Its position on the top of a hill about 80 m (260 ft) high, overlooking the coast from Portland Bill to Bridport, meant that it was a prominent feature for seafarers.

[5] In the 16th century the main abbey buildings were destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries, but the chapel survived, most likely due to its usefulness as a coastal beacon and seamark.

It is notably robust in order to withstand the elements; the walls are 4-foot (1.2 m) thick and supported by stout buttresses, and the roof and even the paneled ceiling are also made of stone.

The high walls and tall parapets were designed to impress, and this sense of splendour is further enhanced by the chapel's lofty position.

Within the interior of the chapel, stained glass windows and details of the roof picked out in bright colours would have been the effect in medieval times.

[5] St Catherine is the patron saint of spinsters[11][better source needed] and virgins, particularly those in search of husbands, and until the late 19th century the chapel had a local tradition where young women of Abbotsbury would 'wish', which involved using the niches provided (one for a knee and two other two holes for the hands) in the east jamb of the south doorway to 'post' prayers and make a wish to the saint asking for her help and aid.

[5] It was St Augustine's policy that his priests, sent out from Rome around 600 AD to convert the English, should replace pagan temples with Christian churches and chapels.

The early Christian missionaries would naturally try to choose a patron saint that continued, as closely as possible, the pagan dedication of the temple, and this chapel was most likely an example of that.