Durlston Head

Durlston Head, topped by the splendid Victorian Durlston Castle, offers exquisite views of the English Channel, Durlston Bay and the Isle of Wight.  Parkland and wild coastal scenery is accessible to the public.  Massive limestone cliffs run eastwards from St Aldhelm's Head.  A geological fault has brought the Purbeck Limestones down to sea level, and the sea has created the landslipped coast of Durlston Bay in the softer rocks. 

Wildlife on the Coast

Durlston's downlands and meadows teem with wildflowers, birds and butterflies, whilst the south-facing limestone cliffs host an important seabird colony and nesting peregrine falcons.  Regular sightings of bottlenose dolphins have been made.  The Durlston Visitor Centre is open every day from the Easter holidays to October half term, then at weekends and during school holidays over the winter.  It provides information on daily wildlife sightings.  In season there is live video coverage of the seabird colony and sounds are relayed from a hydrophone on the seabed in Durlston Bay.

George Burt

Managed today as a Country Park and Nature Reserve by Dorset County Council, Durlston Park was the creation of George Burt of Swanage.  Burt was part of the family that started the construction company, Mowlem.  In 1862 he bought 80 acres of land in order to develop high-class residences, set in public landscapes and rejoicing in the spectacular environment.  Burt failed to attract buyers for his planned residences, but many of the public works remain, including his great ‘folly', Durlston Castle.  Carved quotations around the Park set out Burt's vision of ‘New Elysia' - a landscape shaped by a deep appreciation of nature.  An example is:

An iron coast and angry waves
You seem to hear them rise and fall
And roar rock thwarted in their billowing caves
Beneath the windy wall

The Great Globe

The Great Globe is the largest sculpture created by George Burt.  Three metres in diameter and weighing some 40 tonnes, it is made from local Portland Limestone.  The Great Globe shows the world in 1887.  It is surrounded by stone plaques inscribed with astronomical data and quotations from poets and the scriptures.