East Weare Camp is a former 19th-century detention barracks on the

Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct fr ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) 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 , ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is located at East Weares, overlooking Portland Harbour and

East Weare Battery East Weare Battery is a former 19th-century gun battery to the east of the Verne Citadel on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The battery was built in the 1860s as a result of the Royal Commission to guard the new Portland harbour and R ...

. The camp became Grade II Listed in 1978. Both East Weare Battery and East Weare Camp remain on the private property of Portland Port Ltd, and have not been opened to the public. East Weare Camp was built around 1880 as a detention barracks for military service personnel stationed at the

Verne Citadel Verne Citadel is a 19th-century citadel on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. Located on the highest point of Portland, Verne Hill, it sits in a commanding position overlooking Portland Harbour, which it was built to defend. It later became H ...

. The barracks was accessed from the citadel by a sally port and zig-zag route, which also gave troops access to the battery below the camp. Later in 1914, part of the camp was converted to coastguard use. Today, the buildings, like the battery below, have become dilapidated and are subject to undergrowth and vandalism. The camp and battery have remained closed to the public, despite published reports in 1996 of Portland Port Ltd's intentions for possible renovation of historic coastal fortifications in the area.

References

{{Jurassic Coast 1880s establishments in England Buildings and structures in Dorset Military history of Dorset Isle of Portland Military prisons