Burton Bradstock

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Burton Bradstock
Dorset
Burton Bradstock village - geograph.org.uk - 46299.jpg
Burton Bradstock
Location
Grid reference: SY4889
Location: 50°42’12"N, 2°43’36"W
Data
Population: 948  (2011[1])
Post town: Bridport
Postcode: DT6
Dialling code: 01308
Local Government
Council: Dorset
Parliamentary
constituency:
West Dorset
Website: Village website

Burton Bradstock is a village and parish in Dorset, situated approximately 2½ miles south-east of Bridport and ½ mile inland from the English Channel at Chesil Beach. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 948.[1]

Burton Bradstock village lies in the Bride Valley, close to the mouth of the small River Bride. It comprises 16th- and 17th-century thatched cottages, a parish church (dedicated to St Mary the Virgin), two pubs, a primary school, shop, post office stores, beach café, hotel, garage, village hall, reading room and library, and a National Coastwatch Institution Station, called Lyme Bay Station. The church dates largely from the late 14th or early 15th century, though it was significantly restored in 1897.[2]

The name Burton Bradstock derives from 'Brideton' and 'Bradenstock', the latter referring to the Wiltshire abbey which once owned the village.[3] In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as 'Bridetone'[4] and had 28.7 households; the lord of the manor was the Abbey of Saint-Wandrille.[5]

Burton Bradstock lies on Dorset's Jurassic Coast, which in the vicinity of the village comprises vertical cliffs up to 150 ft high. Near the top of these cliffs is a layer of Inferior Oolite, which contains large ammonites. Rockfalls result in these being accessible to fossil hunters on the beach beneath. At Hive Beach there is a gap in the cliffs; the National Trust own the land here, and provide a car park. There is a yearly Spring Tide Festival on the beach.[6]

The village has a frequent local bus service to Bridport via West Bay, and is also served by the coastal bus service which runs east to Weymouth, Wareham and Poole and west to Bridport, Lyme Regis, Seaton and Exeter. The village has several local footpaths including one to the beach and the coastpath to West Bay.

The musician Billy Bragg lives in the village.

References

Outside links

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