Dorset rowing, sea kayaking and powerboating. Dorset has a varied landscape featuring broad elevated chalk downs, steep limestone ridges and low-lying clay valleys. Over half the county is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Three-quarters of its coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast Natural World Heritage Site due to its geological and palaeontologic significance. It features notable landforms such as Lulworth Cove, the Isle of Portland, Chesil Beach and Durdle Door. Agriculture was traditionally the major industry of Dorset but is now in decline and tourism has become increasingly important to the economy. There are no motorways in
Dorset dialect England on the English Channel coast. It borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. The Dorset dialect is derivative of the Wessex dialect which is spoken, with regional variations, in Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon. It was mainly spoken in the Blackmore Vale in North Dorset, not so prevalent in the south of the county and less so in the south-east, which was historically in Hampshire prior to local government re-organisation in 1974. The Dorset dialect stems from the ancient Norse and Saxon. The Saxon invaders that landed in