Durlston Country Park
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Durlston Country Park is a 1.13 square kilometre (280-acre) nature reserve stretched along the coast of the Isle of Purbeck near Swanage in Dorset, England. The park, which is part of the Jurassic Coast world heritage site, has been owned by Dorset county council since the early 1970s and is mostly open access.
The park has a mosaic of habitats hosting a wide range of species being largely free from agricultural use for centuries. The park has site of special scientific interest status which grants it a small amount of government protection. The underlying rock is limestone so the majority of the park is calcareous grassland, probably created about 1000 years ago by clearing of oak forest, hosting a range of wild flower species and associated animals such as butterflies. The grassland is maintained at a plagioclimax by a large population of grazing rabbits which prevent the growth of scrub and trees. The park is on a peninsula on the south coast of Great Britain and is first landfall for many migratory birds.
In the 19th and 20th centuries Purbeck was quarried for its high-quality limestone. There were few open-cast quarries, and none in Durlston, but there are many mine shafts across the landscape, notably Tilly Whim Caves in a dry glacial meltwater valley.
In 1887 George Burt built a small castle in the park on the hill above Swanage, to be used as a restaurant. Burt also commissioned a 40-ton limestone Globe, three metres in diameter, engraved with an 1880s world map. The footpaths around the castle and globe are lined with cast iron London bollards which were left in Swanage having been used as ballast by the ships transporting stone to London. Other ornaments include plaques carved with quotations from Shakespeare and the Bible, maps showing the English Channel and the United Kingdom, and facts about the natural world.
