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Swanage
Swanage (Dorset)
Swanage

Swanage shown within Dorset
Population 10,124 (2001)
OS grid reference SZ0278
District Purbeck
Shire county Dorset
Region South West
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SWANAGE
Postcode district BH19
Dialling code 01929
Police Dorset
Fire Dorset
Ambulance South Western
European Parliament South West England
UK Parliament South Dorset
List of places: UK • England • Dorset

Coordinates: 50°37′N 1°58′W / 50.61, -1.96

Swanage is a small coastaltown in the south east of Dorset, England. Dorset ( (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology A nationwide Census, commonly known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday 29 April 2001 The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government Settlements Settlements with a Population over 2500 are in bold. Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of Subdivisions of England used for the purposes of Local government outside Greater London Dorset ( (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one South West England is one of the Regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This list of sovereign states, alphabetically arranged gives an overview of States around the world with information on the extent of their Sovereignty. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system UK Postal codes are known as postcodes. UK postcodes are Alphanumeric. The, also known as the Bournemouth postcode area, is a group of postal districts around Bournemouth, Broadstone, Christchurch, Ferndown The UK Telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning Telephone numbers in the United There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. Dorset Police is the Home Office Police force with the responsibility of policing the English County of Dorset. The fire service in the United Kingdom operates under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Dorset Fire and Rescue Service is the Statutory Fire and Rescue Service for the area of Dorset, South West England. Divisions & Stations The trust is split into 2 divisions West - Devon and Cornwall including West Divisional HQ 999 and PTS Control at South West England is a Constituency of the European Parliament. This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election South Dorset is a County constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. A Gazetteer of place names in the United Kingdom showing each place's County, Unitary authority or council area and its geographical coordinates List of places --> List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places This is a list of settlements and other places in Dorset, England. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan Dorset ( (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland It is situated at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck, approximately 10 km south of Poole and 40 km east of Dorchester. The Isle of Purbeck, not a true island but a Peninsula, is in the county of Dorset, England. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand Poole ( is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset on the south coast of England Dorchester is a Market town in southern central Dorset, England, on the River Frome at the junction of the A35 and A37 The town has a population of 10,124 (2001). Nearby are Ballard Down, Old Harry Rocks and Studland Bay to the north and Durlston Country Park to the south. Ballard Down is an area of Chalk Downland in Dorset, southern England. Old Harry Rocks are Chalk stacks located directly east of Studland and to the north of Swanage in Dorset. Studland is a small village on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. Durlston Country Park is a 113 square kilometre (280- Acre) Nature reserve stretched along the Coast of the Isle of Purbeck near Swanage

The town was a small port and fishing village until the Victorian era when it became a seaside resort. For the computer security term see Phishing. Fishing is the activity of catching Fish. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities A seaside resort is a Resort located on the Coast. Where a Beach is the primary focus for Tourists it may be called a beach resort It also has a long history in quarrying along the cliffs to the south at Durlston, and was one of the largest producers of Purbeck stone and marble. Today, tourism is the main industry, employing many who live in the town, while some 40% of the workforce commute to Poole. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel Swanage has several pubs in proximity to the town square. The square itself has three takeaway restaurants, though only one has a seated dining area.

The town has a wooden 19th century pier with two branches; one was refurbished in 1999 and the other is derelict. Swanage's Victorian Pier is over 100 years old and is one of two built although it is the only one that survives complete today Sightseeing and angling boats operate from the "new" pier. Scuba diving takes place under the piers and at nearby coastal wrecks. Scuba diving is swimming underwater, or taking part in another activity while using a Scuba set. Indeed Swanage is considered by many to be the home of British Scuba diving as not only is it one of the most popular sea water training sites for dive schools and clubs to take trainee divers due to the sheltered conditions within the bay, but the dive shop still situated on the pier was the first dive shop ever to open in Great Britain. There is a sandy beach, on Swanage Bay, along the edge of the town. The beach was improved in 2005/6 by construction of new greenheart timber groynes and the placement of 90,000m³ of sand as beach nourishment [1]. A groyne ( groin in the United States is a rigid Hydraulic structure built out from the shore (in Coastal engineering) or from the bank (in rivers and In the summer jet skis and pedal boats can be hired from the beach. Cliffs to the south-east of the town are used by climbers. The town is a gateway town for the Jurassic Coast, a popular world heritage site, and because of this it is a popular destination for educational field trips and romantic meals. The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex Swanage is one of the few towns in the UK to have a crater on Mars named after it. There are hundreds of thousands of craters on Mars, but only some of them have names Swanage hosts a carnival at the beginning of August each year.

Swanage (from Ballard Down).
Swanage (from Ballard Down).


Contents

History

The town gets it's first mention in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 877, as being the scene of a great naval victory by King Alfred over the Danes: "This year came the Danish army into Exeter from Wareham; whilst the navy sailed west about, until they met with a great mist at sea, and there perished one hundred and twenty ships at Swanwich. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of Annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. " A hundred of their ships which had survived the battle were driven by a storm onto Peveril Point. Peveril Point is a Promontory forming the easternmost part of the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England, and is part of the town of Swanage A monument topped (historically incorrectly) by cannon balls was set up in 1882 by John Mowlem to celebrate this event and is situated at the southern end of the promenade (Ward Lock’s). John Mowlem ( 12 October 1788 - 8 March 1868) was an English Stonemason, builder and founder of the Quarrying

During its history the bay was listed variously as Swanic, Swanwich and then finally on maps.

The town's prominence came during the Victorian period when Purbeck stone was transported from local quarries and then by sea from Swanage. Purbeck Marble is a Fossiliferous Limestone quarried in the Isle of Purbeck, a Peninsula in south-east Dorset, England

Globe at Durlston Country Park
Globe at Durlston Country Park

Many relics and monuments were brought from London in the nineteenth century by John Mowlem and his nephew George Burt, who became successful builders in the capital. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar George Burt ( 2 October 1816 - 18 April 1894) was a public-works contractor from Swanage, England who managed the construction It is said that the items brought from London were used as ballast for the empty vessels which transported Purbeck stone to London.

These include an old clock tower from one end of the old London Bridge has been set up at the seashore and a facade from one of the old London guild houses on the front of the Town Hall. London Bridge is a Bridge between the City of London and Southwark in London, England, over the River Thames.

The Swanage Railway, a volunteer-run heritage railway, connects the town with Corfe Castle and runs both steam and diesel locomotives. The Swanage Railway is a six Mile -long Heritage railway in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England. A heritage railway ( United Kingdom) preserved railway ( United Kingdom) or tourist railroad ( United States and Canada) is a Corfe Castle is a Village, Civil parish and ruined Castle, in the English county of Dorset. It runs on tracks reconstructed on an alignment abandoned by the national railway system in 1972. It hosts several special events throughout the year and runs many excellent days out events for children during school holidays.

James Blunt's video Carry You Home was filmed in Swanage. James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount, 22 February 1974 is an English Acoustic / Folk rock Singer-songwriter whose debut album

Sport and recreation

Swanage has a King Georges Field in memorial to King George V, which recently became home to a new skate park (which continues to expand though fund raising by locals) and a new hi-tech play area, funded in a similar way to the skate park. Planning applications have been submitted for a sports pavilion. Additionally, the sea cliffs and quarries to the west of Swanage provide excellent venues for rock climbing. Swimming facilities are provided at the Municipal campsite - generally from 8 a. m (adult swimming) and 9 a. m for public swimming until either 6 p. m or 8 p. m. The staff are friendly and the pool- although small- is fine both for families to play around and at off peak times to get some lengths in. Another pool at Ulwell caravan park is also open to the public as well as running children's swimming lessons and aqua aerobic sessions. But the major activity to be enjoyed in Swanage is walking - whether it be walks along the Nine Barrow Downs from Swanage to Corfe - and back by bus- along the coast from - for example Worth Matravers to Swanage or Swanage to Studland -even though logistically the need for two cars or a friendly lift becomes a reality on occasions.

Literature

Swanage is called Knollsea in Thomas Hardy’s novels. Thomas Hardy OM (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928 was an English novelist Short story writer and poet of the naturalist movement though he saw In “The Hand of Ethelberta” it is described as “…a seaside village lying snug within two headlands as between a finger and thumb”. The Hand of Ethelberta is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1876

In E.M. Forster's Howards End, Margaret and Mr. Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH (1 January 1879–7 June 1970 was an English novelist Short story writer Essayist, and Librettist Howards End is a Novel by E M Forster, first published in 1910, which tells a story of class struggle in turn-of-the-century England Wilcox first kiss there at the end of an evening's stroll.

“The Lady Margaret”, one of the linked short stories in Keith Roberts', Pavane has Swanage as the place where Jesse Strange meets an old school friend and fails to establish a relationship with his childhood sweetheart Margaret. Keith Roberts (1935 - 2000 was a British Science fiction author. Pavane by Keith Roberts is an alternate history Science fiction Fix-up novel first published by Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd

Swanage station, the terminus of the Swanage heritage railway.
Swanage station, the terminus of the Swanage heritage railway.

Tourism

Since the turn of the century tourism has been a very popular holiday destination for the working class/middle class. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. Nowadays it attracts all sorts of people around Europe. Many GCSE and other school students come to Swanage for coursework or other pieces of school work. The General Certificate of Secondary Education ( GCSE) is the name of an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject generally taken in a number of subjects by

Language School

A large English Language school, Harrow House, is located in the centre of the town, and provides year round educational courses for students from more than 60 different countries. Harrow House is a large English language school in Swanage, Dorset in the United Kingdom, and provides year round educational courses for students

Twinned with

Cultural references

Swanage is stated as the hometown of John Cleese's character Basil Fawlty in the sitcom Fawlty Towers. Rüdesheim is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. John Marwood Cleese (ˈkliːz born 27 October, 1939) is a British Actor, Comedian, Writer, Film producer Basil Fawlty is the major character in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers, played by John Cleese. Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom made by the BBC and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975

See also

Local villages:

References

  1. ^ Swanage Beach Replenishment 2005/2006

Bibliography

External links

Travel information:

Dictionary

Swanage

-proper noun

  1. A town in Dorset, England
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