St Oswald's Bay is located near Lulworth on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, England. [1] [2]
The bay has a narrow beach of shingle with high chalk cliffs. The beach is cut off at high tide at the western end. At the eastern end, the descent to the shore is steep and slippery if wet. The beach is isolated with no facilities.
There are sometimes rockfalls and landslides on the cliffs, a particularly large one occurring in April 2013, which resulted in the destruction and closure of part of the South West Coast Path on the clifftop. [3]
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.
The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for 630 miles (1,014 km), running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more challenging trails. The total height climbed has been calculated to be 114,931 ft (35,031 m), almost four times the height of Mount Everest. It has been voted 'Britain's Best Walking route' twice in a row by readers of The Ramblers' Walk magazine, and regularly features in lists of the world's best walks.
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 steam, 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. Although privately owned by the Lulworth Estate, it is 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.
Ringstead Bay, with the small village of Ringstead at the eastern end and the prominent headland of White Nothe at the western end, is located on the coast in Dorset, southern England. The area lies on the Jurassic Coast and is known for its natural environment and fossils.
White Nothe is a chalk headland on the English Channel coast at the eastern end of Ringstead Bay, east of Weymouth in Dorset, England. The area is well known for its geology and fossils. Its flanks are the result of prehistoric landslides and the inaccessible slopes of the undercliff provide a secluded wildlife habitat.
Ringstead is a small village located on the coast in Dorset, southern England. The area lies on the Jurassic Coast and is known for its natural environment and fossils. Ringstead Bay and White Nothe are to the east. Bran Point and Osmington Mills are to the west.
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.
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.
Swyre Head, Lulworth is a hill and sea cliff which lies on the Jurassic Coast between Bat's Head to the west and Durdle Door to the east, close to Lulworth in Dorset, England. It is located approximately 8 miles (12.9 km) east of Weymouth and 14 miles (22.5 km) west of Swanage.
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.
Dungy Head is a coastal promontory located west of Lulworth Cove on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, England. It forms the eastern end of St Oswald's Bay. It is composed of Portland stone strata. The surrounding area is popular for coastal walks, which yield impressive views. Cliff-climbing however is dangerous and not recommended.
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.
Arish Mell is a small embayment and beach between Mupe and Worbarrow Bays in Dorset, England and is part of the Jurassic Coast and the South West Coast Path passes just to the north. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) due south of Lulworth Castle and East Lulworth. The bay is relatively inaccessible because it is within the Lulworth Ranges, an Army tank firing range, and although the Range Walks are open at most weekends and public holidays, there is no public access to the beach and cliffs.
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.