On the west side of the cove one may notice rocks with such peculiarly
contorted strata as those shown in the foreground of the illustration
opposite.
A most interesting and rugged portion of the coast lies to the west of
Lulworth Cove. After leaving the coastguard signal station one reaches
Stair Hole, a cavity walled off from the sea by Portland limestone. At
high tide, however, the sea enters the chasm through a number of small
apertures, and is probably carving out at this spot a circular basin
after the manner of Lulworth Cove. Passing Dungy Head and Oswald or
Horsewall Bay, with its towering chalk cliffs, one reaches a low
promontory known as Tongue Beach. It is formed of layers of limestone
tilted into curved or perpendicular positions. Crossing this promontory
one enters Durdle Bay, with the Barndoor, an archway 30 feet high, in a
massive cliff.
At East Lulworth, a little way inland from the cove, stands Lulworth
Castle, an imposing-looking building with circular towers at each
corner. It was built about three hundred years ago on the site of an
earlier castle.
[Illustration: LULWORTH COVE FROM THE WEST.
The circular basin has been eaten out of the sandy soil after the sea
had cut an opening in the Portland stone which forms the actual
coast-line at this point.]
CORFE CASTLE
IN THE ISLE OF PURBECK, DORSETSHIRE
=How to get there=.--By rail from Waterloo Station. South-Western
Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Corfe Castle--quite close to the ruins.
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