Dorset Architectural Heritage Week 2008 runs from 13th to 21st September.

This celebration of Dorset’s rich architectural heritage is a chance to visit buildings not normally open to the public and to those who which have a special event taking place just for this week.

The events taking place in Purbeck are:

• Bere Regis Church guided tour - Tue 16th 11am, Thur 18th 3pm
• Holy Trinity Church visit, Wareham - every day 9.30am-5pm
• Wareham Town Museum, Open Day - every day 10-4pm
• Three Quarries Walk - Sun 14th 10.30am
• Corfe Castle, guided visit about the recent conservation work - Tue 16th 7pm, Thur 18th 7pm
• Corfe Castle, daubing day - Fri 19th 10.30am-12.30pm, Fri 19th 2pm-4pm

A full programme of events is available from Tourist Information Centres or check the DAH website.

Dorset Architectural Heritage Week: 13th-21st September

To celebrate the completion of the newly restored Clavell Tower at Kimmeridge Bay it will be open to the public on Sunday 31 August and Monday 1 September between 10am and 4pm.

The Landmark Trust started to dismantle the historic Grade II listed folly in September 2006 and has since rebuilt it 25 metres back from the eroding cliff edge. It will now be available as a place to stay and visit.

Peter Pearce, Director at the Landmark Trust, said, “This is an exciting day for the Landmark Trust and for Kimmeridge Bay. The tower’s future is secure and it can now resume its role as sentinel on this stretch of coastline, its familiar silhouette will continue to welcome the many thousands of people who visit and walk in Kimmeridge Bay each year. Our grateful thanks go to everyone who has supported this project - the Heritage Lottery Fund, our generous donors, the local media, the Smedmore estate and local residents, the contractors and everyone who backed the campaign the save the tower.”

The project has cost £898,000 which was raised through generous grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Country Houses Foundation and Dorset County Council as well as many private individuals and grant making trusts. (more…)

Learn about the fascinating history of Bere Regis and its St John the Baptist church in a guided tour by local church members.

See the famous 500 year old carved roof featuring the 12 Apostles, find out the connection with Thomas Hardy and Tess of the D’Urbervilles and hear how Bere Regis came by its royal name.

Bere Regis: Tours until 30 September: Tue 11-12, Thur 3-4pm

Great news to hear that Durlston’s proposed £5.5 million redevelopment of its visitor facilities has been given the go-ahead thanks to confirmation of a £3.1 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The scheme includes the restoration of Durlston Castle and a new learning centre and observatory with the aim of enhancing visitors enjoyment of the park and making it a first class gateway to the Jurassic Coast.

Durlston was recently designated a National Nature Reserve by Natural England and the Heritage Lottery Fund was able to confirm the grant now that match funding has been secured by Friends of Durlston, the Jurassic Coast Trust and the Project Team.

Work is due to start in July 2009 with completion by the end of 2010.

Sir Roy Strong, historian and author, is to give a lecture on ‘Saving the English Country Church’ at Poole’s Lighthouse on 30 March.

The former director of the National Portrait Gallery and V&A Museum, and a committed Anglican, will talk about the crisis of the English country church and how in order to survive it will need to find a new role within a changed countryside.

Lighthouse: Sun 30 Mar 3pm

Durlston Castle’s regeneration project got a big boost this week with news that it has received 2 large donations, pushing it closer to the £1million required to match the £3.27m awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Viridor Credits contribution of £100,000 and the Garfield Weston Foundation’s  £50,000 mean work should be able to begin on the project in Spring 2009.

The project includes structural repairs to the Castle so that is can be opened to the public with a new exhibition gallery and a learning gallery, with the intention of making Durlston a world class gateway to the Jurassic Coast.

Clavell Tower, which was perched precariously on the cliff-top at Kimmeridge Bay, has been successfully moved 25 meters inland to prevent it falling in to the sea.

The tower, which was built in 1830 as an observatory and folly and inspired the authors Thomas Hardy and PD James, had to be dismantled and rebuilt brick by brick in a project that took 18 months and £898,000 to complete.

The last of the 16,272 stones was laid on Monday in a topping-out ceremony but the tower won’t re-open to the public until September. The Landmark Trust plans to rent it out as a holiday home for some of the year to help pay for its upkeep.

Grab yourself a piece of real estate by the sea with news that a beach hut in West Bexington, overlooking Chesil Beach, has been put on the market for £280,000.

There’s only room for a bunk-bed in the 17ft by 15ft hut, but the agent says there is potential to convert the lounge to a studio bedroom!

Fortunately the property is freehold, so if you have spent all your hard-earned money on it there are no restrictions preventing you from living there all year round!

It must be the silly season for Poole new build stories as plans have just been unveiled for Barclays new headquarters.

Asda, having completed its superstore development on Holes Bay, now proposes to build 2 new office blocks on the patch of green land in front of the store, and Barclays could be its new residents. Nice views across the bay for its workers but more obstruction of the fine vista for the rest of us.

The current Barclays Building, which dominates the Poole skyline and is - in the opinion of many Poole residents - a monstrosity, has just had its application to be listed turned down by the Government.

With Barclays shedding 1000 jobs in Poole (half if its current workforce), lets hope its soon to be abandoned HQ doesn’t become even more of a blot on the landscape by being deserted or - worse, some might say - turned into unaffordable flats.

Plans to build a new bridge over Poole Harbour have been put on hold.

Poole Council had hoped work would start on the Twin Sails Bridge in 2008, but it is has put the brakes on the project because of a disagreement with JJ Gallagher, who own the connecting land in Hamworthy.

The bridge certainly looks like it would be an iconic landmark, but the council is “extremely disappointed” with JJ Gallagher’s plans for a housing estate on the site of the old Hamworthy power station, so it looks like this saga will continue to drag on.

Meanwhile, the proposed giant solar pyramid, reported below, has caused much controversy, with Harbourside Park in Poole being touted as a possible location. Cllr Philip Eades has been forthright in his views against the proposal, which you can see on the comments to our  story below, and his opinion is shared by 74% of respondents to a poll by the Daily Echo. 

It has been reported today that a major 150ft tourist landmark that had been planned for Derbyshire could now be destined for Poole.

Poole Council are apparently in talks with the designers about the possibility of locating the giant sundial in Poole. If it went ahead it would be the World’s largest sundial and the UK’s largest artwork.