Is it legal to collect at Chesil Beach wreck shore?

Permission required. Wreck material found on the beach must be reported to the Receiver of Wreck, the cannon site is protected under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, and beach access from the Portland boundary stone to Abbotsbury is closed 1 April to end of August for nesting birds.

What can you find at Chesil Beach wreck shore?

coins after storms (historically), wreck timbers, cannon site offshore

Explore / Europe / Dorset

Dorset

Chesil Beach wreck shore

Tidal foreshore Documented sitePermission required

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What you could find

Reported finds from this shoreline.

Coins and tokens

Wreck timber

Gold

Also reported: cannon site offshore.

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service, Amy Downes, (CC BY-SA 2.0), NPS photo (Public domain), BLM Alaska (Public domain).

Why this spot

Age-of-sail wrecks including the Dutch ship Hope, lost 1749 with gold and silver specie

The Hope wrecked here in 1749 with about 50,000 pounds in specie and was looted by thousands; an 1826 report says a gale exposed coins and gold and silver bars in the shingle. Offshore, two groups of 17th century cannon form a Protected Wreck.View source →