Ringstead is a small seaside

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

located on the coast in

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 , ...

, southern

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 ...

. The area lies on the

Jurassic Coast The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about , and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-Decembe ...

and is known for its natural environment and

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

Ringstead Bay __NOTOC__ Ringstead Bay, with the small village of Ringstead at the eastern end and the prominent headland of White Nothe at the western end, is located on the coast in Dorset, southern England. The area lies on the Jurassic Coast and is known ...

and

White Nothe White Nothe (meaning "White Nose") is a chalk headland on the English Channel coast at the eastern end of Ringstead Bay, east of Weymouth in Dorset, England. The area is well known for its geology and fossils. Its flanks are the result of preh ...

are to the east. Bran Point and Osmington Mills are to the west.

Beach

Ringstead has a pebble and shingle beach with some sand at the western end of Ringstead Bay. There are offshore

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...

s approximately in length opposite the beach at Ringstead that are uncovered at low tide. These form an intertidal zone between the low cliffs to the north and the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

to the south.

West Ringstead

The original medieval village and church at Ringstead, located in a field to the west of the current settlement and mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

, no longer exists. It was most likely abandoned after the arrival of the Black Death at Weymouth in 1348. All that can be seen now are variations in the ground level. The site is listed on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

Modern Ringstead

The modern village of Ringstead is located to the west of the original abandoned village, with a few former fishermen's cottages and holiday homes. The beach, although mostly shingle, is popular with holidaymakers. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the Cold War, a

radar station Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, wea ...

, known as RAF Ringstead, was located at Ringstead.

Location

Immediately to the east are

, Burning Cliff, and beyond that the white chalk cliffs of

, dominating the view. It is possible to walk to the top of White Nothe and back from the village, with views of the bay and across to 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 ...

. It is also possible to walk to Ringstead Bay on a circular walk from

Lulworth Cove Lulworth Cove is a cove near the village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, southern England. The cove is one of the world's finest examples of such a landform, and is a World Heritage Site and tourist location with approximately ...

to the east, via

Durdle Door Durdle Door (sometimes written Durdle Dor) is a natural limestone arch on the Jurassic Coast near Lulworth in Dorset, England.West, I.W., 2003.Durdle Door; Geology of the Dorset Coast. Southampton University, UK. Version H.07.09.03. It is priva ...

and White Nothe. The small village of Osmington Mills lies on the coast about to the west and there is a footpath along the cliffs, via Bran Point.Osmington, Osmington Mills and RingsteadDorset
UK. Perry Ledge is a reef off the beach near Bran Point. The large town of Weymouth is situated approximately west of Ringstead Bay. Ringstead also has a

nudist Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

beach that is a 20-minutes walk east of the main beach.

Access

Ringstead is accessible by way of a

private road A private road is a road owned or controlled by a private person, persons or corporation rather than a road open to the public and owned by a government. Private roads can be on private land or can be constructed on government land for use by go ...

with a

car park A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

and shop/cafe at the end near the sea just before the village itself. There is an alternative free car park in the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

area further inland, with footpath access to the sea via a 15–20 minute walk.

References

External links

* Villages in Dorset Populated coastal places in Dorset Jurassic Coast Nude beaches {{Dorset-geo-stub