Freshwater Bay, Portland

Freshwater Bay, Cheyne House and the pumping station.

Freshwater Bay is a bay, located on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England; part of the Jurassic Coast. It is found on the east side of Portland, further south from Church Ope Cove, between the villages of Wakeham and Southwell, and situated below the Southwell Road.^[1]

Above Freshwater Bay, Cheyne House and the Cheyne Weare (viewpoint) car park sits on top of the cliffs. The house, and its grounds, were used along with other locations across Portland and Weymouth in the 1963 film The Damned, starring Oliver Reed and Shirley Anne Field.

Background

Freshwater Bay.

Freshwater Bay, and the pumping station.

Freshwater Bay owes its name to a freshwater spring which emerged at the bottom of the cliff, called Red Door. An Admiralty pumping station for supplying fresh water to the naval base, as well as the harbour's breakwaters during their construction, was built on the clifftop in the 19th century. Cheyne House was built for the attendant of the station. The water was sourced from a natural spring. A man-made tunnel was created for the pumping of the water, known as Cheyne Tunnel. In 2011 Cheyne Tunnel was blocked by a rockfall.^[2]

For many decades, and through to the second half of the 20th century, the bay was in regular use by commercial fishermen, who would launch their boats from there.^[3] The Great Southwell Landslip, Britain's second largest recorded historical landslide, occurred in 1734, between Durdle Pier and Freshwater Bay, at a distance of one and a half miles.^[4]

Freshwater Bay is reputed to be one of the best places on Portland for fossil locating.^[5][6] The area is known to be popular for fishing,^[7] and the cliffs of the bay are also popular with rock climbers.^[8]

References

Coordinates: 50°31′48″N 2°26′14″W / 50.5301°N 2.4373°W / 50.5301; -2.4373