Arne - Tourist Guide to the Isle of Purbeck

Isle of Purbeck. Welcome to the Isle of Purbeck Visitors Guide. Corfe Castle Accommodation, Swanage, Wareham

Anybody visiting Arne will see the vast areas of heath, brush and forestation with it's multitude of wildlife and could be forgiven for thinking this was the way it had always been. One must be grateful it is this way, the land has to some degree been borrowed from nature and returned to nature. An instance being the RSPB now offering sanctuary to birds there. As is the case Studland and west, much of what was heath, shrub and deciduous wood was replaced in the 1950s by conifers, a new forest, but not 'The New Forest'.

One has mixed feelings about this new forestation because there is obviously no record of

what the deciduous density might have been before mankind got a foothold. But, you have to weigh against that, that it still supports wildlife and hides away the oil industry quite successfully Norman and Saxon kings did of course impose strict laws to preserve their game, which meant cover of trees. The last king to hunt there was probably James I / VI in the early 17th century. It does however seem strange that Kings should venture to what seems something of a backwater, even though it was industrious, when there was still 'The New Forest' established by King John 400 years earlier. Perhaps they needed something wherever they might venture, just in case. These were the days in our green and pleasant land when the king was allowed to kill animals/game, or have them killed for his benefit, but strung up anybody else for doing it!

Getting There
Arne can be reached from the B3075 via Stobourgh.