Castle · Fortuneswell · Dorset

Portland Castle

Portland Castle is a grade I listed Device Fort. Its place is inside Fortuneswell’s built-up area. It is maintained by English Heritage.

Photo: Portland Castle, Mark.murphy at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Where

In Fortuneswell

inside the built-up area

Run by

English Heritage

a national heritage body

How well known

Top 7%

#525 of 8,556 places we list

Warmest months

May–Oct

highs of 17–22°C

In brief

Castle in Fortuneswell

One of the best-known places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

#525 of the 8,556 museums, castles, gardens and other attractions we list, by how widely it is covered (10 Wikipedias). About ↓

Inside Fortuneswell

Portland Castle is inside Fortuneswell’s built-up area, with 17 more places to visit within 5 km. Towns near it ↓

Cared for by English Heritage

One of the places English Heritage looks after; members usually get in free. About ↓

Scheduled monument

On the official list of protected heritage; Fortuneswell has 78 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, the ONS built-up areas and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

Warm months and wet ones

Highs of 17–22°C mark May to October in Fortuneswell.

Jan10° / 4°83 mm

Feb10° / 4°51 mm

Mar12° / 4°51 mm

Apr14° / 5°45 mm

May18° / 8°45 mm

Jun20° / 11°41 mm

Jul22° / 12°45 mm

Aug22° / 13°44 mm

Sep20° / 12°50 mm

Oct17° / 10°75 mm

Nov14° / 7°85 mm

Dec11° / 5°88 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Fortuneswell, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Fortuneswell. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Fortuneswell’s full climate →

About

Portland Castle

Readers can find it on Wikipedia in 10 languages. Within 15 km there are 33 more places to visit, starting with Maiden Castle (14 km).

Fortuneswell’s listed buildings and monuments →

Type: Castle
Run by: English Heritage
Listed: Scheduled monument
Wikipedias: Covered in 10 languages
Town: in Fortuneswell
Official site: english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/portland-castle

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

The map

Where Portland Castle is

The map centres on Portland Castle, in orange, with nearby places numbered.

Towns near it

Which town is nearest

In size, Weymouth comes first of the 8, with 55,540 people. From nearest to farthest, these towns all list it.

1 · It’s in town

Fortuneswell

4,554 people · 23 places to visit

2 · 1.7 km south of it

Weston

5,208 people · 17 places to visit

3 · 2 km southeast of it

Grove

1,032 people · 16 places to visit

4 · 2.2 km north of it

Weymouth

55,540 people · 26 places to visit

Compare the 8 towns

Town	Where Portland Castle is	People	Places to visit
Fortuneswell	It’s in town	4,554	23
Weston	1.7 km south of it	5,208	17
Grove	2 km southeast of it	1,032	16
Weymouth	2.2 km north of it	55,540	26
Southwell	3.6 km south of it	1,700	16
Chickerell	7.1 km northwest of it	3,973	13
Osmington	9.6 km northeast of it	208	6
Broadmayne	13 km north of it	607	9

Make a day of it

More to see nearby

Within 15 km you can add 3 forts, 3 castles and 2 museums.

Fort · English HeritageMaiden Castle14 km away 2

CastleRufus Castle3.5 km away 3

CastleSandsfoot Castle3.2 km away 4FortFortVerne High Angle Battery1.5 km away 5

MuseumTout Quarry1.7 km away 6

MuseumPortland Museum3.3 km away 7

FortThe Verne Citadel1.2 km away 8

CastlePennsylvania Castle3.5 km away

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Visiting Portland Castle: the answers

Where is Portland Castle?

Portland Castle is in Fortuneswell, Dorset, inside the town’s built-up area.

What is Portland Castle?

Grade I listed Device Fort in Dorset, England, UK.

Who runs Portland Castle?

English Heritage, so members usually get in free; check opening times before you go.

When is the best time to visit Portland Castle?

May to October are the warmest months in Fortuneswell, with afternoon highs of 17–22°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

Is Portland Castle a listed building?

Yes: scheduled monument.

What else is there to see near Portland Castle?

Within 15 km: Maiden Castle (14 km), Rufus Castle (3.5 km), Sandsfoot Castle (3.2 km) and Verne High Angle Battery (1.5 km).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (8)

Portland Castle: Mark.murphy at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Maiden Castle: Major George Allen (1891–1940), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Rufus Castle: Mike Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sandsfoot Castle: Ajsmith141, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Tout Quarry: Ajsmith141, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Portland Museum: Mike Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Verne Citadel: Chris Downer, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Pennsylvania Castle: Mike Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.