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 Purbeck, which was named after it. The district extended significantly further north and west than the traditional boundary of the Isle of Purbeck along the River Frome. Following the abolition of the district on 1 April 2019, the Isle now lies within the Dorset unitary authority area.
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]
^Hyland, Paul (1978). Purbeck: The Ingrained Island. Victor Gollancz Ltd. p. 18. ISBN 0-575-02440-2. 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 in 1370)
^Hutchins, John; Shipp, William; Hodson, James Whitworth (1973). The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. EP Pub. p. 421. ISBN 978-0-85409-854-5.
^Carlisle, Nicholas (1808). A Topographical Dictionary of England ...: L–Z. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme.
^Wightman, Ralph (1983). Portrait of Dorset (4 ed.). Robert Hale. p. 178. ISBN 0-7090-0844-9.
^"NCA Profile: 136 South Purbeck (NE370)". Natural England. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
Purbeck Group, found on the IsleofPurbeck, Dorset in southern England. The best known variety of this stone is Purbeck Marble. The stone has been quarried...
Purbeck may refer to: Elizabeth Purbeck and Jane Purbeck, 18th century British novelists IsleofPurbeck, a peninsula in the English county of Dorset Purbeck...
environment of the then subtropical Wareham Basin. It is thus found today on the northern half of the IsleofPurbeck, to the north of the Purbeck Hills, and...
Barn Old Harry Rocks Purbeck Hills IsleofPurbeck Geology of Dorset Geology of the United Kingdom List of fossil sites List of Dorset beaches South West...
Purbeck was a local government district in Dorset, England. The district was named after the IsleofPurbeck, a peninsula that forms a large proportion...
Solent. The ridge of steeply dipping chalk that forms the Purbeck Hills continues further east on the Isleof Wight. The height of the chalk ridge and...
south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the IsleofPurbeck and one of its two towns, approximately 6+1⁄4 miles (10 km) south of Poole and...
forming the basin of Poole Harbour (Tertiary) and the IsleofPurbeck (Cretaceous) respectively. The chalky ridges of Wight and Purbeck were a single formation...
known as the IsleofPurbeck in Dorset where the strata are exposed in the cliffs west of Swanage. The Purbeck Group is famous for its fossils of reptiles...
now in the parish of Steeple with Tyneham, in the Dorset district, in the south of Dorset, England, near Lulworth on the IsleofPurbeck. In 2001 the civil...
and ruins of Corfe Castle. In 2023, regular trains ran through from Wareham (with National Rail connections) to Swanage. The IsleofPurbeck had extensive...
Wight-Bray Monocline. The Purbeck Hills run east–west through the small broad peninsula known as the IsleofPurbeck. The resistant beds of chalk and limestone...
Hazel Brook or Hen, a stream in Bristol, England Hen Cliff, on the IsleofPurbeck, Dorset, England HEN, station code for Hendon railway station, England...
since all of her television and film credits, until her divorce and after, have been as Thelma Barlow. In 2003, Barlow moved to the IsleofPurbeck. Barlow...
Hirano (2013). "Treasures of the Library". The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Art and Culture - University of East Anglia. Retrieved 5 May...
railway station located in Swanage, on the IsleofPurbeck in the English county of Dorset. Originally the terminus of a London and South Western Railway (L&SWR)...
Poole Harbour and the IsleofPurbeck. The island was the location of an experimental camp in 1907 that led to the formation of the Scout movement the...
fortification standing above the village of the same name on the IsleofPurbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror...
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