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Dorset Leasing

Did You Know?

Dorset is a county in southwest England. It’s known for the Jurassic Coast, a long stretch on the English Channel where the cliffs contain many fossils, and rock formations show millions of years of geological history. Two prominent natural landmarks are Durdle Door, an ancient stone arch, and the layered cliffs at nearby Lulworth Cove.

The Dorset Naga is grown here and and is counted among the hottest chillis in the world. With an average score of 923,000 Scoville Heat Units, it’s roughly 400 times hotter than Tabasco Sauce and so fiery that protective gloves and a bodysuit have to be worn just to handle it! Actually, we were lying about the bodysuit, but the gloves bit is true.

The oldest post box in England (and still in use today) can be found in Holwell, a picturesque village in Dorset. Commissioned way back in 1853 (making it 166 years old for those who can’t find the calculator app on their phone), this is a rightly revered piece of postal history. It even has Queen Victoria’s initials inscribed in the casing, though rumours that she used it to post a saucy postcard to Prince Albert are so far completely unfounded.

The Celtic translation for “Dorseteschire” apparently means “the place of fisticuffs”. We don’t know the meaning behind that, perhaps they were fond of a gentlemanly boxing match back in the day.

Millenials might not have a clue what we are referring to, but Gold Hill in Shaftesbury Dorset was immortalised by TV Ads for Hovis bread which ran during the early 70s. It’s the one where a delivery boy is seen pushing a bike up the steeply cobbled street to do his deliveries, then free-wheeling all the way down. Remarkably this advert was shot by a young up-and-coming director called Ridley Scott, who later went on to helm masterpieces like "Alien", "Bladerunner", "The Martian" and "Gladiator".

Around Dorset, builders doing renovations of old houses have found the mummified remains of ox hearts with nails in them. This was an ancient practice designed to deter witches; witches were believed to come down the chimney! .

Dorset’s oldest church is over 1000 years old – St Martin’s Church Wareham. It is famous for holding the effigy of Lawrence of Arabia. This effigy was sculpted by Eric Kennington, the official war artist for WW1 and WW2 and was supposed to be placed in St Paul’s Cathedral. T.E. Lawrence proved too politically controversial for St Paul’s, and the effigy was also turned down by Westminster Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral.