--- title: "Chiswell – what is there, and how you get there | Mixroutes" description: "Chiswell, United Kingdom: Chiswell, sometimes, is a small village at the southern end of Chesil Beach, in Underhill, on the Isle of Portland in Dorset.…" url: "https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/chiswell" markdown: "https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/chiswell.md" image: "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Steller_sea_lions_-_DPLA_-_182d0a28e6aff205a5cd2729d651c74c.jpg/1920px-Steller_sea_lions_-_DPLA_-_182d0a28e6aff205a5cd2729d651c74c.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail" --- Village on the Isle of Portland, England · United Kingdom # Chiswell Chiswell, sometimes, is a small village at the southern end of Chesil Beach, in Underhill, on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. ![Chiswell](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Steller_sea_lions_-_DPLA_-_182d0a28e6aff205a5cd2729d651c74c.jpg/1920px-Steller_sea_lions_-_DPLA_-_182d0a28e6aff205a5cd2729d651c74c.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) Chiswell · Department of the Interior The place Chiswell, sometimes, is a small village at the southern end of Chesil Beach, in Underhill, on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. It is the oldest settlement on the island, having formerly been known as Chesilton. The small bay at Chiswell is called Chesil Cove, and the beach promenade and sea wall which form Chiswell's coastal defences are a prominent feature. Adapted from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiswell), CC BY-SA 4.0. What is there ## Worth seeing in and around Chiswell 10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name. 1. Portland Castle Portland Castle is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, between 1539 and 1541. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the Portland Roads anchorage. 700 m · Grade I listed Device Fort in Dorset, England, UK · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Castle) 2. Rufus Castle Rufus Castle, also known as Bow and Arrow Castle, is a partially ruined Blockhouse overlooking Church Ope Cove on Portland, England. The names "Rufus Castle" and "Bow and Arrow Castle" have been widely used since the late 18th Century. 2.9 km · Grade I listed castle in Portland, Dorset, England, UK · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Castle) 3. Sandsfoot Castle Sandsfoot Castle, also known historically as Weymouth Castle, is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Weymouth, Dorset, England. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the Weymouth Bay anchorage. 3.8 km · castle in Weymouth, Dorset, England, UK · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandsfoot_Castle) 4. Portland Breakwater Lighthouse The Portland Breakwater Lighthouse is a functioning lighthouse located at Portland Harbour, Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is situated on the southern end of the north-east breakwater. 3.4 km · lighthouse on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Breakwater_Lighthouse,_Dorset) 5. Royal Adelaide (1865) Royal Adelaide was an iron sailing ship of 1400 tons built by William Patterson at Bristol in 1865. She was wrecked on Chesil Beach on 25 November 1872, while on a passage from London to Sydney with 32 crew members and 35 passengers. 2.5 km · iron sailing ship wrecked on Chesil Beach · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Adelaide_(1865_ship%29) 6. Pennsylvania Castle Pennsylvania Castle is a Gothic Revival mansion on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is located in Wakeham and overlooks Church Ope Cove. 2.9 km · castle in Portland, Dorset, England, UK · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Castle) 7. Portland Museum Portland Museum is a museum on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, southern England. It is located at the southern end of the hamlet of Wakeham. 2.7 km · museum in Dorset, England, United Kingdom · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Museum,_Dorset) 8. St Andrew's Church, Portland St Andrew's Church is a ruined church located above Church Ope Cove on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. St Andrew's was Portland's first parish church and remained as such until the mid-18th century. 2.9 km · church in Portland, Dorset, England, UK · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrew%27s_Church,_Portland) 9. St George's Church, Portland St George's Church is a Church of England church on the Isle of Portland, built between 1754 and 1766 to replace St. Andrew's which had fallen into disuse and was no longer suitable as a place of worship. 1.7 km · Grade I listed church in Portland, Dorset, England, UK · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George%27s_Church,_Portland) 10. Chesil Cove Chesil Cove is a curved steep bank forming the south-east end of 29-kilometre Chesil Beach in Dorset, England. It is thus part of one of three large shingle structures in Britain, extending from West Bay to the Isle of Portland, the latter acting more firmly as a great barrier which stops tidal action from washing the beach away and leads to the high depositions by wind and tide action forming the grand curved bank of this "cove". 300 m · massive curved slope or bank of shingle, part of Chesil Beach in Dorset, England, UK · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesil_Cove) Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0. Go there ## Getting to Chiswell **Airports:** Bristol (BRS), 93 km · Cardiff (CWL), 112 km · London Gatwick (LGW), 172 km\ **Stations:** Portland Harbour, 2.6 km · Portland Breakwater Fort, 3.5 km\ - Bristol → Chiswell 100 km · quickest by road, 2h 19m · £12–15 [Guide](https://www.mixroutes.com/routes/bristol-to-chiswell) [Today](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=Bristol&to=Chiswell) - Cardiff → Chiswell 114 km · quickest by road, 3h 2m · £19–25 [Guide](https://www.mixroutes.com/routes/cardiff-to-chiswell) [Today](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=Cardiff&to=Chiswell) - London → Chiswell 194 km · quickest by road, 3h 14m · £20–27 [Guide](https://www.mixroutes.com/routes/london-to-chiswell) [Today](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=London&to=Chiswell) - From anywhere The planner compares every way there from wherever you are. [Plan a trip](https://www.mixroutes.com/?to=Chiswell) Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds. Not yet researched ## No local-transport research exists yet for Chiswell Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Chiswell. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more. What Wikivoyage says about moving around - Get in A ferry service by Coastline Cruises operates between Brewer's Quay in Weymouth and both Crabbers Wharf and Portland Marina in Portland, the average journey time is 45 minutes each way. From [Wikivoyage: Isle of Portland](https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Isle_of_Portland), CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09. The nearest places where the work is done 1. [Isle of Wight](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/isle-of-wight) GB 11 ways of moving, 22 sources 82 km 2. [Lundy](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/lundy) GB 7 ways of moving, 11 sources 170 km 3. [Inis Mór (Inishmore)](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/inis-mor) IE 8 ways of moving, 21 sources 575 km 4. [Isle of Arran](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/isle-of-arran) GB 10 ways of moving, 36 sources 586 km 5. [Vlieland](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/vlieland) NL 10 ways of moving, 47 sources 592 km If you know how people move in Chiswell – the stand, the rule, the fare – [tell us](https://www.mixroutes.com/report?key=blog%7Cchiswell&title=Chiswell&sub=Field+notes&back=%2Fnotes%2Fchiswell), and the note gets an entry. Around it ## Next door to Chiswell - [Fortuneswell](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/fortuneswell) village on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, UK 800 m - [Wyke Regis](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/wyke-regis) village in Dorset, United Kingdom 3.8 km - [The Grove](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/the-grove) village in Dorset, United Kingdom 2 km - [Easton](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/easton) village on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England 2.1 km - [Southwell](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/southwell) village in Portland, Dorset, England, UK 3.7 km - [Castletown](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/castletown) village in Dorset, England, UK 800 m [The place page for Chiswell](https://www.mixroutes.com/places/chiswell) [All the notes](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes) [Every note on United Kingdom](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes#c-GB) --- This is the markdown version of https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/chiswell, for search crawlers and AI assistants. 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