Brandy Bay is a small secluded southwest-facing bay, with an oil shale and shingle beach immediately below Gad Cliff and Tyneham Cap, to the east of Worbarrow Bay and to the west of Hobarrow Bay on the south coast of the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, England.
Brandy Bay is located about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) southeast of the ghost village Tyneham, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of Wareham and about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west of Swanage.
Admission to the beach of Brandy Bay is prohibited. Access is solely possible by foot from the South West Coast Path via Hobarrow Bay or by boat. The area around Brandy Bay is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Lulworth Ranges are part of the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School at Lulworth Camp. The Range, which is more than 2,830 hectares (7,000 acres) [1] lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and stretches along the coastline between Lulworth Cove to just west of Kimmeridge. Because tanks and Armoured vehicles are used in this area, safety warnings about explosives and unexploded shells are posted around the area by the MoD, visitors are advised to keep to official footpaths and abide to local site notices. [2]
Brandy Bay once had a Roman settlement, but the name derives from the frequent smuggling activities that were taking place here during the 17th and 18th centuries. [3]
The geology of the Isle of Purbeck is very complex and this is shown very clearly along this stretch of coast. The extreme angular layers of rock seen in the cliffs visibly demonstrate the complex sedimentary folding that affected this area some 30 million years ago. The foldings were caused by the tectonic pressures as the African and European continents collided. During this period, the sediments were twisted horizontally, this is why the younger Cretaceous formations are found further back at the rear of Worbarrow Bay. [4] Brandy Bay lies entirely within the Kimmeridge Clay Formation. Between Brandy Bay and Hobarrow Bay is a wide ledge of the dolomite (Flats Dolomite Bed) which is called Long Ebb. [5]
Kimmeridge is a small village and civil parish on the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula on the English Channel coast in Dorset, England. It is situated about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Wareham and 7 miles (11 km) west of Swanage. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 90.
The Isle of Purbeck is a peninsula in Dorset, England. It is bordered by water on three sides: the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north. Its western boundary is less well defined, with some medieval sources placing it at Flower's Barrow above Worbarrow Bay. According to writer and broadcaster Ralph Wightman, Purbeck "is only an island if you accept the barren heaths between Arish Mell and Wareham as cutting off this corner of Dorset as effectively as the sea." The most southerly point is St Alban's Head.
Purbeck was a local government district in Dorset, England. The district was named after the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula that forms a large proportion of the district's area. However, it extended significantly further north and west than the traditional boundary of the Isle of Purbeck which is the River Frome. The district council was based in the town of Wareham, which is itself north of the Frome.
Tyneham is a ghost village and former civil parish, now in the civil parish of Steeple with Tyneham, in south Dorset, England, near Lulworth on the Isle of Purbeck. In 2001 the civil parish had a population of 0. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 2014 and merged with Steeple to form Steeple with Tyneham.
Hen Cliff is part of the Jurassic Coast near Kimmeridge in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England.
Worbarrow Bay is a large broad and shallow bay just to the east of Lulworth Cove on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England.
Pondfield Cove is a small, secluded, south-facing cove immediately to the east of Worbarrow Tout and west of Gad Cliff on the south coast of the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, England. It is about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Wareham and about 16 kilometres (10 mi) west of Swanage.
Mupe Bay is a bay with a shingle beach to the east of Lulworth Cove in Dorset, England, and is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.
Kimmeridge Bay is a bay on the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula on the English Channel coast in Dorset, England, close to and southeast of the village of Kimmeridge, on the Smedmore Estate. The area is renowned for its fossils, with The Etches Collection in the village of Kimmeridge displaying fossils found by Steve Etches in the area over a 30-year period. It is a popular place to access the coast for tourists. To the east are the Kimmeridge Ledges, where fossils can be found in the flat clay beds.
Cow Corner is the north-western end of Worbarrow Bay, a small secluded bay on the south coast of the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset England.
Flower’s Barrow is an Iron Age hillfort, built over 2500 years ago, above Worbarrow Bay in Dorset on the south coast of England.
The Lulworth Ranges are military firing ranges located between Wareham and Lulworth in Dorset, England. They cover an area of more than 2,830 hectares, are leased in a rolling contract from the Weld Estate by the Ministry of Defence and are part of the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School based at Lulworth Camp. The ranges were established in 1917.
Gad Cliff is a south-facing cliff face, immediately to the east of Worbarrow Tout and Pondfield Cove, on the south coast of the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England. Behind it is Gold Down, part of the Lulworth Ranges.
Hobarrow Bay is a small secluded southwest-facing bay, with an oil shale and shingle beach to the southeast of Brandy Bay and to the southwest of Kimmeridge on the south coast of the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, England.
The Kimmeridge Oil Field is to the northwest of Kimmeridge Bay, on the south coast of the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, England.
Povington Hill, at 198 metres (650 ft) high, is one of the highest points on the chain of the Purbeck Hills in south Dorset on the southern coast of England. Its prominence of 107 metres (351 ft) means it is listed as one of the Tumps, although map sources suggest this honour should go to Ridgeway Hill further east.
Tyneham Cap is a prominent, grassy knoll, 167 metres (548 ft) high, on the South West Coast Path in Dorset, England. It rises above Brandy Bay and has extensive views along the Jurassic Coast across Kimmeridge Bay towards Swyre Head and St Aldhelm's Head to the east, and across Worbarrow Bay to Bindon Hill above Lulworth Cove to the west. It is classified as a TuMP thanks to its local prominence.
Kimmeridge Ledges is a set of Kimmeridge clay ledges stretching out in to the sea on the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula on the English Channel coast in Dorset, England.They are located to the southeast of Kimmeridge Bay and south of the villages of Kimmeridge, on the Smedmore Estate.
Burning Cliff is a cliff under the White Nothe headland at the eastern end of Ringstead Bay, in Dorset, England. The area is well known for its geology and fossils.