14 Glorious Facts about Dorset

Dorset is one of the UK’s most visually appealing counties!  It’s a popular holiday destination for walkers and seaside enthusiasts alike.  There are thousands of things to explore and uncover here – and we’d wager that there may even be a few facts you’re unaware of!

Here’s 14 interesting facts about Dorset to whet your appetite for a visit.

1. One of the main reasons to visit Dorset lies in the Jurassic Coast. It’s a UNESCO world heritage site, and extends across 95 miles, county-wide!
2. The Jurassic Coast is hugely popular thanks to its incredible, rugged history. Visitors can walk along cliffs and terrain dating back 185 million years!
3. The area is also famous for appearing in various TV shows and movies. One of the most famous TV shows filmed here in recent years is Broadchurch, an ITV crime drama.

Brownsea Castle, Poole Harbour, Dorset

4. You may well have seen Dorset used as a backdrop in many music videos. Christmas hit ‘Saviour’s Day’, performed by Cliff Richard, had a breezy promo filmed near the cliffs.  The iconic video for ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay was filmed in the area, too.
5. Dorset is one of very few counties in the UK which don’t have a motorway running through them. Therefore, it’s A-roads and local strips all the way!
6. Brownsea Island, near the town of Poole and its harbour, is the birthplace of Robert Baden-Powell’s scouting movement.

7. Dorset has also provided plenty of inspiration for famous works of fiction. In particular, children’s author Enid Blyton was enamoured with the area, inserting it into many of her legendary works.
8. Dorset is also the birthplace of two big retail names. New Look, the popular fashion retailer, started life here in 1969, while Lush, the vegan soap and bathing shop, started up in 1995 over in Poole.
9. Bournemouth is perhaps Dorset’s most famous seaside resort. It’s one of the most popular seaside haunts in the UK as a whole, and over 2,000 ice creams are thought to get sold here each day!

Bournemouth, Dorset

10. There’s plenty of space. Dorset is only thought to host 197 people, on average, per kilometre.
11. Dorset is said to be the proud owner of the UK’s bendiest road. The winding, wobbling B3081 stretches for up to a mile, meaning it pays to be careful travelling down this route!
12. Howell, a tiny village in Dorset, has a world record. It’s home to the UK’s oldest post box!  It dates back over 160 years – meaning it’s older than anyone living in the UK right now!

Weymouth Harbour, Dorset

13. Dorset is also supposedly home to the first UFO sighting in the UK. Believe it or not, we first started looking for little green men all the way back in 1733, where a sighting was claimed in and around the town of Fleet.
14. Dorset is a popular retirement resort. What’s interesting, however, is that people living in the county are thought to have an extended life expectancy of more than two years over the national average!

Do you know any fun or interesting facts about Dorset that we’ve missed?  Share them here in the comments section below!

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