Weymouth and Melcombe Regis

The Dorset Historic Towns Project report on Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.

The two main components that contribute to the local distinctiveness of Weymouth are the town's historic buildings, and its landscape setting.

The historic buildings along the sea front and around the harbour are fundamental to the town's uniqueness. The town is focused on the harbour and the sea. The original towns looked towards the harbour, with a varied waterfront reflecting the many uses that have been made of the estuary.

The later, visitor-oriented town has looked towards the sea, particularly the long curving bay which has been depicted in numerous paintings, prints and photographs from the late eighteenth century to the present.

Summary report

Here is a summary of the report (February 2011).

Detailed sections of the report

We have broken down the full report into individual sections, please select one of the parts to read:

• Parts 1 and 2 Introduction and overview
• Parts 3 and 4 Context and sources
• Part 5.1 and 5.2 Historical analysis - Medieval and Post-medieval
• Part 5.3 and 5.4 Historical analysis - Later eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth century
• Part 5.5 and 5.6 Later twentieth century
• Part 6 Character appraisal
• Part 6 Historic Urban Character Area 1 Weymouth Historic Core
• Part 6 Historic Urban Character Area 2 Melcombe Regis Historic Core
• Part 6 Historic Urban Character Area 3 Wyke Regis and Ferrybridge
• Part 6 Historic Urban Character Area 4 The Military Coast
• Part 6 Historic Urban Character Area 5 Northern Weymouth
• Part 6 Historic Urban Character Area 6 Radipole and Greenhill
• Part 6 Historic Urban Character Area 7 Broadwey, Elwell and Littlemoor
• Part 6 Historic Urban Character Area 8 Lodmoor
• Part 6 Historic Urban Character Area 9 Southill and Westham
• Part 6 Historic Urban Character Area 10 Radipole Lake and Shore
• Part 7 Research and appendices