Durlston Head Castle

Durlston Head Castle, dated 1887, was built by George Burt as a restaurant for a holiday complex that was never completed. Constructed from Purbeck Stone, the building takes on a castle-like form with a rectangular central block. Above the ground floor, there is a moulded cornice featuring four ball finials and four pilasters with reeded capitals. The façade includes three-light casements and a round-headed doorcase that now has a glazed porch. A large glazed belvedere sits above the ground floor, flanked by four octagonal stone turrets that conceal chimneys with pseudo-machicolation. The south elevation features a steep battered plinth and a rusticated basement, along with a sundial and two tablets. To the east, a curtain wall extends with two towers that have battered walls and bartizans. Attached to this wall is a stone lean-to, likely originally a coach house, supported by two cast iron Persian columns and five slender columns with plumed capitals. Inside, there is a circular iron staircase. The forecourt wall includes three tapering cylindrical gate piers, each inscribed with one word of "Durlston Head Castle." The building is significant as an early example of a planned holiday complex and holds local historical interest.