Chesil Beach and the Fleet Lagoon

18 miles and 180 billion pebbles

• Chesil Beach
  • Introduction
  • Description
  • Formation
  • Pebbles
  • The terns
  • Species lists
  • Safety
• Fleet Lagoon
  • Description
  • Designations
  • Species
• Hamm Beach
  • Introduction
  • Formation
  • Recreation
  • Designations
    • Plant list
• A to Z
  • Introduction
  • A-B
  • C-D
  • E-H
  • I-N
  • O-R
  • S-T
  • U-Z
• Organisations
  • CMMP
    • Introduction
    • Equipment
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Instrumentation
    • Water temperature
    • Weather data
  • F & S Trust
  • Fleet Study Group
    • Introduction
    • Markers
    • Archive
    • Publications
    • FSG100
  • Nature Reserve
  • Visitors Centre
    • Introduction
    • School visits
    • Contact us
  • Fleet Observer
• What's on
  • Events 2011
  • Photo Competition
  • Photo results
    • 2010
    • 2011
• Picture Gallery
  • Pictures
  • Postcards
    • Introduction
    • Portland
    • Abbotsbury
    • Burton Bradstock
    • West Bay
  • Underwater
  • Picture links
• Useful links
• Access/Activities
• Contact us
  • Visitors Centre
• Chesil beach home

Chesil Beach is located on the South coast of England in the county of Dorset. It is a pebble beach 18 miles long and stretches north-west from Portland to West Bay. For much of its length it is separated from the mainland by an area of saline water called the Fleet Lagoon.

The Fleet Lagoon is a shallow area of saline water between Chesil Beach and the mainland. It is 13 km long. Its width varies from 900 metres at Littlesea down to just 65 metres in the Narrows. The deepest part is 4-5 metres deep, but all of the mid and upper Fleet is less than 2 metres deep.

Hamm Beach is on the eastern side of Chesil Beach facing into Portland Harbour. It is formed from material from the east side of Portland moving north to form the Mere barrier and then Hamm Beach. It is an area of shallow sand dunes overlaying shingle.

This website provides information on Chesil and Hamm Beachs and the Fleet Lagoon.

Both of the beachs and the lagoon are important areas for wildlife with a number of national and international designations to help protect this important area. The area lies at the centre of the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site.

The picture gallery contains many pictures of Chesil Beach and the Fleet Lagoon from its southern limit at Portland to its northern limit at West Bay. It also includes a selection of old postcards to illustrate the changes that have taken place over the last 120 years.

Details of access arrangements to Chesil Beach and the Fleet Lagoon can be found by clicking here.

There are a number of organisations concerned with the conservation and interpretation of Chesil Beach and the Fleet. Click any of the links below to find out about them.

• The Fleet and Swannery Trust
• Chesil Bank and the Fleet Nature Reserve
• Chesil Visitors Centre
• Fleet Study Group
• Chesil Multi-Media Project
• The Fleet Observer