Dorset
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Locator map for the English administrative region of Dorset.
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Active freeze-thaw on the chalk causes rockfalls on this section of the south Dorset coast, England. As the chalk is prized apart, it falls to the ground forming a scree slope. Active scree slopes are characterized by a very white colour (fresh chalk) as well as a lack of vegetation. In contrast, older freefalls and mass movements produce a darker colour and partly vegetated scree slopes.
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At Stair Hole, on the Durdle Promontory in Dorset, England, the sedimentary beds of Portland and Purbeck limestone have been folded into a step- or stair-like shape. This was the result of tectonic movements during the Alpine mountain-building period, 30 million years ago. The folding has also fractured the limestone, and the lines of weakness thus created were later exploited by marine erosion to form small arches in the limestone.
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These unique deposits are formed by the growth of bacteria around old tree stumps. The bacteria have become fossilized, and now form a fossil forest in Dorset, England. The fossil forest is even more spectacular because of the concentration of so many examples in a relatively small area.
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Stacks, such as this sea stack off the Dorset coast, are isolated upstanding rocks that are formed by erosion. Wave action pounds away at a rock barrier, such as a headland. First, it attacks weaknesses such as joints and faults, eroding a cave on the headland. The cave is deepened until it passes all the way through the headland to form an arch. If the top of the arch collapses then a stack is formed. Eventually the upstanding stack is eroded to form a stump.
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Repeated flooding at Chiswell, Dorset, led to the construction of large-scale beach defences. This consisted of a sea wall, shown here, and huge cages of pebbles (known as gabions) laid down on top of the beach. The gabions are partly covered by shingle thrown up during a storm.
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Lulworth Cove, Dorset, is a very popular tourist attraction on account of its remarkable geological formations. However, the sheer number of tourists places great strain on the area. Some of the land has been built on, to make a large car park for coaches and cars, and footpath erosion is caused by the volume of people walking between Lulworth Cove and other nearby attractions, such as Stair Hole and Durdle Door.
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Sherborne Old Castle, near Castleton in Dorset, was built between 1107 and 1139 by Bishop Roger of Salisbury, and was later leased to Sir Walter Raleigh by Elizabeth I. Raleigh built another property, originally known as Sherborne Lodge, on adjoining parkland. The Old Castle was subsequently reduced to a ruin during the English Civil War, and Raleigh's lodge became known as Sherborne Castle.
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The hilltop town of Shaftesbury rises to over 229 m/750 ft above sea level. It was founded by the Saxons and made prominent by the Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great, who saw it as strategically important in the fight against Danish invasion. Alfred also founded a Benedictine abbey here, which was largely responsible for the town's prosperity in the late Saxon period.
County of southwest England (since April 1997 Bournemouth and Poole have been separate unitary authorities).
Area
2,541 sq km/981 sq miTowns and cities
Dorchester (administrative headquarters), Shaftesbury, Sherborne; Lyme Regis, Weymouth, Poole, Swanage (resorts)Physical
Chesil Beach, a shingle bank along the coast 19 km/11 mi long, connecting Isle of Portland to the mainland; Dorset Downs (chalk); River Stour, and rivers Frome and Piddle (which flow into Poole Harbour); clay beds in the north and west; Canford Heath, the home of some of Britain's rarest breeding birds and reptiles (including the nightjar, Dartford warbler, sand lizard, and smooth snake)Features
Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula where china clay and Purbeck ‘marble’ are quarried, and which includes 11th-century Corfe Castle and the holiday resort of Swanage; Cranborne Chase; Maiden Castle (prehistoric earthwork); Tank Museum at Royal Armoured Corps Centre, Bovington, where the cottage of the soldier and writer T E Lawrence is a museum; Wimborne Minster; abbey church of Sherborne (rebuilt in 12, 15th, and 19th centuries)Agriculture
dairy farmingIndustries
Wytch Farm is the largest onshore oilfield in the UK; production at Wareham onshore oilfield started in 1991; quarrying (marble from the Isle of Purbeck, and Portland stone, which has been used for buildings all over the world); manufacturing (rope, twine, and net at Bridport); sand and gravel extraction; tourismPopulation
(2001) 391,000Famous people
Anthony Ashley Cooper, Thomas Hardy, Thomas Love PeacockTopographyDorset is bounded on the west by |
| Devon; on the northwest by Somerset; on the northeast by Wiltshire; on the east by Hampshire; and on the south by Poole, Bournemouth, and the English Channel. Bridport, Poole, and Weymouth are the chief seaports. Chesil Bank has been augmented with additional breakwaters at Portland Roads to form Portland Harbour. The coast around Lyme Regis has yielded significant dinosaur remains. |
HistoryThe Bloody Assizes were conducted by Judge Jeffreys in the Antelope Hotel, Dorchester, following Monmouth's rebellion (1685). The Tolpuddle Martyrs, were sentenced in Dorchester in 1834. |
Dorset
Title of English poet Thomas Sackville.
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