Come in, sirs, you may venture;
For here is entertainment good
For churchman or dissenter."
In 1902 a commemoration tablet was placed on the house. Similar tablets have been placed on Ellesdon Farm, the George Inn (now a shop), Bridport, and on the George Inn, Broadwindsor, at each of which Charles II. took refreshment or a night's lodgment during his passage through Dorset.
Two lanes, one turning off near the top of the straight descent, and one just below the church, lead in a few minutes to the sea. The beach is sand, shingle and rock, and supports a coastguard station, bathing machines and a few fishing-boats which are launched from the beach. There are cliffs on each side of the bay, and here the Char, "a small, irregular, alder-fringed, playful river, full of strange fish such as inland streams yield not," mingles very modestly with the sea. The river rises under Lewesdon and Pilesdon, about six miles distant in a direct line. Three miles north of Charmouth is Corrie Castle (King's Castle), supposed to have been the camp of Egbert when he fought with the Danes.
The cliffs at Charmouth exhibit a fine section of the strata and abound in interesting fossil remains. These include the bones of those colossal reptiles the ichthyosaurus and plesiosaurus, of the pterodactyl, and numerous fish; and, among other shells, those of the ammonite and belemnite, which are found in great quantities on Golden Cap. The lias contains much bituminous matter and iron pyrites, which have frequently taken fire after heavy rains. At a bed of gravel near the mouth of the river the remains of an elephant and rhinoceros have been discovered.
The tourist must look for the relic of the "Queen's Head" next above a chapel and opposite the picturesque George Inn. I think that the quiet folk who occupy the genuine inn where the king stopped must often breathe mild maledictions over the heads of inquisitive pilgrims who peep and peer into their windows, and I suspect that they have begged mine host of the George to claim for his house the honour of sheltering Charles Stuart from the troops. At all events the George is pointed out to the visitor as the great historical attraction, in spite of the fact that it was built long after the time King Charles was in hiding in Dorset.