Purbeck Hills

The Purbeck Hills form a chalk ridge in Dorset, running from Lulworth Cove in the west to Old Harry Rocks in the east. This ridge is part of a larger system of chalk downlands that includes Salisbury Plain and the South Downs. A band of hard Portland limestone protects most of the chalk from erosion, but where it ends at Durlston Head, the softer rock behind has worn away to create Poole Bay and the Solent. The hills continue eastward on the Isle of Wight as a steeply dipping chalk ridge. Their height and position near Poole Harbour and the south coast gave them strategic importance in the past. The hills hold traces of Iron Age, Roman and Saxon settlements, including the Iron Age site at Nine Barrow Down. Corfe Castle once stood on a steep round hill between two ridges, guarding the only easy route through the Purbecks until it was destroyed in the 17th century. Parts of the ridge near Tyneham village have been used as an army firing range since the mid-20th century, keeping them free from farming and development. These protected areas are now nature reserves. At the eastern end, Ballard Down is managed by the National Trust as a nature reserve for its rare chalk grassland. Walkers can follow paths along the ridge, with views over Lulworth Cove from Bindon Hill and over the sea from Ballard Down. The grasslands support wildflowers and butterflies, while the cliffs at Old Harry Rocks mark the eastern end of the ridge. The contrast between the hard limestone cap and the softer chalk beneath shapes the landscape. The hills remain a quiet, open space where military training and conservation work together to preserve the land.