Portland Castle — Attraction in Portland

Really Unique and Intriguing Castle situated on the Isle of Portland near Weymouth, Dorset. The Castle is really unique in the sense that it was built as a garrison castle and more of a defence by King Henry VIII in the Tudor Times to defend against enemy attacks from foreign invaders and was never lived in unless by garrison troops and has been defended through different stages of history. The Castle itself is amazingly fully intact and not a ruin which is remarkable in itself due to its use as a defence strategic landmark. There are informative information boards detailing the history of the castle and the people along with the garrison troops who stayed there when the Castle needed to be defended. There is an audio guide, which you can pick up from the shop upon entry and the audio guide is really enjoyable and enthralling as it gives an informative overview of the History of the Castle and each of the rooms you go into. There is a small garden onside which as a nice subtropical feel to it and there are spectacular views across towards Weymouth Harbour and also the Jurassic Coastline, which is breathtaking and picturesque. There is a small tearoom offering refreshments at affordable prices and also a gift shop with an array of souvenirs on offer to buy. The average visit time to the site is approx. 1hr 30 minutes and in that time you take in plenty and also see plenty. Overall this is a really good English Heritage Property to spend some time at and also learn about...

Portland Castle is a lovely English Heritage site. It has paid entrance fees, although there are discounts for students and other concessions.

The castle itself is more of a gunpowder store and gun emplacement/fort than a full-blown castle, and as such it doesn’t take a long time to view everything - I would suggest approximately 45 minutes to an hour for the historical aspects.

Standing on the battlements gives you a wonderful view of the channel. It’s easy to understand why this particular location was chosen for the castle. However, give the size, this isn’t necessarily a site to visit if the weather is poor - as it is on the coast, and a large portion is outdoors, it might not be so much fun if it’s raining!

Given its history, I would highly recommend the (free) audio guide. It goes into more detail than the signage located around the site, and provides more context about how the castle was used throughout its history.

The site also has a standard English Heritage shop and cafe. I had a cream the whilst I was visiting and the scones were lovely - exactly what I needed after a walk around the site!

As you enter/leave there is also a small garden which is inside the walls - this is lovely in the summer/warm weather and provides a nice place to go for a walk or look around if you are visiting with others who may still be looking at things inside.

There is car parking on site, however there is a small...

We have recently become members of English Heritage and took our young grandson to Portland Castle where we found first class customer service. We were welcomed on arrival by a very bubbly friendly Hazel who could not do enough for us and likewise Wez who welcomed us to the castle along with our Cockerpoo dog! Our 6 year old grandson enjoyed the cannons and loved the kitchen and had a lovely time well worth a visit.

After getting home we realised that our grandson had lost his favourite teddy, he was incredibly upset. We phoned and asked if it had been dropped in the carpark and they very kindly went into the carpark to see if he was there. It was with great pleasure that he was found there! Wes asked for our email address and sent some amazing pictures of what “Tigery” had been up to. These pictures included him perched on the cannon, looking at the views and a lovely selfie with Hazel and Wes! Our grandson was so happy that he had been found and was delighted to see what he had been up too! They also offered to post him back to us recorded delivery. I can’t tell you how lovely it is to experience such amazing customer service and you both really went above and...