Port', although as of August 1st 2005 is used to house the Sultan of Brunei's Navy.

Portland gives its name to one of the British Sea Areas.

A major development at the start of the 21st century is the establishment of England's National Sailing Academy on the southern shore of Portland harbour. This world-class facility has been chosen (6 July 2005) to host all the sailing events for the London-based 2012 Olympics. The sailing waters around Portland and Weymouth are regarded as the best in Europe.

The southern tip of the island, Portland Bill, is home to a lighthouse. Refurbished in 1996, the lighthouse is now entirely computer controlled. There is a visitor centre with information about the lighthouse and its history, and guided tours of the lighthouse are available. Two earlier lighthouses stand slightly further inland, one of which is now an important bird observatory used by ornithologists, providing a long term (over 50 years) record of bird migration and accommodation for visiting birdwatchers.

For more information the full story of Portland is told in the book "Portland, An Illustrated History" by Stuart Morris (The Dovecote Press).

Image:Portland Bill Lighthouse 2.jpg

Trivia

Locally Rabbits are associated with bad luck, and as such use of the name is taboo with them often being referred to as ' Underground Mutton ',' bunnies ' or ' Long Eared Furry Things '. The fear of rabbits seems to be based on the fact that workers in the Isle's famous quarry's would often see rabbits emerging from their burrows immediately before a rock fall, and that the rabbit's burrowing was often blamed for increasing the risk of such dangerous (and sometimes deadly) landslides. In past times when the quarrying was done by hand, if a rabbit was seen in the area, the quarryman would pack up and go home for the day, until the safety of the area had been confirmed. There were instances of cave-ins, and once a crane-operator died when his crane toppled due to weak ground over bunny burrows. Even today Portlanders will be offended or go quiet at the mention of the creature.

This superstition came to national attention in October 2005 when a special batch of advertisement posters were made for the Wallace & Gromit film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. In respect of the local belief the promoters omitted the word 'rabbit' and replaced the film's title with the phrase, "Something bunny is going on". [1] [2]

External links

Photographs

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