Mutton Cove
Mutton Cove is a cove on the west side of Portland and south of Blacknor Point. It is named after the famous breed of Portland sheep.
The cliffs overlooking the cove are form part of the South West Coast Path and are frequently used for rock climbing. They are also notable for their fossilised finds. One section of cliff contains exposed rock which shows the fossilised remains of an ancient sandy beach/sea bed formed over 100 million years ago. In addition, fossilised algal burrs, which once surrounded the base of trees in a Jurassic forest, can also be seen. Both Blacknor Point and Mutton Cove are used for fishing and scuba diving.
Wrecks
Like the majority of Portland's coastline, the coastline around Mutton Cove has been the site of a number of shipwrecks and maritime incidents:
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Exploring Portland - Mutton Cove - Geoff Kirby - website page
2) Isle of Portland - Mutton Cove to Wallsend - Geological Field Guide - Dr. Ian West - website page
3) Jurassic Coastline - Mutton Cove - Quick Facts Area - website page
4) Pastscape - Ehen - website page
5) Pastscape - Myrtledene - website page
6) PortlandBill.co.uk - Portland Fishing - West Cliff - website page
7) Portland Picture Archive - Shipwrecks - website page
8) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
The cliffs overlooking the cove are form part of the South West Coast Path and are frequently used for rock climbing. They are also notable for their fossilised finds. One section of cliff contains exposed rock which shows the fossilised remains of an ancient sandy beach/sea bed formed over 100 million years ago. In addition, fossilised algal burrs, which once surrounded the base of trees in a Jurassic forest, can also be seen. Both Blacknor Point and Mutton Cove are used for fishing and scuba diving.
Wrecks
Like the majority of Portland's coastline, the coastline around Mutton Cove has been the site of a number of shipwrecks and maritime incidents:
- The French barque Ehen was stranded there in 1890 on her passage from Bremer Lehe for Bordeaux with rice and preserves, causing her to become a total wreck.
- In 1903, fog caused the British ketch Verbena to run ashore at the cove. The five crew members launched their lifeboat and managed to reach Chesil Cove.
- Myrtledene, a British cargo vessel, was stranded in March 1912 after running ashore in dense fog. Her crew were rescued by tug and attempts to refloat the vessel were soon made. However, due to the extensive damage she had suffered and her being "so firmly embedded in the rocks", Myrtledene was considered a total loss. Today, the remains of the ship lie broken up.
- In June 1914, the German Norddeutscher Lloyd liner Bulow was also wrecked at the cove due to foggy conditions. Early attempts to refloat her failed and all passengers on-board were taken to Weymouth Pier by a steamer to complete their journey to Southampton by train. Bulow was later successfully refloated and towed to Portland Harbour to take on the cargo that had been previously removed from her. Having suffered some minor damage to her hull, she then headed to Bremen for repairs.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Exploring Portland - Mutton Cove - Geoff Kirby - website page
2) Isle of Portland - Mutton Cove to Wallsend - Geological Field Guide - Dr. Ian West - website page
3) Jurassic Coastline - Mutton Cove - Quick Facts Area - website page
4) Pastscape - Ehen - website page
5) Pastscape - Myrtledene - website page
6) PortlandBill.co.uk - Portland Fishing - West Cliff - website page
7) Portland Picture Archive - Shipwrecks - website page
8) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
Gallery
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