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.[1]John Hutchins, author of The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, defined Purbeck's western boundary as the Luckford Lake steam, which runs south from the Frome.[2][3] 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."[4] The most southerly point is St Alban's Head (archaically St. Aldhelm's Head).
From 1974 to 2019, the whole of the Isle of Purbeck lay within the local government district of Purbeck, which was named after it. The district extended significantly further north and west than the traditional boundary of the Isle of Purbeck along the River Frome. Following the abolition of the district on 1 April 2019, the Isle now lies within the Dorset unitary authority area.
In terms of natural landscape areas, the southern part of the Isle of Purbeck and the coastal strip as far as Ringstead Bay in the west, have been designated as National Character Area 136 – South Purbeck by Natural England. To the north are the Dorset Heaths and to the west, the Weymouth Lowlands.[5]
In the past quarrying of limestone was particularly concentrated around the western side of Swanage, the villages of Worth Matravers and Langton Matravers, and the cliffs along the coast between Swanage and St. Aldhelm's Head. The "caves" at Tilly Whim are former quarries, and Dancing Ledge, Seacombe and Winspit are other cliff-edge quarries. Stone was removed from the cliff quarries either by sea, or using horse carts to transport large blocks to Swanage. Many of England's most famous cathedrals are adorned with Purbeck marble, and much of London was rebuilt in Portland and Purbeck stone after the Great Fire of London.
By contrast, the principal ball clay workings were in the area between Corfe Castle and Wareham. Originally the clay was taken by pack horse to wharves on the River Frome and the south side of Poole Harbour. However, in the first half of the 19th century the pack horses were replaced by horse-drawn tramways.[6] With the coming of the railway from Wareham to Swanage, most ball clay was dispatched by rail, often to the Potteries district of Staffordshire.
Quarrying still takes place on Purbeck, with both Purbeck Ball Clay and limestones being transported from the area by road. There are now no functioning quarries of Purbeck Marble. The Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum displays an exhibition about ball clays, mining and the associated narrow gauge railways.
The isle has the highest number of species of native and anciently introduced wild flowers of any area of comparable size in Britain.[7] This is largely due to the varied geology. The species most frequently sought is Early Spider Orchid (Ophrys sphegodes), which in Britain, is most common on Purbeck. Nearly 50,000 flowering spikes were counted in 2009. Late April is the best time, and the largest population is usually in the field to the west of Dancing Ledge. Smaller numbers can be seen on a shorter walk in Durlston Country Park. This orchid is the logo of the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Cowslip meadows (Primula veris and Primula deorum) are at their best shortly afterwards and Durlston Country Park has several large ones.
In early May several woods have carpets of Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum). King's Wood and Studland Wood, both owned by the National Trust, are good examples. At around the same time and later some Downs have carpets of yellow Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) and blue Chalk Milkwort (Polygala calcarea). In late May the field near Old Harry Rocks has a carpet of yellow Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria).
Dorset Heath (Erica ciliaris), the county flower, can be found in July and August in large numbers, especially on and around Hartland Moor, in damper parts of the heathland. Bog Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum) gives displays of yellow flowers there in early July. Marsh Gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe) is found less frequently in similar areas from mid August to mid September.[7]
Human history
A number of Romano-British sites have been discovered and studied on the Isle of Purbeck, including a villa at Bucknowle Farm near Corfe Castle, excavated between 1976 and 1991.[8] The Kimmeridge shale of the isle was worked extensively during the Roman period, into jewellery, decorative panels and furniture.[9]
At the extreme southern tip of Purbeck is St.Aldhelm's Chapel, which is Norman work but built on a pre-Conquest Christian site marked with a circular earthwork and some graves. In 1957, the body of a 13th-century woman was found buried to the north of the chapel, suggesting there may have been a hermitage in the area. In 2000, the whole chapel site was declared a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The precise function of the chapel building is disputed, with suggestions that it may have been a religious retreat, a chantry for the souls of sailors who had drowned off St Aldhelm's Head or even a lighthouse or warning bell to warn sailors. Victorian restoration work of the chapel found signs that a beacon may have adorned the roof. The present cross on the roof is Victorian.
The town of Wareham retains its Saxon earth embankment wall and its churches have Saxon origins. One of these, St Martins-on-the-Walls, was built in 1030 and today contains traces of medieval and later wall paintings.
The village of Corfe Castle is named after the castle that overlooks the village, commanding a strategic gap in the Purbeck Ridge. The present castle dates from after the Conquest of 1066 but may have replaced Saxon work, as the village was where Saxon King Edward the Martyr was murdered in 978. The supposed location of his murder is traditionally on or near the castle mound. Corfe was one of the first English castles to be built in stone, at a time when earth and timber were the norm. This may have been due to the plentiful supply of good building stone on Purbeck.
Sir John Bankes bought the castle in 1635 and was the owner during the English Civil War. His wife, Lady Mary Bankes, led the defence of the castle when it was twice besieged by Parliamentarian forces. The first siege, in 1643, was unsuccessful, but by 1645 Corfe was one of the last remaining royalist strongholds in southern England and fell to a siege ending in an assault. In March that year Corfe Castle was '"slighted" (demolished) on Parliament's orders. Owned by the National Trust, the castle is open to the public. It is protected as a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
A large part of the district is now designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), but a portion of the coast around Worbarrow Bay and the ghost village of Tyneham is still, since December 1943, in the possession of the Ministry of Defence who use it as a training area.[10]Lulworth Ranges are part of the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School at Lulworth Camp. Tanks and other armoured vehicles are used in this area and shells are fired. Due to safety reasons, right of entry is only given when the army ranges are not in operation. Large red flags are flown and flashing warning lamps on Bindon Hill and St Alban's Head are lit when the ranges are in use.[11] At such times the entrance gates are locked and wardens patrol the area.
Swanage, the main town and resort of Purbeck, with the Purbeck Hills in the background.
Studland: This is a seaside village in its own sandy bay. Nearby, lying off-shore from The Foreland (also Handfast Point), are the chalk stacks named Old Harry Rocks: Old Harry and his Wife.
Kimmeridge Bay, with its fossil-rich Jurassic shale cliffs and the oldest continually working oil well in the UK.
Worth Matravers: A village of stone houses around a pond, which is a regular feature on postcards of the Isle of Purbeck.
Related Research Articles
Corfe Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It is the site of a ruined castle of the same name. The village and castle stand over a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The village lies in the gap below the castle and is around four miles (6.4 km) south-east of Wareham, and four miles (6.4 km) north-northwest of Swanage. Both the main A351 road from Lytchett Minster to Swanage and the Swanage Railway thread their way through the gap and the village.
The Studland and Godlingston Heaths NNR is located on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It borders Studland Bay on the south side of Poole Harbour, between the settlements of Swanage and Sandbanks. Extending to 631ha, it is owned and managed by the National Trust following the Bankes bequest of the Kingston Lacy estate. Studland & Godlingston Heath is designated as one of only 35 "spotlight reserves" in England by Natural England in the list of national nature reserves in England and is listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Swanage is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately 6+1⁄4 miles (10 km) south of Poole and 25 miles (40 km) east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 9,601. Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks, with Studland Bay and Poole Harbour to the north. Within the parish are Durlston Bay and Durlston Country Park to the south of the town. The parish also includes the areas of Herston, just to the west of the town, and Durlston, just to the south.
Wareham is a historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles (13 km) southwest of Poole.
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.
Worth Matravers is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The village is situated on the cliffs west of Swanage. It comprises limestone cottages and farm houses and is built around a pond, which is a regular feature on postcards of the Isle of Purbeck.
The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset to Swanage, Dorset, England, opened in 1885 and now operated as a heritage railway.
Wytch Farm is an oil field and processing facility in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England. It is the largest onshore oil field in Western Europe. The facility, taken over by Perenco in 2011, was previously operated by BP. It is located in a coniferous forest on Wytch Heath on the southern shore of Poole Harbour, two miles (3.2 km) north of Corfe Castle. Oil and natural gas (methane) are both exported by pipeline; liquefied petroleum gas is exported by road tanker.
Dorset is a rural county in south west England. Its archaeology documents much of the history of southern England.
Dorset is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. Covering an area of 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi); it borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. The great variation in its landscape owes much to the underlying geology, which includes an almost unbroken sequence of rocks from 200 to 40 million years ago (Mya) and superficial deposits from 2 Mya to the present. In general, the oldest rocks appear in the far west of the county, with the most recent (Eocene) in the far east. Jurassic rocks also underlie the Blackmore Vale and comprise much of the coastal cliff in the west and south of the county; although younger Cretaceous rocks crown some of the highpoints in the west, they are mainly to be found in the centre and east of the county.
Corfe Castle railway station is a railway station located in the village of Corfe Castle, in the English county of Dorset. Originally an intermediate station on the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) branch line from Wareham to Swanage, the line and station were closed by British Rail in 1972. It has since reopened as a station on the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway that runs regularly from Norden station just north of Corfe Castle to Swanage station. The line also connects Wareham and Norden.
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.
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.
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.
Dorset is a county located in the middle of the south coast of England. It lies between the latitudes 50.512°N and 51.081°N and the longitudes 1.682°W and 2.958°W, and occupies an area of 2,653 km2. It spans 90 kilometres (56 mi) from east to west and 63 kilometres (39 mi) from north to south.
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.
References
↑ Hyland, Paul (1978). Purbeck: The Ingrained Island. Victor Gollancz Ltd. p.18. ISBN0-575-02440-2. that the whole Isle of Purbeck is a warren of our lord the King and pertains to his said castle, and it extends from a path which is between Flouresberi and the wood of Wytewey and thence as far as Luggerford, from that to the bridge of Wareham, and so along the sea, in an easterly direction, to a place called the Castle of Stodland; thence by the sea-coast to the chapel of St Aldhalm, and from thence still by the sea-coast towards the west until it again reaches the aforesaid place of Flouresberi. (inquisition taken at Corfe Castle in 1370)
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