Chesil Beach in the context of "Isle of Portland"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Chesil Beach in the context of "Isle of Portland"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Chesil Beach

Chesil Beach (also known as Chesil Bank) in Dorset, England, is one of three major shingle beach structures in Britain. Behind the beach is the Fleet, a shallow tidal lagoon.

The beach runs for a length of 29 kilometres (18 mi) from West Bay to the Isle of Portland and in places is up to 15 metres (50 ft) high and 200 metres (660 ft) wide. It is almost entirely made of stone shingle, and the typical size of stones reduces along the length of the beach. The beach is often identified as a tombolo, although research has revealed that it is in fact a barrier beach.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Chesil Beach in the context of Isle of Portland

The Isle of Portland is a tied island, 6 kilometres (4 mi) long by 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) wide, in the English Channel. The southern tip, Portland Bill, lies 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier beach called Chesil Beach joins Portland with mainland England. The A354 road passes down the Portland end of the beach and then over the Fleet Lagoon by bridge to the mainland. The population of Portland is 13,417.

Portland is a central part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site on the Dorset and east Devon coast, important for its geology and landforms. Portland stone, a limestone famous for its use in British and world architecture, including St Paul's Cathedral and the United Nations Headquarters, continues to be quarried here.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Chesil Beach in the context of Lists of tourist attractions in England

This article contains lists of tourist attractions in England.

↑ Return to Menu

Chesil Beach in the context of Tied island

A tied island or land-tied island is a landform consisting of an island that is connected to the mainland or another island only by a tombolo, which is an isthmus of beach materials connected to land at both ends. St Ninian's Isle in the Shetland Islands off the north coast of Scotland is an example: it was once an island but is now linked to the mainland.

Other examples include Maury Island, Washington in Puget Sound, Coronado, California, and Nahant, Massachusetts in the United States; Paraguana Peninsula in Venezuela; Barrenjoey, New South Wales and Wedge Island, Western Australia; Paratutae Island in New Zealand; the Argentario and Sestri Levante in Italy, Mount Hakodate in Japan, Howth Head in Ireland; Davaar Island, Campbeltown, Scotland; Chefoo island in Yantai, China; and Cheung Chau in Hong Kong.

↑ Return to Menu

Chesil Beach in the context of A354 road

The A354 is a primary route in England which runs from Salisbury in Wiltshire to Easton on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, a total distance of 51 miles (82 km). From Salisbury the road crosses Cranborne Chase. At Woodyates the road follows the route of Ackling Dyke, a Roman Road for a short distance. The A354 briefly merges with the A350 at the Blandford Forum bypass before crossing the Dorset Downs and merging with the A35 at the Puddletown bypass. 7 miles (11 km) to the west it splits from the Dorchester bypass and runs south. The road now bypasses Upwey and Broadwey on a new section of road which has some two lane sections going north and one lane continuously going south towards Weymouth. After the old and new sections meet at Manor Roundabout the road follows down Weymouth Way alongside Radipole Lake. The final stretch runs across a short bridge over Chesil beach onto Portland. Historically the section between Dorchester and Fortuneswell was part of the A37 with the extension to Easton being the original B3154. This section of the A37 became part of the A354 in 1935 but the B3154 was only renumbered as part of the A354 in the 1980s.

↑ Return to Menu