A stark limestone peninsula jutting south into the English Channel, connected to Weymouth by the narrow neck of Chesil Beach. Portland is unlike anywhere else in Dorset: flat-topped, windswept, quarried down to bare rock in places, with a fierce sense of its own identity. Portlanders have traditionally regarded themselves as separate from the mainland — historically they referred to anyone from beyond the causeway as a kimberlite or "kimberlin," a term still used with mild affection today.
The stone is the island's great gift to the world. Portland stone, a creamy oolitic limestone, was used to build St Paul's Cathedral in London, the United Nations headquarters in New York, and Buckingham Palace. The quarries have been worked since medieval times; some are still active today, while others have been converted into sculpture parks and wildlife reserves. The Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust maintains several of these reclaimed sites, which reward a slow wander.
Portland Castle, at the northern end of the peninsula, is one of the best-preserved of Henry VIII's coastal forts — compact, low-slung, and built to stop French invasion rather than to impress. The lighthouse at Portland Bill, at the southern tip, marks one of the most treacherous stretches of water in the Channel: the tidal race off the Bill can run at eight knots, and the sea churns visibly even on calm days. The views from the Bill on a clear day reach to Devon in the west and the Isle of Wight to the east.
A circular drive of the island takes under an hour by car, but allow a full day if you want to walk the coastal path around the Bill, visit the castle, and explore the quarry parks. The island hosted the sailing events during the 2012 London Olympics, and the harbour at Portland Port remains busy with shipping and naval traffic.