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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 (7,000 acres), [1] 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. [2] The ranges were established in 1917. [3]
The ranges are about 10 km (6 mi) west of Swanage and about 15 km (9 mi) east of Dorchester. They lie within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and stretches along the coastline between the east of Lulworth Cove to just west of Kimmeridge. The coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [4] The range includes the ghost village of Tyneham, deserted in 1943 and abandoned permanently following its compulsory purchase by the Army in 1948.
The ranges are used for static and mobile live-firing practice by tanks and other armoured vehicles. The ranges are cleared for use by tank main armament and other vehicle-mounted heavy weapons.
Lulworth Ranges has an electrically powered rail targetry system which is visible on Google Earth and from the surrounding hills. The railway consists of a four track shed on a short branch, which is connected to a small within a large loop.
For safety reasons, access to the public is only permissible when the 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. [5] At such times the entrance gates are locked and wardens patrol the area.
Access to the area is by foot either via the South West Coast Path or from the car parks at Lulworth Castle, Tyneham, Ridgeway Hill and Povington Hill. The range walks and coast path are open most weekends and some weekdays. [6]
The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about 96 miles (154 km), and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-December 2001.
Lulworth Cove is a cove near the village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, southern England. The cove is one of the world's finest examples of such a landform, and is a World Heritage Site and tourist location with approximately 500,000 visitors every year, of whom about 30 per cent visit in July and August. It is close to the rock arch of Durdle Door and other Jurassic Coast sites.
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. John Hutchins, author of The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, defined Purbeck's western boundary as the Luckford Lake stream, which runs south from the Frome. 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.
Durdle Door is a natural limestone arch on the Jurassic Coast near Lulworth in Dorset, England. It is privately owned by the Weld family, who own the Lulworth Estate, but it is also open to the public.
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 abandoned in 1943 and former civil parish, now in the parish of Steeple with Tyneham, in the Dorset district, in the south of 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.
Bindon Hill is an extensive Iron Age earthwork enclosing a coastal hill area on the Jurassic Coast near Lulworth Cove in Dorset, England, about 19 kilometres (12 mi) west of Swanage, about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south west of Wareham, and about 17 kilometres (11 mi) south east of Dorchester. It is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Bovington Camp is a British Army military base in Dorset, England. Together with Lulworth Camp it forms part of Bovington Garrison.
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.
Castlemartin Training Area is a British Army military training area and armoured fighting vehicle range located in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire. It was originally established for tank training by the Royal Armoured Corps in 1938. The training area is located within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, on the South Pembrokeshire coast.
Flower’s Barrow is an Iron Age hillfort, built over 2500 years ago, above Worbarrow Bay in Dorset on the south coast of 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.
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.
Ridgeway Hill, also referred to as Grange Hill or Steeple Hill, is the third highest point of the Purbeck Hills in the county of Dorset standing at 199 metres (653 ft), is one of the only hills with a prominence of over a hundred metres, HuMPs, in the county. Near the top of the hill is an 18th-century folly known as Grange Arch, built by the former owner of Creech Grange, Denis Bond. On the eastern spur of the hill is Stonehill Down which is now a nature reserve. There are also good views of Swyre Head on the Jurassic Coast.
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.
St Mary's Church is a former Church of England parish church in Tyneham, Dorset, England. The church, which is a Grade II listed building, has 13th-century origins, with later additions, alterations and restorations. It is now under the care of the Ministry of Defence and is used as a museum and monument.
Tyneham House is a ruined Elizabethan detached house, located in Tyneham, Dorset, England. It was built by Henry Williams between 1563 and 1583 and was for over 250 years occupied by the Bond family, who were the landowners of Tyneham. The house, which was once a scheduled monument, became fell into dereliction after Tyneham was requisitioned and evacuated by the War Office in 1943. The Army partially demolished the house in 1968 and some of its stone and features were salvaged for use elsewhere in the county. The remaining ruins are out of bounds to the public.