A small port on the river Brit, noted from the earliest period for its hempen manufactures. Its staple productions are twine, fishing nets, and canvas, and much hemp for the purpose is grown. “He was stabbed with a Bridport dagger” was an old saying for a man that was hung.
This place has, within the last few years, made rapid strides in the march of improvement. The Beacon Hill is covered with buildings, and the Parade is stretching away right and left, with no visible signs, hitherto, of limitation.
A small parliamentary borough, and the capital of Dorsetshire, in a pretty part of the South Downs, at the termination of the South Western railway, 141 miles from London.