Listed Building: THE COVE HOUSE INN (381918)

PORTLAND SY6873 CHISWELL, Chesil 969-1/3/198 (West side) The Cove House Inn II Public house. Early C19 with earlier origins. Large square dressed Portland stone blocks, slate roofs and stone stacks. The main central unit extends one bay to the right and one bay to the left at a lower level.; there are various additions at the rear, stepped down to a lower access level. Centre block is in 3 storeys, 2 windows: 4-pane sashes in flush boxes, but at ground floor are small 12-pane; at centre a lean-to porch with C20 door. To the left is a 4-pane sash over a broad recessed mid C20 window and to the right the same. The left gable includes an early C19 small 9-pane sash in the gable. At the right hipped end are two 4-pane sashes and, at basement level, a gabled porch with stone cheeks; there is a further door in the rear extension. The centre block has gable stacks. Interior modified in C20; there are substantial dressed stone walls in the basement, possibly part of an earlier building on the site. This is one of the rare survivals from the great storms of 1824 which caused such damage to this part of the Portland coast. The inn played a prominent part in the saga of shipwrecks on this part of the coast, particularly in the infamous Avalanche and Forest disaster of 1877. Watch was kept from its windows, survivors were taken in and bodies of victims were taken to the nearby "dead house" by the landlord's family - Ranter's Lodge (q.v.). Many important meetings were held here in the C19, including committees for the relief of suffering for catastrophic storms, for the establishment of a lifeboat (1870) and for protest against the practice of catching fish by dynamite charges (which became national news in 1877). (Morris S: Information on Cove House: 1991-). Listing NGR: SY6832773522

Record last edited

Oct 21 2009 4:14AM