Chapmans Pool

Chapman's Pool from Emmetts Hill

Chapman's Pool is a small cove to the west of Worth Matravers on the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, England.

Chapman's Pool Lifeboat

In 1866, after much local pressure and because many lives were lost at sea nearby, the decision was made to build a lifeboat station at Chapman's Pool. The station was built and completed during 1867. The lifeboat George Scott was placed at Chapman's Pool in November 1866 but the station soon closed again in 1880^[1] owing to the great expense involved in up keeping the boathouse, the land slips that constantly swept down upon it and because lacking a village nearby, and there being too few local volunteers to serve on the lifeboat. The building still stands and is used as a fishing hut.

Geology

The rocks that form the cove are the upper parts of the Kimmeridge Clay, and are rich in fossils, especially bivalves and ammonites. Most of these fossils are flattened, but three dimensional examples are preserved in the "Rotunda Nodules", including the age-marker ammonite, the coarse-ribbed Pavlovia rotunda. The Jurassic Coast stretches over a distance of 153 kilometres (95 mi), from Orcombe Point near Exmouth, in the west, to Old Harry Rocks on the Isle of Purbeck, in the east ^[2]. The coastal exposures along the coastline provide a continuous sequence of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous rock formations spanning approximately 185 million years of the Earths history. The localities along the Jurassic Coast includes a large range of important fossil zones.

Manganese oxide findings

Manganese Oxide may also be found at the Chapmans Pool site, but does not originate from the Jurassic coast. In amongst the Kimmeridge shale and rock pools, as well as on the shore line, it is still possible to find small bubbley looking lumps of Manganese Oxide which is often mistaken as being formed from the Kimmeridge shale. However, these are the remains of part of the cargo of the Steamship "Treveal" that was wrecked on the Kimmeridge Ledges below Hounstout on January 10, 1920.

Emmetts Hill Memorial

The Royal Marines Association memorial garden at Emmetts Hill was initiated following the IRA attack on the Royal Marines Barracks Deal, home and training centre for the Royal Marines Band Service, in September 1989. The originator and organiser for the project was Colin Dishington, a member of the Dorset Branch of the RMA, since renamed the Poole and District Branch. A suitable site was chosen on an exposed headland looking out over the wild seas of Kimmerage Bay with a view down to Chapmans Pool and along the rugged Jurassic coastline to Portland. The site also overlooks a training area used by the Royal Marines both during WW2 and since, plus it fitted the beauty and tranquillity required for the memorial location. The land, which is within the boundary of the Enscombe estate, was freely given by the then owner David Scott (Lt Col retd) and right of access to the site is written into the deeds of the tenant farmer. lt was decided to add to the initial Deal inscription as it remembered Royal Marines lost in all the conflicts from 1945-1990. In 2005 a new stone was added to remember the ongoing losses of Royal Marines in current conflicts over recent years as they strive to bring peace to our troubled world. A service of dedication was conducted by the Rev W Aires with the stone unveiled by Maj Gen F C Barton CB CBE RM on 19 August 2006. Each year since the unveiling, a service has been conducted by the RMA at the memorial. The calls are sounded by a serving RM Bugler from the RM Band Service. Details of the monument are registered with the lmperial War Museum's Monument section and local guides give reference to it. Access to the site is by footpath from the car park at Renscombe Farm. The original three bar wooden rail fence has been replaced by a Purbeck stone wall to blend in with the stone walls of the area and gives better protection to the garden which is maintained by volunteers from the Poole and District RMA. As the site is on the main coastal path many people pause to reflect at the memorial or as a resting point on their walk to enjoy the views. The ashes of RMA members have also been scattered in the monument gardens and the families of those lost and resting elsewhere often visit the site, a truly peaceful and fitting memorial to the Members of the Royal Marines family who have given their lives since WW2.

See also

• List of places on the Jurassic Coast
• List of Dorset beaches
• Jurassic Coast

References

1. ^ Denton, Tony (2009). Handbook 2009. Shrewsbury: Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. p. 59. 
2. ^ "Dorset and East Devon Coast". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 2001. http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=1029. Retrieved 2007-01-14. 

Gallery

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  View across the cove to Hounstout

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  Crushed ammonite fossil on the beach

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  Panoramic view of the cove

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  The cove from the west

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  Shale beach and cliffs

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  The cove from Hounstout cliff

External links

• Ian West's Geology of the Wessex Coast Field Guide, including photographs
• National Coastwatch Institution St Alban's Head Website

Coordinates: 50°35′37″N 2°03′52″W / 50.59348°N 2.06440°W / 50.59348; -2.06440