Chesil Beach, Chiswell and the Isle of Portland

The village of Chiswell lies at the point where the massive bank of Chesil Beach joins the Isle of Portland to the mainland of Dorset. Property and the access on and off the Island has always been subject to flooding from the sea: indeed, the beach faces the full force of the Atlantic. On a calm day it is impossible to gain a measure of the sea and the power that it is capable of unleashing on a mobile beach composed from nothing more than pebbles. However, storm and ocean swells are capable of breaking over the beach, which stands 15 metres above the high water mark.

The only road from the mainland runs behind the beach along with services such as power, water and sewerage. Maintaining these facilities is fundamental to the social and economic wellbeing of the Island, which is home to more than 15,000 people. Two flooding events during the winter of 1978 and 79 brought devastation and disruption to the village and the Island, forcing measures to be taken to protect against inundation by the sea.

An innovative scheme was completed in 1986, the bulk of which lies within the beach in the form of an interceptor drain and gabion basket blanket over the beach crest. Developing this scheme required a major investigation into the structure of the beach and the nature of the threat.

Today the scheme has returned confidence to the local community even though it does not provide complete protection from the worst that the sea can deliver. As a result, the long-term future of the village remains the subject of considerable debate.

The core of this site is based on a paper by Brian Hook, Dobbie and Partners and John Kemble, at that time Borough Engineer, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council published in the Proceedings of the Institute of Civil Engineers August 1991. Teachers and pupils from All Saints Comprehensive School have assisted in the compilation and digitisation of the data.

Acknowledgements

The Institution of Civil Engineers, London, England, for permission to reproduce Paper 9611 - Chesil Sea Defence Scheme, Paper 1: concept and construction

Photographs: Brian Hook, John Kemble, Richard Edmonds and Andrew Finn ( Babtie Group).

• Weymouth & Portland Borough Council
• Dobbie and Partners (now Babtie Group, Consulting Engineers)
• All Saints School
• The Institution of Civil Engineers, London