Swanage
Distances: London 123 miles. Bournemouth & Poole (via car ferry at Sandbanks-7 miles) 11 miles. Wareham 10 miles. Dorchester 27 miles. Weymouth 29 miles. Southampton 40 miles.
Swanage is a popular seaside town lying at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck. It is pleasantly nestled between the Purbeck Hills and enjoys a very agreeable climate with little snow and high sunshine records. The population in 2001 was about 10,000.
It has a great, safe, award winning family-friendly sandy beach, and the architecture is a pleasant mixture of old stone cottages, Victorian/Edwardian buildings and more modern properties. Local Purbeck Stone is used in the construction of many of the properties in the area, giving the town considerable charm and character.
Swanage’s main industry today is tourism, having originally been a small port with a stone quarrying and fishing trade.
Adventure & leisure activities
Rock climbing, scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing, horse riding, sailing, kayaking, canoeing, golf, surfing, cycling, walking and rambling are just some of the various activities partaken in.
Sporting clubs
Angling (on and off shore), Badminton, Bowls, Cricket, Croquet, Football, Golf (18 & 9 hole courses at the Isle of Purbeck GC, on the Corfe Castle to Studland road , about 3 miles from the Swanage town centre), Hockey, Putting, Riding (Stables at Studland), Sea Rowing (Cornish pilot gigs), Rugby (at Wareham), Sailing, Squash, Tennis and Sub-Aqua Club.
Clubs & societies
There are many clubs and societies catering for various interests and hobbies.
Festivals and events
Swanage hosts a number of annual festivals and events. In the summer months there is a Regatta & Carnival week, usually 1st week of August or thereabouts, which includes a procession of floats, bands and dancers and several firework displays which continue through August. In addition during the summer season, there are separate Jazz, Folk and Blues Festivals.
Education
Schools in Purbeck currently operate as part of a two-tier system. In Swanage there are several primary schools which feed into either the new Swanage School on the edge of the town at Herston in 2014 or The Purbeck School at Wareham. The town has a library in the town centre.
Transport Information
By road Swanage is reached from the M27 motorway and the A31, A35 and A351 roads, via the market town Wareham or alternatively over the Sandbanks chain ferry at Sandbanks, near Poole.
There are regular bus services between Swanage, Poole and Bournemouth which also serve Wareham and the Purbeck villages.
There is a mainline railway station at Wareham (10 miles) which operates between Weymouth and London Waterloo, the service between Wareham and Waterloo taking approximately 2 hours- www.southwesttrains.co.uk .There is also a private steam railway line providing a service between Swanage and Corfe Castle. There are plans to extend this link to Wareham.
Air
Bournemouth (Hurn) airport (18 miles via Sandbanks ferry) serves a number of popular holiday destinations-www.bournemouthairport.com. Southampton Airport (45 miles via Sandbanks ferry) also serves a number of popular holiday destinations and operates a UK network- www.southamptonairport.com
Sea
Both Poole and Weymouth operate a ferry service to the Channel Islands and France. www.condorferries.com, www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/Poole
Shopping
Some shops have early closing on a Thursday. There are old-established local shops, two Supermarkets in the centre of the town and various multiples, including Boots.
Banks & building societies
Branches of Lloyds and Nationwide with agencies for The Yorkshire Building Society.
Churches
There are a number of churches, of several denominations, in Swanage: St Mary's Anglican Church and three more Anglican Churches, Emmanuel Baptist Church, a Quakers' meeting, Roman Catholic, Salvation Army and United Reformed Church.
The Isle of Purbeck
The Isle of Purbeck is renowned as one of the most charming parts of England and is designated as an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, covering some sixty square miles of unspoiled country which abounds with heath, woodlands, and rolling hills, and many places of historic interest.
It is surrounded on almost all sides by water and has some of the finest and most contrasting scenery in Europe. It enjoys a Jurassic coast and is part of England’s only World Heritage Site boasting dramatic coastline and lovely beaches.
Villages in the Isle of Purbeck
Acton
A stone quarrying hamlet neighboring Langton Matravers and with access to a well-liked walk to the Heritage Coastline at Dancing Ledge popular for fishing, swimming and sun bathing.
Church Knowle
A pretty village with a 13th century church, and an Inn with restaurant.
Corfe Castle
As well as the well known castle ruins, it is acknowledged as being one of the most picturesque villages in Dorset, situated between two ranges of undulating hills and dominated by the ruins of the medieval Norman Castle, after which it is named. The majority of properties are built from local Purbeck stone. There are several local shops, sub Post Office, Parish Church and Inns.
Harmans Cross
Enjoys some panoramic views and rural surroundings. It has a modern Village Hall and two garages with convenience stores.
Kingston
A small village situated in an elevated position surrounded by woods. Similar to other Purbeck villages, most of the properties are built of local stone. It has a well-known Inn which also offers catering.
Langton Matravers
An attractive village consisting of old Purbeck stone cottages & houses and post-War properties. There is a Parish church and two inns, one operating a local convenience store.
Studland
Boasts large areas of heathland owned by The National Trust. Local shop incorporating sub-Post Office, Parish Church, Social Club and Inn. One of the very few unspoilt coastal villages in the South with a long and safe, sandy beach, which is extremely popular with sunbathers and backs on to dunes and heathland. The Shell Bay Sandbanks Chain Ferry, links Studland to the Sandbanks Peninsular and thereon to Poole and Bournemouth.
Worth Matravers
Picture postcard village with duck pond and quaint Purbeck stone cottages. It is unspoilt and a favourite with those seeking a peaceful retreat in stunning surroundings and perfectly located for coastal walks. It has a Parish Church & Inn.
Oliver Miles is an independent Chartered Surveyors & Estate Agents focussing on the selling, letting and valuation of residential and commercial properties in Swanage and the Isle of Purbeck. We have over fifty years of experience and offer high-quality marketing and a professional, honest and friendly service. We are members of:
RICS: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
ISVA: Independent Surveyors & Valuers Association
The Property Ombudsman (Sales)
We will arrange a mutually convenient time to inspect your property, measure and take internal and external photographs. We then prepare particulars/brochures.
Details will then be e-mailed, or posted, to all potential buyers. We will also contact “hot” buyers by phone. We advertise all our properties on Rightmove and OnTheMarket throughout the UK.
We accompany prospective buyers on viewings and provide you with feedback. We will then negotiate on your behalf to achieve the best price. Once a sale is agreed upon, our team keep the transaction on track, liaising between the various parties. This enables your sale to be completed as swiftly and smoothly as possible.
For information about letting with Oliver Miles please see below.
Our thanks go to Oliver Miles and his team in assisting us to find and buy our new home.
They contacted us to alert us to the availability of the property and then with great care and knowledge guided us through our purchase and were pleased to help us every step of our journey.
Peter and Emma, Swanage.
Thanks to all of the team at Oliver Miles for making the sale of our house as smooth and comfortable as possible. Your professional and friendly assistance has been greatly appreciated with easy to understand updates right through the process.
Bob and Merrilyn, Swanage.
Oliver Miles handled the purchase of our new property. It was a long and challenging transaction. Oliver Miles demonstrated great professionalism in progressing the transaction and using local contacts to keep moving things along and keeping all parties informed.
We are very grateful for their help and support and wouldn't hesitate to recommend and would certainly use Oliver Miles in the future. Many thanks to Jackie, John and the team.
I have just sold a property with the help of Oliver Miles Estate Agent. I can't thank the staff enough for their help and support over the last few months.
They have first class knowledge of the local market; they are all very professional, and always friendly and helpful. Jackie in particular was an absolute lifeline to me at times: always supportive and very, very efficient.
I would certainly use their services again, and I would not hesitate to recommend them. They will help to make buying / selling your property so much easier (let's face it - moving is not the most stress-free thing to do!). Thank you all at Oliver Miles.