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Weymouth's
heritage as a seaport and fishing centre is overshadowed by its 18th
century renaissance as a watering-place, and its more recent revival
as a popular seaside resort. Most of the finest buildings are remnants
of the town's glory days as a Georgian resort, but there are even earlier
houses to be found, including the converted Tudor cottages on Trinity
Street.
George III lived in Weymouth, at Gloucester House (now
a hotel). Reminders of the monarch are not hard to find; his likeness
is cut into the turf of a hill outside the town, and a large statue
stands on the busy seafront near the Tourist Information Centre.
The
seafront is the hub of activity in Weymouth, a stretch of golden sand
bestrewn with deckchairs and crowded with sun seekers in summer. More
relaxing perhaps are the opportunities for fishing and boating in the
area. Within walking distance of the town centre are two nature reserves.
Radipole Lake is home to birds who love open water, reedbeds and scrubby
bushes, and Lodmore offers flood meadows, rough pasture and saltmarsh
habitat.
Weymouth is located between two Heritage Coasts (Purbeck
and West Dorset
Heritage Coast), and inland from the sea the entire surrounding
region has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The
town is just north-east of the Isle of Portland, a wonderfully isolated
coastal area tenuously joined to the mainland by the narrow sweep of
Chesil Beach. Portland is excellent bird-watching territory, with Pulpit
Rock a good spot to observe puffins during the early summer. On the
north-east coast of the Isle is Portland
Castle, one of the best-preserved of Henry VIII's coastal defenses.
Another, more modern defensive structure is Nothe Fort,
built on a headland jutting into Portland Harbour in 1860. It was in
service until 1956, and has since been transformed into a living museum,
tracing the history of the fort, and in particular the role of Weymouth
in the Second World War.
High speed ferries leave Weymouth harbour for the Channel
Islands and St. Malo, in France.
CONTACT Weymouth Tourist Information Centre
The King's Statue
The Esplanade
Weymouth
Dorset
DT4 7AN
Tel: 01305 785747
Fax: 01305 788092
Website: www.weymouth.gov.uk
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