Studland Parish Church.jpg

Studland is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England. The village is located about north of the town of Swanage, over a steep chalk ridge, and south of the South East Dorset conurbation at Sandbanks, from which it is separated by Poole Harbour. The parish includes Brownsea Island within the harbour. In the 2011 census the parish had 182 households and a population of 425, though many of the houses in the village are holiday homes, second homes, or guest houses, and the village's population varies depending upon the season.

Swanage is famous for its beaches and nature reserve.

Description

Studland is sited in the lee of Ballard Down, close to the east-facing Studland Bay, a long curved sweep of sandy beaches backed by dunes and heathland. The beaches are named South Beach, Middle Beach and Knoll Beach, with another at Shell Bay to the north.

Although a coastal village, the houses in Studland are mostly sited a few hundred metres inland. At the start of the twentieth century Sir Frederick Treves described the village as "a medley of country lanes, lost among trees, with a few thatch-roofed cottages dotted about in a wild garden of brambles, ferns, and gorse". He noted that Studland had "no pretence to a quay", but rather "turns its face from the sea to bury it among its myrtles and fuchsia bushes". He lamented the arrival of tourists and the construction of villas in the village however, commenting that "The red brick epidemic ... has seized upon it mercilessly."

Since Treves' time the village has expanded with more buildings filling in gaps along its streets, much of the construction taking place in the early and mid 20th century, plus some more recently. Few ancient buildings remain in the village today, with the notable exception of the parish church, which is largely unaltered from Norman times, construction dating probably from around 1180. Close to the church is a modern Celtic cross, which was erected in 1976 and uses the old Saxon cross foundation as its base.

Geography

Studland Bay and beach management

Studland Bay is protected from the prevailing southwesterly winds and storms by Ballard Down and Handfast Point, the chalk headland that separates Studland from Swanage Bay to the south. In the 17th century there began a process of sand accumulation in the bay and along the South Haven Peninsula stretching north, resulting in natural land reclamation and the creation or expansion of the bay's beaches and its psammosere (sand dune system).

The beaches at Studland Bay are amongst the most popular in the country, and on hot summer weekends they fill up with thousands of people. The South East Dorset Conurbation lies on the other side of Poole Harbour, resulting in the beaches being relatively accessible to a large population. North of the visitor centre the beach and dunes are owned and managed by the National Trust, who have restricted parking provision at the site to prevent overcrowding. A short northern stretch of beach is reserved as a naturist beach.

Since the early 20th century the supply of sand to the bay has depleted and erosion is occurring so that, if natural processes are uninterrupted, the coastline may in time retreat back to its previous line, visible as a line of higher ground between Redend Point and the hill east of the Knoll House Hotel. In January 2004 the BBC
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