Purbeck Hills

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Purbeck Hills

The Purbeck Hills and South Dorset Downs are a ridge of chalk

Chalk

Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. It forms under relatively deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
downs

Downland

A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as Downs....
in Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
, England

England

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Purbeck Hills'

Start a new discussion about 'Purbeck Hills'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The Purbeck Hills and South Dorset Downs are a ridge of chalk

Chalk

Downland

A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as Downs....
in Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
, England

England

Dorset Downs

The Dorset Downs are an area of Chalk downland in the centre of the county Dorset in south west England. The downs are the most western part of a larger Chalk Formation which includes Cranborne Chase, Salisbury Plain, Hampshire Downs, Chiltern Hills, North Downs and South Downs....
west of Dorchester, where the River Frome

River Frome, Dorset

The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham, Dorset....
begins to form a valley dividing them from the larger area of downland to the north. The ridge then runs east through the Isle of Purbeck

Isle of Purbeck

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, Dorset and Poole Harbour to the north....
to Old Harry Rocks

Old Harry Rocks

Old Harrys Rocks are made from chalk, formed by cockels and are located directly east of Studland and to the north of Swanage in Dorset. Nearby and to the north are the larger towns of Poole and Bournemouth....
where it meets the sea. The hills are part of the southern England

England

Chalk Formation

The Chalk Group is a lithostratigraphy in the northwestern part of Europe. It is characterised by thick deposits of chalk, a soft porous white limestone, deposited in a marine environment during the Upper Cretaceous period ....
which also includes Salisbury Plain

Salisbury Plain

Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering . It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire....
and the South Downs

South Downs

The South Downs is one of the four areas of Southern England Chalk Formation downland in southern England. They extend from the eastern side of Hampshire through Sussex, culminating in the cliffs at Beachy Head....
, and would once have been continuous with the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is an England island and county, located 3-8 km from the south coast of the mainland, in the English Channel. It is situated south of the county of Hampshire and is separated from mainland Britain by the Solent....
to the east. For most of their length the chalk is protected from coast

Coast

The coast is defined as that part of the land adjoining or near the ocean or its saltwater arms. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the process of tides....
al erosion

Erosion

For morphological image processing operations, see Erosion 'For use of in dermatopathology, see Erosion Erosion is the removal of solids in the natural environment....
by the a band of resistant Portland limestone, where this band ends, at Durlston Head, the clay

Clay

Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired....
and chalk behind has been eroded, creating Poole

Poole

Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east....
bay and the Solent

Solent

The Solent is a stretch of sea separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of United Kingdom.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels....
.

The height of the chalk ridge and proximity to Poole Harbour

Poole Harbour

Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the River Frome, Dorset....
and the south coast have made the hills of strategic importance. There are a number of Iron Age

Iron Age

In archaeology, the Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent....
, Roman

Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
and Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
archaeological sites, such as Nine Barrow Down

Nine Barrow Down

Nine Barrow Down is an elongated hill forming the northern ridge of the Purbeck Hills on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England. The chalk downland is part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation....
. At Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle is a village, civil parish and ruins castle, in the England county of Dorset. The castle dates back to the 11th century, and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham, Dorset and Swanage....
the hills are broken twice leaving a steep round hill between the ridges on which stood a medieval castle, guarding the only easy route through the hills, until the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Roundhead and Cavalier. The First English Civil War and Second English Civil War civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War saw fighting between supporters...
of the 17th century, when it was ruined.

Some of the ridge, around the village of Tyneham

Tyneham

Tyneham is a ghost town in south Dorset, England, near Lulworth on the Isle of Purbeck. It remains a civil parish. The village is situated near Worbarrow Bay on the Jurassic Coast, and there have been fishing communities associated with the parish since the Iron Age....
, near Lulworth

Lulworth

Lulworth is a place in Dorset, South England famous for its castle and cove.See:*East Lulworth *Lulworth Castle*Lulworth Cove*Lulworth Estate...
, has been closed to the public for use by the army

British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
as a firing range. This has protected them from damage from farming and development, and these areas are now natural reserves. At the eastern end Ballard Down

Ballard Down

Ballard Down is an area of chalk downland in Dorset, southern England. The down forms a headlands and bays between Studland and Swanage bays in the English Channel, and once formed part of a continuous chalk ridge between what are now west Dorset and the Isle of Wight, part of the Southern England Chalk Formation....
is a National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organization in England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora , fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for Conservation ethic and to provide special opportunities for study or research....
which is managed for its calcareous grassland

Calcareous grassland

Calcareous grassland is an ecosystem associated with thin Basic_ soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as trefoil....
habitat

Habitat (ecology)

A habitat is an ecological or Natural_environment area that is inhabited by a particular animal or plant species. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population....
.

Purbeck Hills

See also