Portesham

Portesham

Portesham is a lovely village set in what must be some of the most beautiful countryside in West Dorset, set above The Fleet and Chesil Bank in the dramatic chalk hills of the Dorset AONB. The Southwest Coast Path and the South Dorset Ridgeway pass nearby, and there’s a wealth of archaeological remains to explore en route, like the Hell Stone – a prehistoric tomb or dolmen. A bit further afield, you will find “The Grey Mare and her Colts” – a long barrow, and a stone circle at Kingston Russell, as well as numerous tumuli.

One of the most notable buildings in the centre of the village is the elegant Georgian house lived in by ‘the other’ Thomas Hardy, Nelson’s flag captain on HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, to whom the dying Nelson made his famous remark ‘Kiss me Hardy’. Hardy is commemorated with a magnificent stone monument on Black Down Hill overlooking the village, from which there are 360° views of the hilly countryside inland and over the sea.