Dorsetshire

Dorsetshire, or DORSET, a maritime county in the south of England, on the English Channel, between Hampshire on the E. and Devonshire on the W. Its greatest length is 58 miles; greatest breadth, 40; average, 21; and area, 998 sq. m., or 627,265 acres, of which a third is arable, a ninth waste, and the rest pasture. The coast-line is 75 miles long, with fine cliffs and headlands. St Alban's Head (354 feet high) and Golden Cap (619 feet high) are among the highest coast points between Dover and the Land's End. Off Swanage was fought the first naval battle in English history, that of Alfred the Great against the Danes in 876, when 120 of the Danish fleet were driven on the rocks and destroyed. About midway in the coast-line is Portland, an island, so called, but connected with the mainland by a remarkable formation known as Chesil Bank (q.v.), which, extending 10 miles towards Abbotsbury, incloses a narrow tidal inlet, called the Fleet, with decoy ponds, and a fine swannery of about 1000 swans at Abbotsbury. There is a dangerous sea called 'The Race,' about a mile to the south of Portland, formed by the meeting of the tides. There are two lighthouses at the end of Portland, also one of more recent erection at Anvil Point near Swanage. Portland (q.v.) contains a large convict establishment, a fine breakwater, harbour of refuge, coaling station for ships of war, and extensive fortifications. Chalk downs run along the south coast, and through the middle of the county nearly from east to west. The highest point is Pillesden Pen (934 feet). The chief rivers are the Stour and the Frome. Geologically, Dorsetshire consists of strata of plastic clay, chalk, oolite, lias, with some weald and greensand. Remains of colossal reptiles have been found at Lyme Regis and near Swanage. The chief mineral productions are the celebrated Purbeck and Portland building-stones, and white china and pipe clays. At Swanage is found the celebrated Purbeck marble, seen in many English cathedrals. The climate is mild. The chalk hills or downs are covered with short fine pasture, on which countless numbers of Southdown sheep are fed. The soil is chiefly sand, gravel, clay, and chalk. Dorsetshire is mainly a pastoral county, producing sheep, cattle, cheese, and butter; but some wheat, barley, hemp, linseed, hops, &c. are raised. Sainfoin is grown on the chalk hills. There are small manufactures of linen, silk, woollens, flax, hemp, buttons, stockings, and ale and cider. Pop. (1841) 175,054; (1871) 195,537; (1881) 190,979; (1891) 194,487. Since 1885 the county sends four members to parliament; the towns of Dorchester, Bridport, Poole, Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, Shaftesbury, and Wareham, formerly sending up ten members, ceased to be separate constituencies in that year. The London and South-Western, Great Western, and Midland Railways run through Dorsetshire. Dorsetshire has ancient British and Roman remains, as stone circles, cromlechs, barrows, camps, an amphitheatre, and three Roman stations; and a chambered long barrow, known as Gray Mare and Colts, near Gorwell, was included in the Protection of the Ancient Monuments Act (1888). There are some remains of 40 abbasies, priories, hospitals, &c. The ruins of Corfe Castle (q.v.), a seat of the Saxon kings of Wessex, are among the grandest in England. The scenery of Dorsetshire has been rendered familiar to many outside the county by the works of Barnes and Hardy. For the speech of the people, see DIALECT; and see Hutchins' History of Dorset (2 vols. 1774; 3d ed. 4 vols. 1861-73), Worth's Dorsetshire (1882), and Moule's Old Dorset (1894), with other books cited in C. H. Mayo's Bibliotheca Dorsetiensis (1885).