Walk 1 - Agglestone

A short walk (20 minutes there, 15 back) to visit a local geological curiosity, enjoy a splendid view, and savour something of the weirdness of the terrain in this part of the heath.

Local Walks
Agglestone
Old Harry Rocks
Ballard Down
Swanage
Little Sea
Fishing Barrow
Rempstone Forest
Ower Quay
Corfe Castle

Make your way to starting point 2 (see Setting Out). As you emerge from the woodland, the bridleway turns to the right and starts to rise. Very soon on the left you will see a well-marked footpath bending to the left. Follow it as it descends along a stream into a marshy valley, leads you over a shallow ford and then starts to climb to the Agglestone which begins to loom up in front of you. The very last part of the ascent is steep with irritatingly soft sand underfoot, but soon you will arrive in the fort-like plateau under the threatening bulk of the Agglestone.

According to legend, the Agglestone (old English hagolstan, holy-stone or hailstone) was a missile thrown by Old Nick from the Needles on the Isle of Wight; it was aimed at Corfe Castle, but missed its target. Geologists assert more prosaically that it is simply the result of stratified erosion. Originally it looked even more spectacular, balanced mushroom-like on a slender support, as can be seen in a collection of postcards displayed in the corridor that runs beside the Ward Room; but in 1970 it toppled over into its present position.

From the Agglestone ramparts there are fine views towards Sandbanks and Bournemouth, and of the weirdly alien landscape that surrounds the rock and is the product partly of the underlying geology and partly of Man’s occupation and exploitation of the area over thousands of years, from Neolithic barrows through the stone quarries and clay extraction of more recent history to shell-craters dating from the last war and the oil-fields of the present. On the whole, the latter have been managed rather discreetly; but over to the north-west you can see the conspicuous drilling tower belonging to the large oil field on the Goathorn peninsula.

For the return, there is no alternative but to retrace your steps.