Chapman's Pool

Chapman’s Pool is a small cove on the western edge of Worth Matravers, on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. The cove sits below high cliffs of Kimmeridge Clay, a rock rich in fossils. Ammonites and bivalves are common here, though most are flattened by time. Three-dimensional fossils survive in special nodules called Rotunda Nodules. The manganese oxide nodules on the beach come from a shipwreck in 1920. The cove was once served by a Royal National Lifeboat Institution station opened in 1866. The lifeboat, named George Scott, was a six-oared Self-Righter. After fourteen years the station closed due to landslips, high costs and a lack of local volunteers. The old boathouse still stands and is now used as a fishing hut. Nearby on Emmetts Hill stands a memorial garden for Royal Marines. It was created after the 1989 IRA attack on the Royal Marines barracks at Deal. Colin Dishington organised the project for the Dorset Branch of the Royal Marines Association. The garden overlooks Kimmeridge Bay and Chapman’s Pool along the rugged Jurassic coastline. A Purbeck stone wall now surrounds the garden, maintained by volunteers. Many walkers stop to rest and reflect at this peaceful site.