The Isle of Purbeck, not a true island but a peninsula, is in the county of Dorset, England. It is bordered by the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome to the north. It extends from Lulworth Cove in the west to Poole Harbour in the east; the most southerly point is St Aldhelm's or St Alban's Head.

Geology

The geology of the Isle is complex. The northern part is Eocene clay (Barton beds), but where the land rises to the sea there are several parallel strata of Jurassic rocks, including the Purbeck beds which yield a particularly hard limestone, which when polished looks like marble (and is sometimes, incorrectly, called marble), and Portland Limestone. A ridge of Cretaceous chalk runs along the peninsula creating the Purbeck Hills, part of the southern England Chalk Formation which includes Salisbury Plain, the Dorset Downs and the Isle of Wight. The cliffs here are some of the most spectacular in England, and of great geological interest, both for the rock types and variety of landforms, notably Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door, and the coast is part of the Jurassic coast World Heritage Site because of the unique geology.

Quarrying still takes place in Purbeck; in the past quarrying was particularly around the two villages of Worth Matravers and Langton Matravers. Walking along the cliffs, too, it is possible to see evidence of man-made caves where the stone has been extracted.

Many of England's most famous cathedrals are adorned with Portland stone, and much of London was rebuilt in Portland and Purbeck stone after the Great Fire of London.

See also: Geology of Dorset.

The Isle

A large part of the district is now designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), but a portion of the coast around Warbarrow Bay is still, after over 50 years, in the hands of the Army, and has not yet been acquired.

Other places of importance are:

• Swanage, at the southern 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 reopened as the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway.
• Studland: This is a seaside village in its own sandy bay. Nearby, lying off-shore from Standfast Point, are the chalk stacks named Old Harry Rocks: Old Harry and his Wife.
• Poole Harbour is popular with yachtsmen; it contains Brownsea Island the site of the first-ever Boy Scout camp.
• Corfe Castle is in the centre of the Isle, with its picturesque village named after it.

The Purbeck district covers roughly the same area.

External links

• West, I., The Geology of the Wessex Coast.