Portland strictly speaking Portland is not a village but a narrow strip of land jutting out in to the English channel. Yes Portland is a peninsular 4½ long, as there are however various villages, located on this spit of land. And for this web-site's benefit I have allocated it under villages. It is joined to the mainland by a narrow strip of sand known as Chesil Beach. The beach curves to the east to form a sheltering bay for Weymouth harbour. On the shore, facing Weymouth, is Portland Castle, this is a naval fortification built by Henry VIII to secure the entrance to Weymouth. Portland Castle is one of the best-preserved of Henry's string of coastal defenses, which were built to protect England from a either a possible French raid or even an invasion  during the early 16th century.That this area was of major strategic importance is borne out by the fact that another two castle existed here for there is one at Sandsfoot in Wyke Regis, but this is now alas is a  ruin. There is another fortification  built at Church Ope Cove, on a rocky promontory overlooking the sea and known as Rufus Castle. This castle is of Norman origin and named after William the 2nd, The castle is known as 'Rufus' for William the 2nd was renowned for his red hair.

There is archaeological evidence that the occupation of Portland, dates back for 7,000 thousand years. It is know the Romans inhabited it and called itvindilis. There is all-so evidence of successful settlements of the island since the Roman period.The main reason for these settlements is believed to be Portland stone which is mined in the area. Portland stone has been used extensively to build some of the finest buildings in the country. And Portland stone was shipped by barges to London for Portland stone was widely used to rebuild London after the Great Fire. In all  over six million tons, of the stone was used to rebuild around fifty churches, and other historic buildings in the Capital .Portland stone was also used for in the restoration work on St Pauls cathedral, also the Nations premier war memorial in Whitehall was constructed using of Portland stone, At the end of the war to end all wars. The First World War, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission ordered half a million headstones, for soldiers killed on the Western Front, all the headstones were shaped, carved with names and badges, of the deceased and shipped from Portland to the numerous war cemeteries in France. And yet once again after the Second World War a further 800,000 gravestones were also produced in the 1950’s for the nation’s war dead. That famous son of Dorset Thomas Hardy the author once described it as "The Isle of Slingers". This was because the inhospitable Portlanders used to throw stones to keep strangers away. The coastline of Portland while a haven for sea birds is all-so a very dangerous for ships especially at night and in fog, the Southern tip of the island is dominated by a lighthouse, which became automatic in 1996, and there are plans to turn it into a tourist attraction. Nearby is a smaller, older lighthouse, which has been converted in-to a observation tower for ornithologists.

The headland of Portland Bill is one of the finest locations on the jurassic coast for fossils for there you can find many older fossils embedded in the Portland stone, fossils can all-so be found embedded in the limestone at Freshwater Bay. The historic little peninsular of Portland has much to offer the visitor there is no shortage of accommodation lively public houses, and some very interesting places.!

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