The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1869-08-17 00:00:00

A VISIT TO PORTLAND.

In last Saturday's Builder, "A Visitor" RE Wey-
mouth details • visit to Portland. He eays—We pro-
ceeded by train to l'Entland. Leaving the station, we
proceeded by • .circuitous sweep. palming on our right
a steep and curious ridge of shingle of all sizes end
colours, known is Chesil Beak. In appearance Red for-
motion it is unlike anything else tbst will meet
with in any other part of Greet Britain. It strstot.es
for several miles from the island of Portland to !kid-
port, bet it is o pirated front the nutieland at Wey.
mouth, and on as far as Abbot...bury, •by an estuary or
islet called the Fleet. Between Portland and Wey-
mouth the stones are of • larger size than three forming
the bank as you reoede along the coast. Thin ',Grimm.
lation of pebble bee little variety in size in the vicinity
of Weymouth and Portland, and falls little short of TO
yards in width. It is utterly and completely sterile;
nor *Dula we discover thereon, except at • few points,
the least sign even of marine vegetation. The cottages
that flank this dreary stretch of natural breakwater for
miles are caustituted of ragged stone. No green grass-
plats—no sweet or blooming hedge-rows—no Bowers
"born to blueh unseen"—nothing but sand, see., and
shingle, squalid dwellings, and stricken human nature.
Yet there is something to be seen and heard hero and
about that will interest the visitor, if bit intellect ii not
of the idiotic Dundreary type. 'I ho Chesil bank is un-
doubtedly formed by the action of the waves, in con-
junction with the south-western gales which sweep up
the pebbly shingle from its ocean bet. The isle of Port-
land, an it has been remarked by others, contributes to
this accumulation of pebbles acting • caterer or a
collector of it, by the obstruction it offers to their
further drifting. Thousands of pounds have already
been expended sines 1849, by the aid of free and con.
yiet labour, to construct the Portland breakwater, •
work certainly of considerable labour; but here, on the
coast of Dorset, nature eclipses man in the fonnetion of
a natural breakwater, at one a miracle and a curiosity.
Many shipwrecks, in past and recent times, have
occurred along the historic Cliesil bank From the feet
of these disasters there is a particular pert along this
pebbly ridge, known by the ominous name of Deadruen's
Bay. Mead men, they say, toll no tale*, but the debris
or the well-attested wrecks in the vicinity of Deadman's
Bay tells alarnring tales indeed. Leaving the railway
station of Portlaad behind, we proceed up the zig-sag
road, and through a tolerably respectable village or
town. On the brow of the island rock • new church, of
the Methodist connection, is being erected. Hotel
amemmo.lation and every other usual or creature
comferts required for summer visits, are to be had on
Portland rook for the legal tender. Portland proper.
that is, the ieland rock, is nearly 4 miler, long, be 14
mile in breadth. At its highest point it Is not much
under 500 ft. above the level of the sea. The thane or
eenfiguration of the island can be distinctly seen by
looking at the map. It is tongue-shaped, and probably
for that reason its extreme point gets the name of Poet-
ised Bill, or" Bill of Portland." The circumference of
the mixed is computed at about 9 miles. The west
cliffs are very high, the fall considerably lower, perhaps
under 20ft. at some point on the south side of the
Very little vegetation is observable upon the
island. No green meadow, no golden corn, no smelling
garden, no silvery stream; the blue vault of heaven is
above you, and black, barren, and rugged rock below,
The carol of the lark, the chirp of the wren, the sound
of the corn crake, or the voice of the cuckoo, each and
all are unknown. Betimes • human shout is beard, and
a detonating report rumbles through the welkin; but
nature affords no music. We are approaching now the
vicinity of the Portland Quarries. There is quite a
legion of them, and they are all distinguished by diffe-
rent names. In the vicinity of the convict prison
the Government quarries are worked by oonviots, who
mostly secure the stone by a system of splitting. A
thin channel has ham cut along the edge of the reek
first a certain depth, and then an uniform tapping has
been resorted to, +misted by the driving in of thin
weave.,The qnsrries of the private proprietor' are
worked energetically. They are leased by the Crown,
who takes is. royalty on every ton evported. The
wages paid to the quarrymen is very low indeed. Con-
sidering their heavy and wasting toil, and their summer
and winter exposure to the atmosphere, it is to be de.
plated that the wages of these men do not average, the
year round, more than 124. per week. It will be meal.
looted, however, that the Donmetabire labourer is the
worst paid in England.* The ordinary system of blast-
ing and quarrying is so well known to the majority of
readers, that it is hardly necessary to describe it. After
the vertical hole is drilled in the rock, and the gun-
powder introduced Rod rammed tightly, a train is con-
nected with the outside. When the explosion takes
place, the rock is rent into several perpendicular
fissures and blocks, from to tone in weight are de-
tached. These are soon removed by the aid of winches,
screw jacks. and other appliances, to their required
position, where they are shaped, measured, weighed, and
marked, and finally carried down to the wharf on iron
CAM for shipping. .

There has been some considerable talk lately about
the exhaustion of our °nal fields: the question might be
put also with a like anxiety concerning the exhaustion
of Portland stone. However, we will quiet the fear of
our gentleman amateurs and practical builders, by in-
forming them that there in as much stone in Portland as
will furnish all the requirements of the world for the
next 1.500 years, and perhaps more. One acre, we
understand, is annually removed. Portland stone has
been noel as far back as the twelfth century is some of
our abbeys. Hut it was only in the reign of Charles!!.
that the quarries on Portisai Island began to be worked

111, l• •Id