Other in Dorset

Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour in Dorset is the largest of the islands that dot this extensive natural harbour, covering approximately 200 hectares of varied habitat including heath, woodland, meadow, lagoon and coastal shore that together make it one of the most ecologically rich and varied nature reserves in southern England. The island is managed jointly by the National Trust and the Dorset Wildlife Trust and is accessible by ferry from Poole Quay and Sandbanks during the main visiting season. The island has two special claims on national heritage. It was here on the southern beach that Robert Baden-Powell conducted the camp in August 1907 that is widely regarded as the founding event of the Scout movement, gathering twenty boys from different social backgrounds for an experimental programme of outdoor activities, games and skills that directly inspired the Scout programme he subsequently developed. A commemorative stone near the southern beach marks the site of the camp, and the Scout movement's connection to the island continues to be celebrated. The island is also one of the last remaining strongholds of the native red squirrel in southern England, a small but thriving population sustained by the island's isolation from the grey squirrel invasion that has eliminated the red squirrel from most of the English mainland. The Dorset Wildlife Trust nature reserve on the northern part of the island protects a lagoon and wetland habitat that is one of the most important wetland bird sites in the region. Large flocks of avocet winter on the lagoon, and the nesting birds in summer include common tern and various wader species. The heathland on the island supports all six native British reptile species, an unusual concentration that reflects the quality and extent of the heather and acid grassland habitats. The ferry crossing from Poole Quay provides views of Poole Harbour, one of the largest natural harbours in the world, and the Purbeck hills above the southern shore add a landscape dimension to the crossing.

Golden Cap is the highest point on the south coast of England at 191 metres, a clifftop of great beauty on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset where the distinctive orange-red summit of upper greensand gives the headland its name and its colour. The National Trust estate surrounding it covers over 650 hectares of farmland, cliff, heath and woodland between Charmouth and Seatown, one of the most extensive stretches of undeveloped Jurassic Coast managed for public access, and the walking on and around the headland provides some of the finest coastal scenery in the southwest. The summit rewards the steep ascent from Seatown or the longer approach from Charmouth with panoramic views that extend from Portland Bill to the east to the cliffs beyond Lyme Regis to the west, and on clear days across Lyme Bay as far as Dartmoor. The orange greensand capping the summit contrasts with the grey Lias clays and blue limestone below in the cliff faces, and this visible geological layering is a characteristic feature of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site throughout its length. The beach at Seatown below the headland is one of the best fossil-hunting sites on the Jurassic Coast, with the combination of Lias clays and frequent cliff falls producing a regular supply of ammonites, belemnites and occasional larger fossils. Charmouth beach, a short walk to the west, is one of the most celebrated fossil beaches in the world, and the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre provides expert guidance on what can be found and where. The National Trust land of the Golden Cap estate supports traditional meadow habitats with a variety of wildflowers, and the combination of coastal geology, fossil beaches, clifftop walking and the old-fashioned charm of the village at Seatown makes this section of the Jurassic Coast one of its most rewarding stretches.

The Jurassic Coast is England's only natural World Heritage Site, a 95-mile stretch of the Dorset and East Devon coastline that exposes 185 million years of the Earth's geological history in the cliffs, beaches and rock formations from Orcombe Point at Exmouth to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage. The site was designated in 2001 in recognition of the unique and complete record of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous geological time preserved in the coastal exposures, and the quality of fossil preservation in many of the rock types makes it one of the most important palaeontological sites in the world. The geological story told in the cliffs moves chronologically from west to east, the oldest Triassic red rocks at the western end giving way to the Jurassic limestones, clays and sandstones of the central section and then to the white Cretaceous chalk of the eastern Purbeck section. This orderly progression, visible in the changing rock types and colours of the cliff faces as you travel along the coast, provides a unique opportunity to read Earth history directly from the landscape rather than from textbooks or museum displays. The best-known fossil sites are concentrated in the Jurassic section. Charmouth beach is one of the most productive ammonite and ichthyosaur localities in the world, the regular erosion of the Lias clays exposing new fossils after every winter storm. Mary Anning, who grew up in nearby Lyme Regis and made many of the most significant fossil discoveries at Charmouth and Lyme in the early nineteenth century, established the scientific importance of this section of the coast and contributed directly to the development of palaeontology as a discipline. The natural landmarks along the coast, including Golden Cap, Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, the Chesil Beach and Old Harry Rocks, provide some of the finest coastal scenery in England alongside the geological interest.

Maiden Castle near Dorchester in Dorset is the largest Iron Age hillfort in Britain and one of the most impressive prehistoric monuments in Europe. Its vast earthwork system covers nearly 50 hectares of a natural chalk ridge, and the scale of the multiple ramparts and deep ditches that surround the inner plateau becomes fully apparent only when you walk the circuit of the defences, a journey of nearly a mile just to circumnavigate the outer bank. The site's history of human occupation stretches back far beyond the Iron Age fort. Neolithic people built a causewayed enclosure and a long barrow here as early as 3500 BC, and archaeological evidence shows continuing activity across several thousand years before the great Iron Age fortification was constructed from around 600 BC onwards. The hilltop's commanding position over the surrounding chalk countryside made it a natural focal point for the communities of the Dorset downland across many generations. The development of the hillfort itself was a lengthy process. The original Iron Age enclosure was relatively modest, but a massive expansion in the third century BC extended the defences to their full extent and added the elaborate inturned entrances at the eastern and western ends. These entrances are the most complex and impressive features of the site, their multiple overlapping banks and ditches creating a labyrinthine approach that would have channelled and slowed any attacking force while defenders rained missiles from the ramparts above. The sheer quantity of sling stones found by archaeologists at Maiden Castle indicates that the defended community was prepared to resist attack with considerable force. Evidence of the Roman assault on Maiden Castle was discovered by Mortimer Wheeler during excavations in the 1930s. A war cemetery containing bodies showing spear and sword wounds, with Roman ballista bolts still embedded in the bone, provided dramatic evidence of the conflict that accompanied the Roman conquest of Britain around AD 43 to 44. The site was subsequently abandoned as a settlement as the local population moved to the newly established Roman town of Durnovaria, modern Dorchester. The site is managed by English Heritage and is freely accessible at all reasonable times. The best views of the full extent of the earthworks are obtained either from the air or by walking around the complete perimeter circuit, which reveals the monumentality of the construction in a way that no static viewpoint can capture.