Isle of Portland The borough and nearby Chickerell have been a Fairtrade Zone since 2007. The Isle of Portland lies in the English Channel, south of Wyke Regis, and west-southwest of London, at (50.55, −2.44). Portland is situated approximately halfway along the UNESCO Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site; the site includes of the Dorset and east Devon coast that is important for its geology and landforms. The South West Coast Path runs around the coast; it is the United Kingdom's longest national trail at . Portland is unusual as it is connected to the mainland at Abbotsbury by Chesil Beach, a tombolo which
History of Dorset Dorset for 200 years after the withdrawal of the Roman legions. The inhospitable coastline prevented an invasion from the sea. When the Roman road across Cranborne Chase was rebuilt in the 6th century the Saxons advanced into Dorset. The Romano-British retreated, constructing another defence, Combs Ditch, which also fell within a century. It is thought that the Saxons captured east Dorset in the mid-7th century and west Dorset shortly afterwards, but the details are not known. Dorset was initially part of Saxon Wessex, with the first record of Dorset being in 841. Coenred, the sub-king of Dorset at the end