A Jurassic Coast walk before lockdown

After weeks and weeks of rain it was wonderful to wake up on the morning scheduled for an organised walk to sunshine and blue skies!

We joined the Jurassic Coast Trust for a guided walk on the hills surrounding the historic village of Abbotsbury. It is one of our favourite locations which is situated along the Jurassic Coast between Weymouth (where we used to live) and West Bay, our current home. Regular readers will recognise some of the area as it has been featured in over 20 posts over the years! With an experienced guide, it is always good to find out new information or discover features you have just walked straight past.

High on the hill overlooking Chesil Beach on one side and the village on the other is Saint Catherine's Chapel, which was built by the monks in the 14th Century for pilgrims visiting Abbotsbury Abbey. We have often walked up to this landmark to admire the views and gone inside,

St Catherine was the patron saint of unmarried women and until the end of the 19th century, it was the custom of women to climb up the hill to the chapel on St Catherine's Day and ask Catherine for a husband with this prayer. The building inside is amazing and along the walls are 'wishing holes' which is where the women prayed.

A Husband, St Catherine,
A handsome one, St Catherine,
A rich one, St Catherine,
A nice one, St Catherine,
And soon, St Catherine

Anyone is better than none.

 I didn't realise that the word 'spinster' derives from 'spinner'.  The connection being that many young unmarried women were also in low status, low-income jobs involved with spinning or combing. In France, even at the beginning of the twentieth century, St Catherine's Day was still remembered with a particular reference to those over 25 who were still unmarried.

The inland water is the Fleet and this lagoon is the home of the Abbotsbury Swannery.

Abbotsbury lies on a bed of Jurassic Oolite limestone, this layer of rock runs from the Dorset coast all across England to the  North Sea in Yorkshire see here. It is not therefore surprising that some Dorset villages remind me of villages in the Cotswolds with the buildings being built on the same stone.

Looking across the Chesil Beach to the sea.

The Chesil Beach is young in comparison to the neighbouring Jurassic Rock having only formed around 4,000-5,000 years ago compared with the Jurassic Rock that is millions of years old! Looking across at the view I just had to capture the contrast of colours in a photograph, how I wish I was an artist and could capture that with paint too!

There isn't much left of the Abbey, which was destroyed in 1539 during the dissolution apart from these remanents of the abbey's gatehouse and the tithe barn. Most of the stones used to build the Abbey were reused to build the cottages in this attractive village.

We nearly bought a house in Abbotsbury that had a similar view to this from the upstairs windows.

A final view of the Chapel before we head home. We now wonder how long it will be before we are allowed to come this way again, at least we have the images to admire and remember past walks and memories.

Stay safe.

Sarah x