Portland, Fortuneswell And Chesil Beach 1890
Photo ref: 27331
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Photo ref: 27331
Photo of Portland, Fortuneswell And Chesil Beach 1890

More about this scene

Boats are on the Chesil Beach between Chiswell and Victoria Sqaure (top left), with Portland Harbour on the other side of the pebble bank (centre background), in a panorama north-westwards from Paradise (bottom left) and Paul's Mead Close (bottom right). The great shingle ridge links the Isle of Portland with the mainland of Dorset. Fortune's Well, the main street (centre right), leads to the tower of the church of St John the Baptist and gives its name to Fortuneswell village. Terraces extend down Mallams, and houses have reached Modbury Mead (centre).

A Selection of Memories from Portland

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. Here are some from Portland

Sparked a Memory for you?

If this has sparked a memory, why not share it here?

This picture does not show Castletown, or the convict prison. It does show Chiswell in the foreground, and Fortuneswell on the hillside. The Great Verne Citadel (not a prison then) is hidden on the hilltop, left. Thank you for the correction - we have now updated our database!
Regarding the name of Church Ope in this photograph: it's a common misapprehension that when Portlanders say "Ope" they're dropping their aitches - not so. Ope is a proper word mening 'opening to the sea' and occurs in Church Ope, Big Ope etc.
When old farmer used to have fields down bottom of Pound Piece he used to make hut out of hay bundles of hay. Now they have built houses on it, and when the farmer used to have cows in the field next to Park estate road now house are built there too. And I remember the picture palace down Easton Square and the pavilon in Easton Gardens where the bands used to play. The old picture palace is gone and houses are ...see more
I was born in 1950 and my first home was the flat beside the Regal cinema in Fortuneswell, Portland where my dad, Bob Mutch, was the projectionist. In 1953 we moved to Coronation Road on the Verne Common estate. I attended Brackenbury infant school, the Cliff School (juniors) and finally Portland County Secondary School leaving in 1967. Unfortunately none of these appear in the photos. My very first ...see more