Durlston

The name was not recorded before the 18th century but it is probably ancient, meaning The rock with a hole and referring to a long lost coastal feature. There is a similarly named rock, the Thirlstone just north of the Bolt Tail in South Devon.

George Burt, a Swanage stone magnate intended Durlston as the centrepiece of a luxury development in the 1880s. He built the 'Castle' and installed the Great Globe - a globe of the world formed from 40 tons of Portland stone.

Durlston Bay quarries were the site of many dinosaur and reptile finds. From 1850 Samuel Beckles was recording some of the earliest traces of fossil mammals in the British Isles.

Most of Durlston Head is run as a park by Dorset County Council and facilities exist for watching the seabird colonies in comfort and you may even listen to happenings on the seabed.

Stay at The Priory Hotel when you visit Durlston
Next: Encombe
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