Nothe Gardens

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

The gardens are the location of Newton's Cove and Nothe Fort, a fort built in 1872 to protect Portland's harbour, and today a museum and tourist attraction.

The Nothe is an area, covering 40,000 square metres of land, that has not been changed by modern development. In the past the area played an important military role as defense of Weymouth port, whilst today it is a more tranquil place. The main flat top of the Nothe Gardens was once a military encampment and is public open space today. In 1888, the Gardens were at the beginning of their establishment.

During World War II, a decision was made to place the main anti-aircraft guns of the peninsula within the gardens. As such a heavy anti-aircraft battery was constructed to the west of Nothe fort. The battery used four 3.7 inch Vickers Armstrong anti-aircraft guns. A restored gun of the same type is now situated on the ramparts of Nothe Fort. The battery was later removed, entirely by the 1970s, and replaced by a car park.

Aside from the main anti-aircraft battery, Nothe Gardens was also the location of a World War II coastal artillery searchlight defence, which was installed to assist the battery and the fort by illuminating surface targets for the gunners. Equipped with a 90 millimetre searchlight, the emplacement was situated at the bottom of the garden, overlooking Portland Harbour, and formed part of the Nothe Fort defences. It would have been constructed between 1940–41, using concrete. The emplacement continued to remain in the gardens throughout the 20th-century, until 1988 when land slippage within that area of the gardens destroyed the structure.

However, by this point the Nothe Fort had become a tourist attraction, and members of the Weymouth Civic Society decided to rebuild a replica of the structure inside the grounds of the fort. The replica was equipped with an original 90mm searchlight and associated equipment, and remains accessible to the public through entry to the fort. It is situated on the northern side of the fort. Another searchlight emplacement, used as a sentry light to guard the entrance of Weymouth Harbour, is situated nearby at Weymouth's South Pier, and has become scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

For public use, picnic areas are available for use, large grassed areas for ball games whilst the nearby rock pools of Newton's Cove, found at the bottom of the gardens, are a popular attraction. A cafe is also on site, whilst an ice cream hut is found in Newton's Cove.

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