A quiet Weymouth Harbour and town bridge - geograph

Weymouth Harbour (or the Old Harbour) is a picturesque

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

at the seaside town of Weymouth 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 (unitary authority), Dors ...

, 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 ...

,. It has a 17th-century waterfront.

Overview

The harbour forms the mouth of the

River Wey The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined the f ...

as it enters the Channel. The original

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

port at Radipole to the north was lost to

silting Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...

(forming

Radipole Lake Radipole Lake is a lake on the River Wey, now in the English coastal town of Weymouth, Dorset, once in Radipole, the village and parish of the same name. Along the western shore of the lake, and between Radipole and the town centre of Weymouth, ...

), and the current harbour further downstream, lying between Weymouth Old Town and

Melcombe Regis Melcombe Regis is an area of Weymouth in Dorset, England. Situated on the north shore of Weymouth Harbour and originally part of the waste of Radipole, it seems only to have developed as a significant settlement and seaport in the 13th centu ...

, started to develop in the 12th and 13th centuries. Weymouth Harbour empties into the much larger

Portland Harbour Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest man-made harbour in the world, and rema ...

to the south and east, which is home to the

Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is a centre for the sport of sailing on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. The academy building is located in Osprey Quay on the northern tip of the island, and the wat ...

, where the sailing events of the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

were held. Weymouth Harbour has included cross-

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

ferries, and is now home to pleasure boats and private yachts. The

Weymouth Harbour Tramway The Weymouth Harbour Tramway (also known as the Quay Branch or Harbour Line) was a heavy rail line running entirely on the streets of Weymouth, Dorset, England from a junction to the north of Weymouth station to Weymouth Quay station at ...

ran along the north side of the harbour to the long disused

Weymouth Quay railway station Weymouth Quay is a disused railway station in Weymouth, Dorset, England at the terminus of the Weymouth Harbour Tramway. Until September 1987 it was the regular terminus and starting point for boat trains to and from London Waterloo, linking to ...

. The track was removed during 2020 and 2021 except for two short sections left as a memorial. Immediately to the north at the harbour entrance is

Weymouth Pier Weymouth Pier is a peninsula between Weymouth Harbour and Weymouth Beach, in Dorset, England. It was intended to extend Weymouth's esplanade, and consists of a theatre, Weymouth Pavilion; pleasure pier; car parking and a cross-channel ferry te ...

, separating the harbour from

Weymouth Beach __NOTOC__ Weymouth Beach is a gently curving arc of sand in Weymouth Bay, beside the town of Weymouth in Dorset, England. Immediately adjacent to the beach is The Esplanade. The beach is a popular destination for sea bathing, and was frequ ...

and

Weymouth Bay Weymouth Bay is a sheltered bay on the south coast of England, in Dorset. It is protected from erosion by Chesil Beach and the Isle of Portland, and includes several beaches, notably Weymouth Beach, a gently curving arc of golden sand which str ...

Weymouth Pavilion The Weymouth Pavilion, formerly the Ritz, is a theatre in Weymouth, Dorset. The complex contains a 988-seat theatre, 600 (maximum) capacity ballroom known as the Ocean Room, the Piano Bar restaurant, Ritz Cafe and other function and meeting roo ...

and the

Jurassic Skyline The Jurassic Skyline tower (known until mid-2015 as the Weymouth Sea Life Tower) was an observation tower on Weymouth Pier in Weymouth, Dorset, England. It was situated next to Weymouth Beach and the Weymouth Pavilion, where it overlooked Weym ...

observation tower could be found here before its removal. Stone Pier is located on the south side of the harbour entrance. Immediately to the south near the entrance to the harbour are

Nothe Gardens Nothe Gardens is a public garden, located in Weymouth, Dorset, England. Positioned on the Nothe Peninsula overlooking both Weymouth and Portland harbours, the informal gardens are often acclaimed to be the most beautiful the borough has to offer. ...

with

Nothe Fort Nothe Fort is a fort in Weymouth, Dorset, England, situated at the end of the Nothe Peninsula, which juts eastwards from the town of Weymouth, and Weymouth Harbour, into the sea to the north of the ex-military Portland Harbour. The fort is l ...

on the promontory.

Nothe Parade Nothe Parade is a waterfront street on the south side of Weymouth Harbour in the seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, southern England. The waterfront dates from the 17th-century, but most of the cottages in Nothe Parade date from the 19th centur ...

runs along the south side of the harbour front, with Wellington Court, the former

Red Barracks Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

, built in 1801, above.

Brewers Quay Brewers Quay is a converted Victorian brewery on the south side of Hope Square near the Old Harbour in Weymouth, Dorset, southern England. Much of the complex dates from 1903–04, when it was built as the Hope Brewery for John Groves & Sons ...

is a converted Victorian brewery in Hope Square, a tourist spot south of the Old Harbour. It was formerly the Devenish Brewery. Nearby is the Tudor House Museum, which used to front onto the harbour before the land opposite was reclaimed. The harbour includes a

lifting bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...

to allow boats into the inner harbour,

Weymouth Marina Weymouth Marina occupies most of the inner backwater of Weymouth Harbour, Dorset, England. The marina was refurbished to accommodate more vessels in the 1990s, and today houses hundreds of pleasure cruisers, fishing boats, yachts, dinghies and ...

Video

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

*
Weymouth Harbour website

Weymouth Harbour Webcam
Ports and harbours of Dorset

Harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...