Worth Matravers

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for Worth Matravers at grid reference SY975775

Worth Matravers is a small village in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England, situated on the cliffs west of Swanage, with a population of 644^{[#endnote_population]}. The village of 341 limestone cottages and farm houses, of which 16% are second homes, is built around an attractive village pond, which is a regular feature on postcards of the Isle of Purbeck.

Worth Matravers is situated on the South West Coast Path and the Jurassic Coast (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and is popular with tourists in the Summer months, with the rocky beaches of Winspit, Seacombe and Chapman's Pool situated within walking distance. To the north of the village are the chalk Purbeck Hills, while to the south are the limestone cliffs of the English Channel. Traditionally the village's economy was based on farming, quarrying and fishing. Today, two quarries - Swanworth and St. Aldhelm's - are still in operation, with Swanworth due to close within the next five years. Both arable and pasture farming are still central to the village's economy.

A monument on St Aldhelm's head, about a mile from the village, commemorates the development of radar at RAF Worth Matravers during WWII, which proved decisive in the allied victory of that war.

The village is also well known for its popular pub, the Square and Compass, which holds an annual week-long stone carving festival and accommodates a small museum exhibiting fossils and other local artefacts.

Miscellaneous

• In 2004, local fishermen were targeted with a vicious sabotage campaign by the so-called "Lobster Liberation Front", a fringe animal rights group operating in the area.

• The tombs of Benjamin Jesty, a farmer who is reported to have vaccinated his family against Smallpox having made the same observations as Edward Jenner and a while earlier, but kept quiet about it, and his wife are side by side in the churchyard. Jesty's family may be the first recorded deliberate attempt to induce immunity to Smallpox using Cowpox, or it may have been a more widespread activity prior to its systematisation.

External links

• [Dorset Online Parish Clerks (online parish registers)]
• [Worth Matravers official site] - "a picturesque stone village in the heart of the Purbeck Hills"
• [The Square & Compass] - Review of the Square & Compass from beerintheevening.
• [Square and Compass]- Photo of the Square & Compass and photos from around the UK

References

1. ↑  Office for National Statistics & Dorset County Council, 2001. "[Census data]."

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