The beautiful beach on the southern coast of England is the longest in the UK.
Chesil Beach in Dorset, also known as Chesil Bank, is one of the three main shingle beach structures in the UK. The name comes from the word Chessil, which means “gravel” or “splitting iron.”
At 18 miles, it connects West Bay to Portland Island. The location is 15 meters high and 200 meters wide, making it the longest beach in the UK.
Behind the beach is a fleet. The fleet is a colony of birds, swans and shallow tide lagoon of fossils. The deepest part is 5 meters, but all fleets in the center and upper part are less than 2 meters deep.
Both are Jurassic coasts and are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and are places of special scientific interest. Country Life Magazine took in beach views from the UK's finest Abbotsbury.
The beach is made up of over 180 billion pebbles. Typical sizes of stones decrease steadily sharply along the length of the beach, from Portland's fist size to Bridport's pea size.
Smugglers landing on the beach at night are thought to be able to determine their location along the coast simply by picking up a handful of pieces of iron.
Chesil Beach bends sharply at the eastern edge near the village of Chiswell and forms Chesil Cove on the cliffs of Portland, which protects the lower village from flooding.
The beach is a scene from many shipwrecks, and was named “The Bay of the Dead Man” by Thomas Hardy.
Author John Fouls said of Chesil: A back gargling with delicate wraps and a rare, deadly calm… ”
Chesil Beach offers shelter from the general winds and waves for the villages of Weymouth, Dorset and Chiswell in Portland.
Ham Beach is located on the east side of Chesil Beach, heading to Portland Harbor. It is an area of shallow dunes above a piece of iron.
Originally a much longer beach, Tomboro, the southern part is now submerged under modern development. Ham Beach is a separate thing from Chesil Beach and was formed in a different way.
Even attracting visitors all year round, the wild and sturdy beaches are rarely busy. Throughout the area, there is only lifeguard service in West Bay during the summer. Due to strong undertau and large waves, we do not recommend swimming elsewhere.
