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The chalk of Old Harry Rocks used to be part of a long stretch of chalk between Purbeck and the Isle of Wight, but remained as a headland after large parts of this seam were eroded away. As the headland suffered hydraulic action (a process in which air and water are forced into small cracks by the force of the sea, resulting in enlarging cracks ...
A hard rock type such as granite is resistant to erosion and creates a promontory whilst a softer rock type such as the clays of Bagshot Beds is easily eroded creating a bay. Part of the Dorset coastline running north from the Portland limestone of Durlston Head is a clear example of a discordant coastline.
Nearby, lying off-shore from The Foreland (also Handfast Point), are the chalk stacks named Old Harry Rocks: Old Harry and his Wife. Poole Harbour is popular with bird watchers, windsurfers and yachters; it contains Brownsea Island, the site of the first-ever Scout camp. Corfe Castle is in the centre of the isle, overlooking Corfe Castle village.
The coastguard has reminded people to keep dogs on leads on the coastal paths near Old Harry Rocks [Getty Images] You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Related links.
The Pinnacles lie directly east of Studland, approximately 200 metres south of Old Harry Rocks and about 4 kilometres northeast of Swanage. The chalk headlands of the Ballard Downs are owned by the National Trust. The rocks can be viewed from the Dorset section of the South West Coastal Path.
Parson's Barn lies directly east of Studland, a few hundred metres south of Handfast Point and the Old Harry Rocks. The cave is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of Swanage. The sea once washed a huge hole in the base of the cliffs. This cavern was then used as a smugglers cave.
Old Harry Rocks, just offshore from the dip slope of the down, and The Needles on the westernmost tip of the Isle of Wight, are remnants of this ridge. The scarp slope of the down faces south, over Swanage, meeting the sea as Ballard Cliff .
The Needles were featured on the BBC Two TV programme Seven Natural Wonders (2005) as one of the wonders of Southern England. During Storm Eunice on 18 February 2022, the highest recorded wind gust in England was provisionally recorded at The Needles, at 122 miles per hour (196 km/h).