SDO14434 - Durlston Castle, Durlston Country Park and the Legacy of George Burt, Durlston, Swanage, Dorset. Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment and Walkover Survey

‘Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Dorset County Council to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment and walkover survey at Durlston Country Park, Swanage, Dorset. The Park was established in 1973 and includes Durlston Castle and its grounds. The Castle is a Grade II Listed Building and is centred on NGR 40340 07720. It was built by George Burt in 1887 as the restaurant for a residential development, the rest of which was never completed. The building is built of local Purbeck limestone and is of interest as an early example of a planned entrepreneurial venture. Other monuments within the Castle grounds are also listed and include the Chart (c. 1890) and the Great Globe (1891), both built in Purbeck stone. The Chart shows the relationship between South West England and North West France. The Globe is of interest since it shows how the Victorians saw the world and the universe. Various historic bollards, stone seats, carved information and direction stones are all included within the curtilage of the Listed Building. The Castle grounds and relevant sections of the park are currently being put forward for listing on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens. The aim of the desk-based assessment and the walkover survey was to prepare an inventory of the surviving elements of George Burt’s plans for Durlston, its Arcadian landscape and of the features linking Durlston and Swanage. It was also to provide an overview and understanding of the history of the Site, its use for quarrying and farming, and Burt’s proposals for ‘New Swanage’, along with tracing images of the original castle that may help in the restoration of character to the building. A total of 185 sites were identified within the Study Area, an area within a c. 1km radius of the Site. Thirty-six sites were identified form the Dorset Historic Environment Record in Dorchester and National Monuments Record Centre (NMRC) in Swindon. Four sites were added from documentary, cartographic and photographic evidence. These 40 sites are Mesolithic, Beaker, Iron Age, Romano-British, medieval and post-medieval in date. Within the Country Park, the sites mainly relate to agricultural practices and to quarrying, which was carried out from the Iron Age into the late 19th century. Medieval strip fields and remains of different types of quarry are still visible within the Country Park today. A further 145 sites were identified during the walkover survey, which was carried out mainly within the Country Park but also included footpaths from Durlston into Swanage. Most of these features are attributable to George Burt, notably the ‘Castle, the Globe and the Chart but also his stone inscriptions, stone seats, bollards and walks.‘