Things to do at Chesil and Fleet Nature Reserve

The Wild Chesil Centre 

Visitor Centre Café Toilets Car park

The family-friendly Visitor Centre is managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust and has interactive displays about the formation of Chesil, local wildlife and history. The Wild Chesil Centre promotes a range of walks led by knowledgeable staff throughout the year.

The Fleet Explorer

Managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust, the Fleet Explorer runs hour-long trips within the Fleet at Ferrybridge, with a knowledgeable skipper who provides commentary.

Abbotsbury Swannery

Café Shop Toilets Free car park  

The Swannery is located at the western end of the Fleet Lagoon and is home to the only managed colony of Mute Swans in the world. The site is well interpreted, providing lots of information about the swans, the site’s history and the habitats and wildlife of Chesil and Fleet. Open from mid-March to the end of October. Entrance fee applies.

Abbotsbury Duck Decoy

The Duck Decoy located within Abbotsbury Swannery is a Dutch method of catching ducks. The Abbotsbury Decoy is one of only four still in operation within England. A duck decoy consists of a pool of water, with eight curved, net-covered, water-filled ditches on each corner, gradually decreasing in size to a keep net. A decoy-man was employed to operate the decoy to catch ducks, predominantly Mallard and Teal, for the table. Today, the Abbotsbury decoys are only for ornithological research, in which birds are ringed and released after capture.

Abbotsbury Beach

Café Toilets Car park

Abbotsbury Beach is the perfect place to pause and experience the scale and beauty of Chesil Beach. From the car park, a boardwalk leads up and over the shingle ridge, revealing panoramic views along the full sweep of Chesil towards Portland to the east and, on a clear day, around the rest of Lyme Bay to Exmouth on the far horizon to the west. 

Chesil Beach at Abbotsbury is a popular spot for sea angling, attracting anglers throughout the year due to its deep-water shingle profile and varied fish species. Visitors are reminded that overnight camping is not allowed on Chesil Beach or in the car park.

Swimming is not recommended, but the viewpoint provides a safe and rewarding way to appreciate one of Dorset’s most iconic coastal landscapes. The area is ideal for quiet enjoyment of the vista, wildlife watching and photography, particularly during calmer weather and at sunrise and sunset.

Nearby facilities make Abbotsbury Beach an excellent stopping point for exploring the surrounding paths, village and viewpoints.

Dragon’s Teeth – WWII anti-tank defence traps

Access to this remarkable remnant of WWII defences is on foot, via Abbotsbury Beach car park, heading east.  

At the very end of the Fleet at Abbotsbury, sits the 'Tank or Dragon's Teeth'. The large concrete blocks were constructed during the Second World War to provide a barrier against German tanks in the event of an invasion. The ones on the seaward side of Chesil have since disappeared into the seas or buried in the shingle, but many of the inner blocks are still intact.

In addition, as part of a larger 'Abbotsbury Defence', pillboxes and other WWII structures can be seen in the area. As you walk back towards the Abbotsbury Beach car park, you may also make out two concrete machine gun emplacements.

Langton and Rodden's viewpoint

From the village of Langton, footpaths join the Southwest Coast Path at Langton Hive Point and Rodden Hive, offering calm, open views across the Fleet Lagoon and Chesil Beach.

This quiet stretch of coast is especially rewarding in winter, when sheltered waters attract wildfowl such as Wigeon, Pintail, Brent Geese and Mute Swans. The soft shores along the Fleet provide a rich habitat for invertebrates and subsequently provide an important food source for a variety of wading birds and other wildlife.

A seating area near Rodden Hive provides a peaceful place to pause and enjoy the views, with interpretation panels highlighting the wildlife and habitats in the area. Please stay on marked paths to help minimise disturbance to birds and other wildlife.

Herbury Island, Gore Cove and the Works

Just to the west of Moonfleet Manor Hotel, Herbury Island is a spit of land jutting out into the Fleet, so named because extreme high tides very occasionally cut it off. Locally known as Donkey Island, there was a time when this field was used as winter grazing for the donkeys from Weymouth Beach (after giving donkey rides to tourists throughout the summer). This area is a feature of some geological interest.

Either side of Herbury are two Coves. The first, Gore Cove, is a popular spot for Brent Geese and Mute Swans, being sheltered from the weather by the higher land of Herbury. The second is the Works or Fry’s Works, this area is a good spot for waders, with Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher using the shores to feed. On a low tide, you may sometimes make out a low bank separating the Works from the rest of the Fleet. This was built sometime around the 1700s in an attempt by William Fry to drain the bay.

Old Fleet Church, Butterstreet Cove and Moonfleet Manor

A lovely stroll from Chickerell allows walkers to take in these three features. The village of Fleet, sometimes called Moonfleet from the 1898 novel by J. Meade Falkner, is a small, scattered village situated close to the Fleet.

From Fleet Road, there is a short row of houses called Butter Street and at the end of the lane sits the Old Fleet Church. Until the Great Gale of 1824, this church served as the village’s parish church. All that remains now is the chancel; the rest of the building was destroyed during the aforementioned storm. The Rev George Gould had a new church built slightly further inland.

If you follow the footpath past the old church down towards the Fleet, you will come to Butterstreet Cove. This little bay is a great spot to while away an hour taking in the sights and sounds, watching the wildfowl and waders, with Chesil Bank as the backdrop.

Follow the south-west coast path a little further west, and you come to Moonfleet Manor Hotel, originally known as Fleet House. Built in the 17th Century, this is a building steeped in history, from its origins as the family home of the Mohuns to its requisition by the military during the Second World War and later its conversion into a hotel.

From the hotel, you can follow the road back up to Chickerell or alternatively continue along the coast path for further views of the Fleet.