Durlston Head Castle (located at the beginning of this part of the Jurassic coastline which is UNESCO World Heritage since 2001, first in England) offers stunning views from its Belvedere over Swanage bay, It also has a nice cafe with a sun terrace, and a visitor centre with lots of information about the place. A perfect place to rest and chill out 😎🤩

Mike Cree

June 3, 2024

Get here early and on a clear day.... you'll be hard pushed to find a better place to catch a beautiful sunrise.
John Mowlem, a Swanage-born man, was a stonemason and builder. He was the founder of the quarrying and construction company Mowlem. He and his nephew and business partner George Burt wanted to give something back to their home town, which was the source of their Portland and Purbeck limestone, popular for building at the time. John Mowlem built the Mowlem Institute, a reading room and public library, in 1862. George Burt purchased an undulating tract of land covering Durlston Head during the same year. This estate, the Durlston Estate, included quarries that supplied their firm with limestone. Burt developed this estate as a tourist attraction.
Burt established the Durlston Estate upon the crest of the hill and here he built his folly Durlston Castle. The castle was designed by the Weymouth architect G.R. Crickmay (1830-1907) and built by W.M. Hardy in 1886-87 entirely of local stone. The 'castle' was never a real castle: it was purpose-built by Burt as a restaurant for the visitors to his estate.
The castle played a part in the evolution of radio and telecommunications. A team of Marconi's engineers used the roof of the castle in the 1890s for some of their early wireless experiments to transmit to the Isle of Wight.
The castle passed through the hands of many owners until in 1973 it was bought by Dorset County Council. It was designated as a listed building at Grade II in 1983.

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Elevation 30 m

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Today

Monday 20 October

15°C

14°C

100 %

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Max wind speed: 45.0 km/h

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Location: Swanage, Purbeck, Dorset, South West England, England, United Kingdom

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