West Bay Visit: Parking, Broadchurch Cliff and Dog Rules

West Bay is Bridport’s harbour village, a mile and a half south of the town at the mouth of the River Brit, and the place most people picture when they hear “Broadchurch”: the sheer golden face of East Cliff rising straight off the beach. It packs a working harbour, two shingle beaches, the Jurassic Coast and a row of fish and chip kiosks into a few hundred metres, which is why it fills up on any sunny weekend.

This page covers where to park and when the car parks lock, the rules for dogs on each beach, and what you need to know about the cliffs, which fall far more often than most visitors realise. Parking and dog rules are from Dorset Council’s pages, read on 25 October 2026.

Parking at West Bay

Dorset Council runs three car parks in West Bay. All take cash, card and the JustPark app, and charges apply 8am to 6pm, every day.

Two things catch people out. West Bay Road and Station Yard are locked overnight, so a long pub dinner can leave your car shut in until 8am. And Station Yard and The George switch to lower winter charges from 1 November, so an autumn or winter visit costs noticeably less than a summer one. Current tariffs are on each car park’s page on Dorset Council’s find a car park service. For the rest of the county, see our guide to parking in Dorset.

On a hot summer weekend, West Bay Road fills by late morning. Arrive before 10am, or come after 6pm, when parking is free until the gates lock, for an evening on the beach.

The beaches, and where dogs can go

West Bay has three beaches, split by the harbour:

• East Beach, east of the harbour, the long shingle beach under East Cliff.
• West Beach, west of the harbour, a shingle beach backed by the promenade.
• A third stretch further west, separated from West Beach by a large rock groyne.

Dorset Council’s dog rules set out who can go where:

So from 1 October dogs are back on both main beaches until the end of April. In summer, walk your dog along the harbour on a lead or head west past the groyne. For the summer rules on every Dorset beach, and the beaches with no ban at all, see our guide to dog-friendly beaches in Dorset. The council is also consulting on changes to the rules from 2027, which we cover in our dog beach rules consultation piece.

East Cliff: the Broadchurch cliff, and why it keeps falling

East Cliff is the cliff from ITV’s Broadchurch, and the reason so many people come. It is Bridport Sandstone, soft, layered rock that the sea undercuts at the base and the rain loosens from the top. It falls regularly, sometimes in huge pieces:

• March 2019: about 1,000 tonnes came down in strong winds. The beach and the coast path between West Bay and Freshwater were closed, and the council warned of overhangs at the top of the cliff.
• August 2023: after Storm Antoni, a large fall sent rock onto the beach close to people on the sand, and the coast path above was closed, with an expected closure of about six months.
• January 2024: three large falls were reported in the West Bay area in the same period.

Dorset Council’s message after each fall has been the same: rockfalls and landslips can happen at any time, including at low tide and in fine weather. The practical rules:

1. Do not sit or stand at the base of the cliff. Stay well out on the beach; a fall can throw rock a long way out across the shingle.
2. Keep back from the cliff edge on the coast path. The top can be undercut and overhanging even where the grass looks solid.
3. Never climb on fresh fall debris. It is unstable, and more rock can follow the first fall.
4. Check tide times before walking east along the foot of the cliffs towards Burton Bradstock, so a rising tide does not leave you with no way back except under the cliff.
5. Obey closure signs and cordons. They are put up after falls, and the path above may be diverted inland.

If you want the view without the risk, walk up onto East Cliff on the South West Coast Path from the harbour and look back west along the coast, keeping well back from the edge.

The harbour

West Bay is officially Bridport Harbour, and a harbour here is recorded as far back as 1275. It was built to ship out Bridport’s rope and nets, and it has moved more than once: from a site inland, to beside East Cliff, then to where it is today. The tall west pier, the Jurassic Pier, opened in 2004 as part of a coastal defence and harbour scheme completed in the winter of 2004 to 2005, built to stop the southerly swell that used to make the harbour unusable on many days of the year.

Today it is a working and leisure harbour, with fishing boats moored inside the piers and the kiosks and cafés around the edge selling fish and chips and fresh seafood.

Getting around and what is nearby

• Bridport is a mile and a half inland, a market town with a Wednesday and Saturday street market. You can walk there along the River Brit.
• Golden Cap, the highest point on England’s south coast, is a few miles west. Our Golden Cap walk guide covers the routes and parking.
• Chesil Beach starts east of Burton Bradstock and runs to Portland; see our Chesil Beach visit guide.

For more ideas across the county, see things to do in Dorset.

Frequently asked questions

Where do you park at West Bay? Dorset Council’s West Bay Road car park, DT6 4EL, is the largest with 438 spaces. Station Yard, DT6 4EW, has 106 and The George, DT6 4EY, has 17 with a three-hour limit. West Bay Road and Station Yard are locked from 10pm to 8am.

Are dogs allowed on West Bay beach? On East Beach and West Beach, only from 1 October to 30 April. The beach beyond the rock groyne west of West Beach has no restriction, and dogs can walk round the harbour all year, on a lead from 1 May to 1 October.

Is West Bay where Broadchurch was filmed? Yes. The sandstone East Cliff and the beach below it are the setting most associated with ITV’s Broadchurch, and the reason the cliff is often called the Broadchurch cliff.

Is it safe to walk under East Cliff at West Bay? Keep well away from the base. Large falls happened in 2019 and 2023, and Dorset Council warns rockfalls can happen at any time, even at low tide. Stay out on the open beach and obey any closure signs.

Is parking free at West Bay in the evening? At West Bay Road and Station Yard parking is free from 6pm until the car park locks at 10pm. At The George it is free from 6pm to 8am.

How far is West Bay from Bridport? About a mile and a half south of the town centre, at the mouth of the River Brit. You can walk it on the path beside the river.