The Weymouth Lowlands form a natural region on the south coast of England in the county of Dorset. Much of the area lies with the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
Dorset is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi), Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. The county town is Dorchester which is in the south. After the reorganisation of local government in 1974 the county's border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch. Around half of the population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation, while the rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density.
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is an area of countryside in England, Wales or Northern Ireland which has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of their national importance, by the relevant public body: Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, or the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. In place of AONB, Scotland uses the similar national scenic area (NSA) designation. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty enjoy levels of protection from development similar to those of UK national parks, but unlike with national parks the responsible bodies do not have their own planning powers. They also differ from national parks in their more limited opportunities for extensive outdoor recreation.
According to Natural England, who have designated the Weymouth Lowlands as National Character Area 138, they cover an area of 13,251 hectares; a coastal strip between about 1 and 6 kilometres wide, running from the Bride Valley, west of Burton Bradstock, to east of Osmington and including the town of Weymouth, the main settlement of the area. A steep ridge of chalk marks the start of the Dorset Downs to the north; to the south is the Isle of Portland and to the east is the Isle of Purbeck [1] [2]
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access the natural environment.
Burton Bradstock is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated approximately 2 1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) southeast of Bridport and 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) inland from the English Channel at Chesil Beach. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 948. Burton Bradstock village lies in the Bride Valley, close to the mouth of the small River Bride. It comprises 16th- and 17th-century thatched cottages, a parish church, two pubs, a primary school, shop, post office stores, beach café, hotel, garage, village hall, reading room and library, and a National Coastwatch Institution Station, called Lyme Bay Station.
Osmington is a village and civil parish within Dorset, England, situated on the Jurassic Coast 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of Weymouth. In the 2011 census the parish—which includes the small settlements of Upton, Ringstead and Osmington Mills—had a population of 673.
The coastline of the Weymouth Lowlands is dominated by Chesil Beach, which hugs the littoral grasslands in the west before separating from the mainland in the east to form The Fleet, a series of brackish lagoons, and then continuing as a narrow causeway linking the mainland with the Isle of Portland. In the hinterland there are long, rounded, often bare, hogsback ridges interspersed with broad, clay vales. Arable farming predominates. Apart from the town of Weymouth, settlement is sparse and the few villages are small and compact. In the west the landscape is more varied, wooded and undulating than the eastern part of the Lowlands. The height of the land rises from 0.2 metres (0.66 ft) below sea level to around 208 metres (682 ft). [1] [2]
Chesil Beach, sometimes called Chesil Bank, in Dorset, southern England is one of three major shingle structures in Britain. Its name is derived from the Old English ceosel or cisel, meaning "gravel" or "shingle". It 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 200 metres (660 ft) wide. Behind the beach is the Fleet, a shallow tidal lagoon. Both are part of the Jurassic Coast and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments, the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. The littoral zone always includes this intertidal zone, and the terms are often used interchangeably. However, the meaning of littoral zone can extend well beyond the intertidal zone.
The Isle of Portland is a tied island, 4 miles (6 km) long by 1.7 miles (2.7 km) wide, in the English Channel. Portland is 5 miles (8 km) south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier beach called Chesil Beach joins it to the mainland. The A354 road passes down the Portland end of the beach and then over the Fleet Lagoon by bridge to the mainland. Portland and Weymouth together form the borough of Weymouth and Portland. The population of Portland is 12,400.
