Isle of Purbeck
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Corfe_Castle_and_Greyhound_Inn_Dorset_England.jpg/220px-Corfe_Castle_and_Greyhound_Inn_Dorset_England.jpg)
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 stream, 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
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]
Geology
The geology of the Isle is complex. It has a
In the past quarrying of limestone was particularly concentrated around the western side of
By contrast, the principal ball clay workings were in the area between
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.
Wild flowers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Ophrys_sphegodes_flowers.jpg/200px-Ophrys_sphegodes_flowers.jpg)
The isle has the highest number of species of native and anciently introduced
In early May several woods have carpets of Wild Garlic (
Blue and white flowers of
Dorset Heath (
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
Geography
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2022) |
A large part of the district is now designated as an
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Swanage_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6609.jpg/220px-Swanage_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6609.jpg)
Other places of note are:
- Swanage, at the eastern end of the peninsula, is a seaside resort. At one time it was linked by a branch railway line from Wareham; this was closed in 1972, but has now partially reopened as the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway.
- 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.
- Poole Harbour is popular with bird watchers, windsurfers and yachters; it contains Brownsea Island, the site of the first-ever Scout camp.
- Corfe Castle is in the centre of the isle, overlooking Corfe Castle village.
- preparatory schools; the last of these, The Old Malthouse School, closed in 2007.
- 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.
References
- ISBN 0-575-02440-2.in 1370)
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
- ISBN 978-0-85409-854-5.
- ^ Carlisle, Nicholas (1808). A Topographical Dictionary of England ...: L–Z. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme.
- ISBN 0-7090-0844-9.
- ^ "NCA Profile: 136 South Purbeck (NE370)". Natural England. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ISBN 095288819X).
- ^ a b Pratt, Edward A. (2008). The Wild Flowers of The Isle of Purbeck, Brownsea and Sandbanks. Brambleby Books.
- ^ Excavations on the Roman Villa at Bucknowle Farm, Corfe Castle, Summary of Work 1976-84, Dorset County Museum
- ^ Richmond, I. A. (1955). Roman Britain. The Pelican History of England. Harmondsworth, Middlese: Penguin Books. p. 160.
- ^ Baker, Ed (10 February 2024). "Last living person from 'village that died for England' makes farewell visit". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
- ^ "Public access to military areas: Lulworth ranges". Ministry of Defence. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Purbeck District Council
- Wareham Town Museum
- Map and aerial photo sources centred on Corfe Castle at Grid reference: SY 960 820.