West Bexington

West Bexington is a village in south-west Dorset, just behind Chesil Beach and about 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Bridport. It is in the civil parish of Puncknowle. The Domesday Book of 1086 lists the estate as Bessintone, and most of today’s houses were built between 1919 and 1939 on farmland that had been sold off.

Chesil Beach runs 18 miles (29 km) from West Bay to the Isle of Portland, with pebbles that grow from pea-sized at the western end to about 5 cm at the Portland end. West Bexington gives access to the beach, where the sea bed is shelved and the water gets deep very quickly. There is no lifeguard, so swimming needs real caution. Pay and display parking and public toilets are next to the beach.

Behind the shingle, the Dorset Wildlife Trust runs the West Bexington reserve, one of its few coastal reserves. A footpath leads west from the village car park over the beach. The shingle carries yellow horned-poppy and sea kale in front of reedbeds, grazing marsh and coastal scrub. Cetti’s warblers, reed warblers and reed buntings are among the birds it attracts, and migrant birds use the site as a resting place. The ground can be very wet in winter or after heavy rain, and there are no marked paths. Dogs are not allowed on the reserve itself, only on the beach.

Abbotsbury is another village on Chesil Beach. Cogden Beach, a lesser known stretch of the beach popular with anglers, is at the same western end.