A HISTORY OF DORSET 



value commercially. The forbidding bluiF of Portland guarded by its cliffs, 

 by the westerly gales that sweep over it, by the dangerous Race, and by the 

 Shambles, never allured a mediaeval invader to any attempt to secure a per- 

 manent foothold upon it ; the natural strength which daunted the enemy of 

 that period was the principal defence then of Portland Roads, but is still 

 more effective now when improved by engineering and military art. Torbay, 

 although not so safe an anchorage, was preferred in the eighteenth century 

 because nearer Brest ; when Cherbourg was suddenly enlarged into a great 

 naval base and arsenal, the development of Portland, nearly opposite, but to 

 windward, was the natural answer. The use of steam has greatly increased 

 the strategical value of Portland. Although not a primary base, because it 

 lacks appliances for docking and repairs, it holds a first place among those of 

 its class, for, as it flanks Portsmouth and Plymouth,^ no enemy could venture 

 to attack either of those places while an English fleet, even of inferior strength 

 but able to fight, lay in the naval harbour. He must therefore deal with the 

 Portland fleet first and either mask it with sufficient force while he carried 

 out his main purpose or await its pleasure as to the time of action. Except as 

 following a series of disasters which would, by their direct and indirect effects, 

 render a further struggle here useless, no enemy or combination of enemies is 

 likely to possess sufficient strength simultaneously to hold quiescent a fighting 

 fleet at Portland and to attack one of the great naval arsenals. For his fleet there 

 would be far more risk of disaster than probability of success about a serious 

 bombardment at any useful range ; and if he succeeded the English loss would 

 not be so great as would be involved in the destruction of a huge dockyard, 

 with the private property around it. The methods of attack in modern naval 

 war are likely to enforce the use of Portland as a centre for ships delayed in 

 sailing or awaiting admission to Portsmouth, for Spithead can never be used 

 again with the confidence permissible before the era of torpedoes and drifting 

 mines. 



The name of the British tribe inhabiting Dorset, the Durotriges, or 

 ' water dwellers,' seems to imply some especial relation with the sea ; but a 

 recent suggestion that the water in question was that of the marshes of Poole 

 Harbour, and of the rivers emptying themselves into it, is a far more probable 

 one than the supposition that the natives possessed any particular maritime 

 aptitude. Unlike some of the other counties whose coast-line is broken by 

 long beaches or stretches of salt-water marshes, that of Dorset offers little 

 encouragement to beginners in navigation. If the Celtic appellation referred 

 to the sea it involves the inference that the Durotriges were far more advanced 

 in maritime affairs than any of the other races in Britain, for which there is 

 no evidence either in history or in the numerous Celtic remains which have 

 been found in the county. We may safely assume that such sea life as existed 

 was confined to fishing close inshore from coves and sheltered bays, and that 

 the Durotriges had made even less progress in navigation than their neigh- 

 bours east and west. 



Omitting the Roman era, considered elsewhere, we find that the principal 

 Saxon advance north-westward was by land from their favourite place of 

 debarkation in Southampton Water. It is both possible and probable that 



' Portland to Plymouth, 75 miles ; to Portsmouth, 60 miles ; to Guernsey, 60 miles ; to Alderney, 

 48 miles ; to Cherbourg, 62 miles. 



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