"What is the best way to regenerate a derelict and hard-to-reach chunk of English history when it is marooned in an incredibly sensitive marine habitat of international importance?"

FORTRESS PORTLAND

Isolation, insularity and local distinctiveness.

The Isle of Portland is a four and a half mile long limestone outcrop which has provided the material for some of the world's most famous monuments. St Paul's Cathedral in London, the markers for the Mason and Dixon line in the USA, and countless war memorials across Europe are all made of stone from the island's quarries. Portland protrudes into the English Channel at a point on the South Coast directly opposite Cherbourg in France. The isle is tethered to the mainland by a tapering spit of shingle known as the Chesil. Between Portland and the mainland is a natural harbour of nearly 2,000 acres of sheltered water protected by massive breakwaters. The harbour is a unique feature of the south coast and is of immense ecological value comparable to a Scottish sea loch.

Portland's supply of workable stone and its fortress character ensured that it was one of Britain's earliest settlements. Traces of human occupation date back 7,000 years to the Neolithic period. Bronze, Iron Age and Roman settlers have all left their mark. The Dorset writer Thomas Hardy set his 1897 novel The Well-Beloved on Portland and he described the islanders as "a curious and almost distinctive people cherishing strange beliefs and singular customs". Portlanders were known for their distrust of "foreigners" and for their island solidarity. They had a special term for mainlanders who they called "kimberlins", an ancient dialect word for unwelcome strangers. Rocks were thrown at unwanted visitors as they tried to cross to the island. As well as the stone industry, Portland boasts its own peculiar varieties of sheep and potato, and it once had a breed of web-footed dog that was trained to retrieve goods from shipwrecks. In 1869 the Royal National Lifeboat Institution set up a station in nearby Weymouth to save the lives of the sailors - leaving the dogs to retrieve the often valuable cargoes.

THE CYBERPORT

Isolation as advantage

The essence of the Cyberport concept is to create a futuristic commercial environment that serves the communication needs of government, corporations, the local community, digital publishers and interactive TV stations. The Cyberport will transform a derelict huddle of buildings into a multimedia centre of excellence for the 21st century. It will nurture a wellpool of skills intellectual, scientific and artistic which can service national and international markets thirst for information and knowledge. It will also be a visitor attraction and an educational and research resource capable of serving students of all ages and levels.

Such a project fits Portland's geography, history and culture because it turns difficult local characteristics to its own advantage rather than seeing them as problems merely to be overcome. Although the forts were originally built to repel people, the Cyberport will attract them, but not in terms of heavy footfall. Indeed, the development is in line with modern tourism trends in seeking open access for all but limiting environmental trauma by restricting actual access to the specialised few. Geographical isolation, and the arduousness of actually getting there, is a virtue. Inaccessibility makes the place interesting, it offers a rare environment to the actual visitor and it is easily circumvented by the virtual visitor. You won't need to be here to go here and use the facilities.

The Cyberport's spectacular natural setting offers repose after the rigours of work on electronic screens, it also has commercial potential for its recreational possibilities. It is expected that people using the site will divide into four main categories; resident staff, day visitors on training courses, research or recreational pursuits, casual visitors and the virtual visitors using on-line services. Commercial proposals under consideration for the site include the following: -

A digital library. This new concept in data management and storage has the potential to cover a wide range of subjects. Finance will be obtained through direct commissions from leading corporations and sponsors and through the sale of stored information. Clients will access the library via the Internet or other interactive media system and then be charged micro-payments under the new e-cash system currently being developed by the world banks.

Facility house. The digital library will require the installation of advanced equipment and multimedia design and production companies will be able to share these facilities.

Interactive TV centre. The Cyberport will provide graduates and other students with the opportunity to extend their education and a variety of training courses will be offered.

Other uses may include residential and guest accommodation, a restaurant with access to some of the best fish and shellfish in Britain, possibly mooring facilities for visitors, plus an environmental interpretation and visitor centre. Commercial partners would be sought to establish these ventures. From his years of experience in the international multimedia market, Tymn Lintell is convinced that this venture will attract backing from leading business organisations. The managing company plans to acquire a lease on the buildings, undertake repairs and conversion work and operate the centre. A core staff will be retained and some personnel will be resident in order to run the enterprise. Other staff may be seconded from national and international firms and research bodies.

BUILDINGS AND SITE DESCRIPTION

The breakwaters and the two forts are historic buildings in their own right and are all English Heritage Grade II listed. For discussion purposes they may be spilt into two entities consisting on one hand of the breakwaters, lesser fort and associated buildings, and on the other, the main Breakwater Fort and ancillary buildings.

1. The breakwaters. There are actually two breakwaters - the Inner and Outer - separated by the gap of the South, or Hood, Channel. The Inner breakwater, begun in 1849 and completed in 1872, has a pier 40m long and brick storage chambers. At the north east end is a smaller fort, the Inner Pierhead Fort, which was completed in 1866 and is also Grade II listed. The Inner Pierhead Fort is filled with debris and rubbish but the original form is remarkably intact.

Across the South Channel is the Outer Breakwater, a major construction begun in about 1852 and completed in 1872. It too has an inner pier and a fort at the far northern end.

This is the Breakwater Fort.

2. The Breakwater or Chequered Fort lies at the end of the Outer Breakwater, more than a mile from land. Completed in about 1882, it was originally designed as a granite structure, but was later clad in three thicknesses of armour plating each 15cms thick and given a bomb-proof concrete-capped iron roof. The structure is 60m in diameter and could once have accommodated 150 men. Nowadays the fort is damp inside and prone to minor leaks but many of the original fixtures and fittings survive including slatted timber floors, pegs for hanging clothes and shell hoists. Nearby is a cluster of other structures including officers' housing, latrines, a cookhouse with range, and an engine room with generator. These buildings are in a poor state of repair.

Detailed records and drawings of the forts and breakwaters exist. Research was undertaken by Keystone Historic Buildings Consultants of Exeter for Weymouth and Portland Borough Council in 1993. A further, up-to-date review is now necessary.

HISTORY

The breakwaters and forts are a tremendous feat of Victorian engineering. In their time they were state-of-the-art defences. The first stone on the Inner Breakwater was laid in 1849 by Queen Victoria's consort Prince Albert and the final touches to the Outer were overseen by his son Albert, Prince of Wales in 1872. The whole edifice was built up from the seabed using nearly six million tons of Portland stone hewn by hand and manhandled into place by convict labour from the nearby prison. It has been calculated that the same amount of stone could build a wall 30m high 12m thick and five miles long.

During their construction the breakwaters were a huge tourist attraction. Wooden walkways were established alongside so that sightseers could promenade up and down taking the air and admiring the prisoners at work. One unfortunate lady caught her crinoline under the wheel of a stone truck and was dragged to her death. Nine fathoms underwater, divers laboured in cumbersome suits of leather, rubber and copper and one of the first diving bells was deployed. The arrival in the harbour in 1859 of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's steamship the Great Eastern added to the excitement.

Portland's fortifications were soon superseded by new technology in the shape of the torpedo. The breakwaters and their forts, like the last medieval castles before gunpowder, are superb examples of defence at the very end of a particular era. In the early 20th century the navigation light on top of the Breakwater Fort was replaced by a new lighthouse on the opposite breakwater and a modern weapons system including searchlights was installed in it's place. The forts were used during the First World War and played a part in defending the harbour during the Second World War preparations for D-Day. New buildings were added during these years. After World War II the forts were closed and the area was absorbed into the expanding Naval Base. The breakwaters and forts remained Navy property until the base closed in 1996 and the harbour area was handed over to the private company Portland Port Ltd, a subsidiary of Langham Industries, which has a range of worldwide shipping and marine engineering interests.

Closure of the Navy Base plunged Portland into gloom - jobs were lost and many people moved into less well-paid or secure employment. Estimates suggest that the local economy was depleted by £45million a year. The area has since attracted UK Government money and European funding for regeneration. A partnership has been formed between local councils and interested businesses and organisations with the intention of making the area into a European centre of excellence in a range of industries.

THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT: GIFTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Any development of the breakwater forts and their surrounding buildings raises tricky environmental issues. The site is too remote to rely on mainland services for fresh water, sewerage and power so must find sustainable, non-polluting ways to cope with its energy needs.

Pollution would be particularly unacceptable because the harbour water is exceptionally pure and supports a unique ecosystem. Most of the area is classified as Class A - the highest grade - under the British Food Safety (Live Bivalve Molluscs and Other Shellfish) Regulations of 1992. This means that shellfish from the harbour can be taken for human consumption without further treatment. Very few British coastal waters are judged to be so clean.

The purity of Portland Harbour water has helped to make it an ecologically rich area of international importance which shelters many rare and interesting marine species. In 1993 English Nature identified the harbour as one of the UK's most valuable natural habitats. Construction of the breakwaters during the last century has served to accentuate what was already a long-established, natural feature of the coast. Portland Harbour's unique marine ecosystem relies upon an unusual combination of deep water and deep mud with a complex tidal pattern. English Nature says this has created an environment comparable to a Scottish sea loch, with the significant difference that the water off the South Coast of England is warmer. The harbour lies on the dividing line between the warm Atlantic currents and the cold waters of the North Sea and much of the marine life found here exists at the limit of its geographic range.

This exceptional marine habitat shelters its own distinct species. The Portland bristle worm, red band fish and the sea pen are incredibly rare elsewhere around the UK but are relatively common in the harbour. Even more distinctive is the black-faced blenny which lives and breeds on the breakwaters. It used to be thought that this little fish occurred only in Portland Harbour. In recent years a few specimens have been found further along the Dorset coast but the breakwaters remain its stronghold and main breeding ground.

Wildlife and plantlife are equally abundant and distinctive above the water line. The whole coastline around the harbour is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and the area attracts many uncommon species of migratory birds. Next to the harbour on the other side of the Chesil bank is the Fleet Lagoon, recognised by the EU for its marine species, habitat and shorelife. The Fleet and the Chesil are of great importance for migratory wildfowl and are notified as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. Portland harbour acts as a conduit for species such as sea bass which breed in the lagoon and then make their way to the open sea via the harbour. While research has been carried out on the creatures of the Fleet, relatively little is known about the species inhabiting the harbour. Provision of on-site research facilities at the Cyberport could make a valuable contribution to the study and conservation of the Earth's biodiversity in rare habitats.

The Cyberport's location gives it a vast educational and research potential. Portland as a whole is part of the Jurassic Coast Project and in the centre of an area likely to soon achieve World Heritage Site status for its geology. The Dorset coast is recognised as being of international importance because it shows an almost complete North European sedimentary record of 200 million years of the Earth's history during the Jurassic Period. The richness of the fossil record alone has brought the coast international recognition in the 200 years since the birth of Mary Anning, the Dorset woman who uncovered the first plesiosaur at Lyme Regis. Under the umbrella of the Dorset Coastal Forum, the Jurassic Coast Project is already developing new, sustainable tourism for the county. High quality educational materials are being produced for teachers and students and there is a demand for an on-site resource centre which can be accessed by the Internet and provide digital images for a range of educational purposes. This is an established need which Cyberport and its digital library could cater for.

BUT WHO WANTS TO SIT ON A WAVE-LASHED ROCK GAZING OUT TO SEA?

Portland Harbour offers recreational activities of a national standard. The harbour is one of the UK's best sites for diving, sailing, sailboarding and bird-watching. The breakwaters' position make them an ideal point of controlled access for all these leisure activities.

Sailing and sailboarding: The prevailing wind is south westerly and comes in over the Chesil Bank, picking up speed before blowing across the calm water of the harbour creating perfect conditions for sailboarding. The harbour is deep enough for large sailing vessels and the Portland promontory would provide an ideal standpoint for viewing sailing races - just as it once formed a grandstand for the crowds who came in the 16th century to watch the Royal Navy do battle with the Spanish Armada. The harbour has the potential to become a high-class marina attracting yachts and pleasure craft from the English Channel and there are hopes that the Americas Cup may be held here.

Diving: More than 10,000 individual divers use the harbour every year making it one of the most popular diving sites in the UK. Much of the activity takes place around the breakwaters as divers explore the wrecks lying in this part of the water, including the redundant battleship HMS Hood which was scuttled in 1914 to block the channel between the Inner and Outer breakwaters. The Cyberport could relay live footage of wrecks and undersea life over the Internet and provide useful information to divers. Local tourist officers say that prospective divers often ask what their families can do while they are diving - the Cyberport could provide a variety of answers.

Bird-watching: Spring and autumn migrations bring many interesting species of bird to the harbour. The breakwaters themselves have been used as a nesting site for the rare roseate tern which is globally threatened with extinction and has only one or two known nesting sites throughout the UK. Black-necked grebes favour an area below Sandsfoot Castle and large concentrations of red-breasted mergansers nest along the beach near to the former air station. Divers and sea ducks all overwinter in the harbour waters. Dedicated bird-watchers already make good use of Portland Bill Bird Observatory.

The Cyberport's on-line services could relay information and pictures to ornithologists across the world.

FIRST STEPS

This is a project which aims to use community involvement productively, not as an end in itself but as a motor to drive development forward. Public awareness and involvement will be stimulated from the very beginning through the Cyberport's ongoing website which will draw in experts and enthusiasts from across the globe and get them to participate. The process of restoration and work will create an attraction in itself and shape the eventual end-product. The idea is to let the project grow organically through public interest and demand. This means flexible planning which at all stages allows for changes and adaptations in response to public need. As a part of the Feasibility study, three first steps are being suggested to get the project started.

Stage one may be to establish funding and use local stonemasonry skills to grade and level part of the breakwater to create a Millennium Mile. This promenade would echo the original Victorian walkway which drew so many crowds when the breakwaters were being built. As well as providing a visually stunning place to walk it would add to the character of the Dorset coast by offering a satisfying aesthetic counterbalance to the famous Cobb wall and promenade across the water on the other side of Lyme Bay at Lyme Regis. History could be further reflected by carving a timeline recording events from the Jurassic Period to the present day into the stone pavement.

Stage two might well be to start a revenue stream flowing by establishing a small teashop or visitor centre next to the promenade. The visitor centre could interpret the breakwaters' fascinating history and display additional material about Portland contributed by local people.

Stage three would be to secure a weatherproof site office and start work on conversion and restoration.

In March 1999 the last stage of Navy withdrawal was completed with the closure of the Air Station near to the breakwaters. As a result, English Heritage is further promoting Portland Castle which lies west of the breakwater. Boat trips are being run from Weymouth across the harbour to the castle. There is an opportunity here to include the breakwaters in any such trip. Visitors could be brought to the site without the need for car parking. Development of the Cyberport and Millennium Mile would rely heavily on transportation by sea given the limited car parking available nearby. This may not be a problem - Hurst Castle at Keyhaven in Hampshire is a fine example of a popular monument which can be reached only by a considerable walk on foot, or by ferry.

Alternatively, a dramatic new footbridge could be created across the Hood channel, giving direct access from the Port area.

SUMMARY

The Cyberport is a chance to experiment in the creation of a permanently open leisure attraction which also has a genuine business and economic purpose. Sponsorship from major companies could make this a centre of excellence for multimedia information and revitalise a deprived area. The opportunity to try out new methods and technologies in what could become a kind of media laboratory could give the Cyberport a national influence on the way we live, work and communicate.

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