West Bay, Dorset
| West Bay | |
|---|---|
 The harbour and Pier Terrace at West Bay |
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 West Bay
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| West Bay shown within Dorset | |
| OS grid reference | SY464904 |
| • London | 145 miles (233 km) |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRIDPORT |
| Postcode district | DT |
| Police | Dorset |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
West Bay, also known as Bridport Harbour, is a small harbour settlement and resort on the English Channel coast in Dorset, England, sited at the mouth of the River Brit approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Bridport. The area is part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site.
The harbour at West Bay is not a natural landscape feature and it has a long history of having been silted up, blocked by shingle and damaged by storms, and each time repairs, improvements and enlargements have subsequently been made. The harbour has been moved twice: it was originally 1 mile (1.6 km) inland, then was moved to the coast beside the East Cliff, then was moved again 270 metres (300 yd) along the coast to the west, where it is located today.
The previous main commercial trade of the harbour—exporting Bridport's ropes and nets—declined in the second half of the 19th century. When the railway arrived in 1884, attempts were made to provide the settlement with the facilities of a resort, and today West Bay has a mixed economy of tourism and fishing.
Bridport historically needed a harbour to export its principal products, rope and nets. Originally the harbour was about 1 mile (1.6 km) inland, close to the town, and its exit to the sea—the river mouth—was 270 metres (300 yd) east of its current position. The Anglo-Saxons and Normans struggled to keep the harbour open because the river mouth repeatedly silted up and was blocked by shingle from Chesil Beach, so eventually a system of sluices was devised to help keep it clear.
In 1388 John Huderesfeld, a local merchant, started building a new harbour and levied a toll on goods loaded and unloaded. The toll was a market privilege granted to him for three years as a result of his petition that finishing the construction would not be possible without aid. After completion in 1395 a customs officer was employed full-time as trade grew. The new harbour prospered for fifty years until winter storms and an outbreak of Black Death damaged both its structure and trade, so in 1444 construction of a new harbour commenced—prompted by an indulgence granted by the Bishop of Sarum—and on its completion the harbour again prospered.
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Wikipedia