The Anchor Inn

“Almost on the beach”

LOCATION

CHIDEOCK, DORSET

Recommended by
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Awards
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Book Direct

Our View

Locals know it as the ‘sea town of Chideock’, although to call a pub and a few cottages a town is perhaps a bit ambitious. This former smugglers’ haunt lies on a long shelving pebble beach, part of the Jurassic Coast, surrounded by National Trust land. It’s separated from the waves by the South West Coast Path as it drops down to sea level from Golden Cap, the highest point on England’s south coast. A large sun terrace and cliffside beer garden overlooking Lyme Bay help to make the Anchor a popular destination, but there’s a good-size car park, just as the road morphs into shingle. Filled rolls, meat and veggie platters are on the menu alongside a selection of fresh fish (on the specials board), a Smuggler's Burger and steak. Desserts are tempting or try the local cheese board. Real ales are all from Palmers of Bridport.

Awards, accolades & Welcome Schemes

award
AA Pick of the Pubs
The Anchor Inn
Seatown, CHIDEOCK, DT6 6JU

Features

About the area

Discover Dorset

Dorset means rugged varied coastlines and high chalk downlands. Squeezed in among the cliffs and set amid some of Britain’s most beautiful scenery is a chain of picturesque villages and seaside towns. Along the coast you’ll find the Lulworth Ranges, which run from Kimmeridge Bay in the east to Lulworth Cove in the west. Together with a stretch of East Devon, this is Britain’s Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, noted for its layers of shale and numerous fossils embedded in the rock. Among the best-known natural landmarks on this stretch of the Dorset coast is Durdle Door, a rocky arch that has been shaped and sculpted to perfection by the elements. The whole area has the unmistakable stamp of prehistory.

Away from Dorset’s magical coastline lies a landscape with a very different character and atmosphere, but one that is no less appealing. Here, winding, hedge-lined country lanes lead beneath lush, green hilltops to snug, sleepy villages hidden from view and the wider world. The people of Dorset are justifiably proud of the achievements of Thomas Hardy, its most famous son, and much of the county is immortalised in his writing. 

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