Ian West,

Romsey, Hampshire
and:
School of Ocean and Earth Science ,
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
Southampton University,

Webpage hosted by courtesy of Information Systems Services, Southampton University
Aerial photographs by courtesy of The Channel Coastal Observatory , National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.

Including field studies with the Poole Harbour Heritage Project (PHHP)

|Home, with list of webpages | Field Guide Maps and Introduction| |Bournemouth Cliffs| Harry Rocks, Ballard Point| Sandbanks Sand Spit| Studland, South Haven Peninsula| Swanage Bay| Selected external link: The National Trust.

Click or double-click on images for full-size high resolution versions!
(Browser zoom will not produce good photographs with sharp captions)

CONTENTS:

Part 1: Introduction to Brownsea Island

Part 2: Stratigraphy of Brownsea Island

Part 3: Mining and Quarrying on Brownsea Island

Part 4: Offshore of Brownsea Island

Acknowledgements

Bibliography and References

---

INTRODUCTION:

Location and Access (See the The National Trust, owners of the Island for details)

Brownsea Island, which The National Trust, is most easily reached by taking a ferry either from the end of the Sandbanks Peninsula or from Poole Quay. The Sandbanks crossing is shorter, although it can be difficult to find places to park at times. In summer the ferries depart at about every half an hour. The last ferry usually leaves from the island at 5pm, but check the times when you take the ferry out (or obtain details from the The National Trust).

Note that you have to pay the ferry fare and then when you arrive at Brownsea Island you pay an entry fee, unless you are a member of the The National Trust. It is an interesting place in many respects and well-worth the payment. Note that the castle is not open to the public but the island is an excellent place to explore.

INTRODUCTION:

General Introduction to the Island

Brownsea Island is the largest and most interesting island in Poole Harbour. It is a former hill standing above river valleys when sea-level was lower, and separated as an island when flooding took place during the Flandrian Transgression after the Pleistocene Ice Age, and Poole Harbour was formed.

In the 16th century it was first of significance as a defencive area at the entrance to Poole Harbour. Soon it became important for mineral workings and processing (see Copperas below). Later it was a private island, a type of stately home and park, but with a pottery industry at the eastern end. It had no public access and has retained an almost 19th century character. It became famous for the initation of the Baden-Powell Scout Camps. Relatively recently it has been taken over by the National Trust. More detail on the history is given below.

On arrival by ferry, the Tudor castle, formerly protecting the entrance to Poole Harbour, is seen as a dominant feature. It is now owned by the John Lewis organisation, and used for company holiday. At the landing stage you are welcomed by National Trust staff and toilets and other facilities here. Try to obtain a map of the island because you will need one once you have left the main facilities.

From here you walk westward on the main path, passing a bird observatory. Soon you are on grassy lawns with peacocks and chickens running free, and with pine forest around. The path continues on westward but with various branches. The areas of geological interest are mainly on the south coast, and after a stretch of walking you will find a small branching path to this area. You can then explore various parts of the coast and forest. Few people will be seen and it does give a feeling of exploration on a small scale. Although actually very close to Poole and Sandbanks it seems as though it is quite a remote place.

As you walk through the woods look out for the red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris. Elsewhere in Dorset has been replaced by its larger, tougher and more confident, American relative, the grey squirrel. The grey species has not managed to get on to the island.

INTRODUCTION:

History of the Island

History to 18th Century - after Bennett (1881)

The first incident of note recorded concerning the Island is that Canute landed upon it. Canutus having spoiled the church and monastery of Cerne, took the haven and sailed thence to Branksea. His force, being laden with the spoils of the monastery, doubtless found the little island a safe retreat. Here they could, without fear of molestation, mature plans for further marauding expeditions. The above event is placed A.D. 1015.

In 1154 King Henry II granted to the Abbot of Cerne the right of wreck on the Island. Leland says - " the Island had in it "no building save a chapel only, for an hermit, it longeth to Cerne Abbey." The chapel was dedicated to St. Andrew.

Coupling the King's grant with the Abbot of Cerne building a Chapel and Hermitage, it seems a not improbable conclusion that the duties of the Hermit were not only to attend to his devotions, but also to keep a sharp look out after the wreck. That the proceeds of the grant were worth looking after is evident, for in 1275 Edward 1. granted to the Abbot a patent de wrecca maris here, and this patent was confirmed by inspeximus.

Eighteen years later, in 1293, the temporalities of the Abbot here were valued at 51s. l1d. For some 350 years, then, it would seem the Abbots of Cerne maintained the chapel and hermitage, and looked after the " Wreck."

After the dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII. granted the Island, and the water surrounding it, to John, Earl of Oxford. From that time to the present proprietor [in 1881], the Right Honourable George Augustus Frederick Cavendish Bentinck, M.P. for Whitehaven, counting from the Abbot of Cerne, are eighteen owners or proprietors.

In the 15th year of Elizabeth's reign the annual value of the Island, then probably little better than a sandbank, was estimated at nine shillings, which, allowing for the difference in the value of money, may be called [in 1881] nine pounds.

In the 9th year of the reign of James 1. this Island and the bill or town of Poole, late the possessions of Charles Brook, were granted to Robert, Earl of Salisbury.

In the reign of Charles II it belonged to Sir Robert Clayton, of whose heirs it was purchased about 1726 for £300, by 'Villiam Benson, Esq., auditor of the imprest.

In 1762 the Island was conveyed to Sir Gerard Napier and Humphrey Sturt, Esq., to the last of whom, upon the death of the former, the whole property devolved. "He afterwards," says Hutchings, "made great additions to the Castle, preserving the great hall built by Auditor Benson, and made great plantations of various kinds of trees; manured and cultivated it with different kinds of agriculture with so much success, that this Island, which hitherto had lain rude and uncultivated, covered with heath and furze, begins to receive the improvements of art, and may in a few years repay the vast labour and cost bestowed upon it."

Later History 18th Century to the Present

(Notes to be added)

Baden-Powell and the Scout Camp

The Brownsea Island Scout camp was a boys camping event on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, southern England, organised by Lieutenant-General Baden-Powell to test his ideas for the book Scouting for Boys, extracts of which are shown below. Twenty boys from different social backgrounds participated from 1 August to 8 August 1907 in activities around camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism. Recognised as the world's first Scout camp, the event is regarded as the real origin of the worldwide Scout movement (notes from Wikipedia).

Up to the early 1930s, camping by Boy Scouts continued on Brownsea Island. In 1963, a formal 50-acre (200,000 m2) Scout campsite was opened by Olave Baden-Powell, when the island became a nature conservation area owned by the National Trust. The camp site was on the southern side of the Island and the location is still used for modern scouting activities.

Below are a couple of images scanned from Baden-Powell's 1908, notable book - "Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship" (facsimile edition of 1957).

INTRODUCTION:

Geological Maps

This old geological map is from Woodward (1907). It is useful to obtain the current geological map of the British Geological Survey (formerly the Institute of Geological Sciences), Geological Map - 1:50,000 geological sheet 329 (England and Wales) - ournemouth, Solid and Drift Edition. This is not reproduced here for copyright reasons. The most suitable topographic map for the area is the Ordnance Survey, Outdoor Leisure Sheet 15, Purbeck and South Dorset. Scale 1:25,000.

Melville and Freshney (1982) have provided a good brief and useful introduction to the region. For more details see Bristow, C.R., Freshney, E.C. and Penn, I.E. (1991).

INTRODUCTION:

General

In Poole Harbour northwest of the Studland or South Haven Peninsula is Brownsea Island. It consists of Eocene strata of the Bracklesham Group and includes a small areas of the Parkstone Clay of the Poole Formation but is mostly of Branksome Sand (British Geological Survey map, Bournemouth Sheet, 329, Solid and Drift Edition; Bristow, Freshney and Penn, 1991). It is notable for being on the synclinal axis of the Hampshire Basin and beneath it lies part of the Wytch Farm Oilfield (the Sherwood Reservoir). Some Pleistocene gravel terraces (Terrace 6 and 8) are present as relatively thin spreads of gravel.

On a map of 1857 (Battrick and Lawson, 1978) the southwestern low terrace of the island, just south of the old cliff line, is referred to as "Dark or Allum Clay District". At the western end of the island between the New Pier and the Old Pier is a small area of "Gravel and Allum Clay". It is at the foot of the forested bank near the old mess room and workshops. There are other brickpits, claypits and shafts but alum or copperas is not mentioned elsewhere on the map.

---

"Then, as they walked round the estate, Mary Waugh, who was by the way an amateur geologist, happening to look at the ferrule of her umbrella, told her husband that she thought there must be china clay just below the surface. Colonel Waugh was a director of the London and Eastern Bank in London and immediately saw the possibility of exploiting such a find - if such it was." (Battrick, 1978)

STRATIGRAPHY:

The Parkstone Clay - Grey, Lignitic Clay in the Cliffs

The uppermost, thin unit of the thick Poole Formation (of about 160m thickness) is the Parkstone Clay. This is of Bracklesham age from near the middle part of the Eocene. The Parkstone Clay is only 7 metres thick on Brownsea Island, although elsewhere in the region it can reach 14m or 22m Bristow, Freshney and Penn (1991). The reduced thickness on Brownsea Island may be due to downcutting by the erosional base of the Branksome Sand. The Parkstone Clay is well-exposed in the southern cliffs of Brownsea Island. These are not high cliffs but the exposure is quite good at present.

Examined in detail, the Parkstone Clay can be seen to be a sandy clay with sand laminae in places. The deposit is dark grey because of a rich content of organic matter in the form of plant debris. This grey laminated deposit is easily recognised and present in much of the low cliffs of the island. It is a very lignitic clay and has many plant fragments and some tree trunks in lignitic form. Fossil leaves have also been found in these strata. The Parkstone Clay is very pyritic and, as a result, sulphate minerals are seen encrustations on the surface. The sulphatic water sometimes give an acidic odour.

Many sections on Brownsea Island expose the junction of the Parkstone Clay and the overlying Branksome Sand. This is easily seen and often abrupt. In some place, though, it rather transitional with a progressive increase in sand. Bristow, Freshney and Penn (1991) recorded the following westernmost section at map reference SZ 0104 8798.

Pleistocene river gravel - 1 to 2m.

Branksome Sand

Sand, medium to very coarse grained, tabular bedded on a decimetre scale. About 3m. from the top there is a 0.1m thick brown silty clay underlain by a grit band. Total thickness present - c 5.0m.

Poole Formation - Parkstone Clay

Clay, brown silty, slightly carbonaceous, structureless in part, but also with common lamination. Impersistent sand layers ranging from 0.5mm to several millimetres thick. Scattered beds of fine-grained sand up to 8cm thick also occur. Laminations and thin beds of sand more common towards the base. Clay layers have sharply defined tops and bottoms.

The dinoflagellate cyst Kisselovia cf. coleothrypta was recovered from the Parkstone Clay.

The clay breaks off in layers giving a shaley appearance, except that it is quite soft and poorly consolidated. The laminated character results from sand linsen which occur in a clearly heterolithic sequence. It probably originated on tidal flats in the Eocene delta or estuary. A somewhat restricted environment with freshwater inflow accounts for the lack of typical marine fossils. It also accounts for the lignitic plant content.

The age of the Parkstone Clay is Bracklesham but its exact position is not known in detail because of general lack of marine fossils. It may be Lutetian or Auversian in age. Its facies is like that of the laminated carbonaceous clays of the Marsh Farm Formation (Bracklesham Group) of the Southampton Area (Edwards and Freshney, 1987).

STRATIGRAPHY:

The Branksome Sand Formation (Eocene)

STRATIGRAPHY:

Brownsea Island in the Late Pleistocene

It is of interest to consider the Quaternary history of the island. This can be deduced to some extent from the Pleistocene gravel deposits of the region and the evidence of old river channels cut below the present sea-level (West, 1980). During the late part of the Pleistocene Ice Age, the Devensian, round about 100 thousand years ago the sea-level was about 140 m lower than at present and the English Channel was dry. At that time the local rivers such as the Frome and the Piddle were just the upper reaches of a major English Channel river system that fed into an extension of the River Seine off the French Coast (northwest of Le Havre). The main river in the local region was the Solent River which collecting the Frome, the Piddle, the Stour, the Avon and other minor streams extended eastward around the northern part of the Isle of Wight. This river then swung south and southwestward around the eastern end of the Isle of Wight to head for the extended Seine.

Poole Harbour, Poole Bay etc were areas of dry land and Brownsea Island at this time was a hill about 50m in height above the valley floor. It had rivers or streams on both sides and thus it resembled in some respects St. Catherine's Hill near Christchurch, which lies between the Stour and the Avon. On the north side was the deeper and larger river valley which later was to become the main channel of Poole Harbour. The river flowing here was probably originally connected to the Solent River system but at some time in the late Pleistocene it was captured by a south-flowing river in what is now Poole Bay and this river crossed the Chalk ridge.

Finally, about 10 thousand years ago, the ice began to melt and sea-level rose. The formerly dry English Channel was now flooded in the Flandrian Transgression. More recently, 5 or 6 thousand years ago, Poole Harbour began to form by flooding of the valley systems. Perhaps only a few thousand years ago the seawater finally flooded the shallow area between Brownsea and the Isle of Purbeck separating it as an island.

---

MINING AND QUARRYING

The Pottery Works, 19th Century

The Parkstone Clay (originally know as part of the Bagshot Beds) of the Eocene, Poole Formation Brownsea Island has been worked in the past for pottery. The clay occurs on low ground on the south and north sides of the island, beneath the Branksome Sand. The history of the pottery industry here is of interest. Colonel William Waugh bought Brownsea Island in 1852 for £13,000, a high price at the time (Legg, 1989). His wife was an amateur geologist who noted the presence of clay on the island. A professional geologist, asked to investigate, reported a most valuable bed of the finest clay worth at least £100,000 an acre, but this was an unduly optimistic report. Waught, however, was convinced that fine porcelain would be made and raised money for development. Brownsea Pottery was built at the southwest corner of the island, opposite Furzey Island, and produced pottery, bricks and tiles. There is a good map of this area, made in 1857, in Battrick and Lawson (1978) . A tall chimney above the main set of kilns was a harbour landmark. In the middle of the northern shore was main clayfield where numerous shafts were sunk. There was also a brickworks. A mile-long tramway connected the various workings (Legg, 1989). Waugh had arranged large loans for the enterprise through the London and Eastern Banking Corporation of which we was a director. He also spent large sums of money on other, rather pointless schemes. Unfortunately for Waugh, the bank came to the brink of insolvency and shareholders demanded that Waugh repay the debts. The Brownsea clay had proved unsuitable for fine porcelain and was only of use for terracotta and bricks and Waugh could not make the repayments. He became bankrupt and fled to Spain. In 1870 the island was sold to Augustus Cavendish Bentinck for £30,000. He ran the pottery industry until 1887 with the working force declining from 300 men to only 100 men at the close. (See Legg (1989) for further information and a reproduction of an old etching of the "Branksea Pottery Works".)

MINING AND QUARRYING

Jarosite of the Parkstone Clay

---

(Extract from: Rothstein, Y. 2006. Spectroscopy of Jarosite Minerals, and Implications for the Mineralogy of Mars. By Yarrow Rothstein. Mount Holyoke College. Thesis available online as a PDF file.)

KFe ³⁺ ₃ (SO ₄ ) ₂ (OH) ₆

NaFe ³⁺ ₃ (SO ₄ ) ₂ (OH) ₆

(NH ₄ )Fe ³⁺ ₃ (SO ₄ ) ₂ (OH) ₆

This mineral is normally present as sulphur-like, irregular surface layer or efflorescence of small yellow crystals. The efflorescence is temporary because the mineral is slowly soluble and can be physically washed off by heavy rain or by waves. If it is removed it tends to develop again in favourable weather conditions which probably involve some rain, some oxidation of pyrite and then some evaporation of the surface water film. Without chemical analysis and/or X-ray diffraction it would not easily be possible to identify the variety of jarosite (it is not all K-jarosite in the Wessex coast region). The original jarosite was from Barranco Jaroso in the Sierra Almagrera, near Aquilas in Murcia, Spain ( Ford (1938)).

"Near these [pottery] works [on the south coast of Brownsea Island] are the best illlustrations of the extraordinary proportion of the sulphates of iron, alumina and lime in the clays of the Poole basin or trough. Not only is the greatest portion of the upper bed of clay, to at least thirty feet [approx. 10m.] in thickness, replete with ordinary iron pyrites in every variety of form (termed bv the workmen "mundic"}, but in one place is a vein of considerable thickness of native crystallised sulphate of iron or copperas and so great is the proportion of alum [actually the iron-bearing sulphate - jarosite, not the aluminium-bearing sulphate alum?]; that it not only effloresces but 'forms on the exposed surfaces thick incrustations which constantly peel off to give place to fresh layers and lie in considerable quantities on the surface of the debris at the foot of the bank. The acicular crystals of selenite, too, glitter in the sun at all points, and at some parts the efflorescence has almost the aspect of pure sulphur from its bright yellow tinge" [as seen in the photographs above].

(Dr William Sheldrick kindly drew my attention to this description)

MINING AND QUARRYING -

Copperas or Melanterite Encrustations

Alum and copperas were once important on Brownsea Island. The following extract is from the Brownsea Geology Trail Leaflet produced by National Trust and available from the National Trust Office on Brownsea Island. (The paragraph was reproduced in the Digs Digest, DIGS - "Dorset's Important Geological/Geomorphological Sites", Issue No. 6, July, 2000)

"Copperas is the old name for hydrated ferrous sulphate - a green compound, the colour of which probably explains the name "copperas" by the association of a green colour with weathering products of copper (verdigris). It was used as a mordant (colour fixer) in the dyeing industry, for tanning and in the manufacture of ink and the pigment Prussian Blue. There are records of Brownsea copperas being shipped from Poole to London by the bark 'Bountiful Gift' in 1589." The copperas (ferrous sulphate: FeSO4+7H2O), "iron vitreol" or melanterite, as it is known in mineralogical texts, results from the oxidation of pyrite in the Eocene strata and was common in the Bournemouth cliffs as at Alum Chine.

Copperas is an old name for the iron sulphate, melanterite, FeSO ₄ .7H ₂ O , a monoclinic, green to white, soluble mineral occurring as encrustations on weathered pyritic or pyritic rocks. It is often associated with jarosite. Where it occurs you can often smell the acid and metallic environment. Plants may be killed by the acid water. It is present naturally on pyritic Parkstone Clay on Brownsea Island. Originally in historic times it was probably collected from the cliffs here, at Bournemouth and other places in Poole and Christchurch Bay where it is common on Eocene strata.

---

MINING AND QUARRYING -

Celia Fiennes Visits the Brownsea Copperas Workings in 1682

"We went to a little Isle called Brownsea 3 or 4 leagues off [Poole] where there is much Copperice made, the stones being found about ye Isle in ye shore in great quantetyes,

- there is only one house there which is the Governours, besides little fishermens houses, they being all taken up about ye Copperice works; they gather ye stones and place them on ground raised like the beds in gardens, rows one above the other, and are all shelving so that ye raine dissolves ye stones and it draines down into trenches and pipes made to receive and convey it to ye house; yeh is fitted with iron panns foursquare and of a pretty depth at least twelve yards over, they place iron spikes in ye panns full of branches and so as ye liquor boyles to a candy it hangs on those branches: I saw some taken up it look't like a vast bunch of grapes, ye collour of ye Copperace not being much differing, it lookes cleare like sugar-candy, so when ye water is boyled to a candy they take it out and replenish the panns with more liquor; I do not remember they added anything to it only ye stones of Copperice disolved by ye raine into liquour as I mention'd at first; there are great furnaces under, yt keepes all the panns boyling; it was a large room or building with Severall of these large panns; they do add old iron and nailes to ye Copperass Stones. This is a noted place for lobsters and crabs and shrimps, there I eate some very good".

This is from a description of a visit to Brownsea Island by Celia Fiennes in 1682 (extract from Cochrane, 1970). The visitor, Celia Fiennes was born in 1662 at Newton Toney, Salisbury, the daughter of a colonel in Cromwell's army. She is remarkable for the journeys she made, riding side-saddle through every county in England, accompanied by two servants.

(For more of Celia Fienne's travels see:
(part of) A Vision of Britain through Time. )

Another major area in the past for production of copperas was Boscombe and Alum Chine. The removal of pyrite and production of copperas started rather earlier there than on Brownsea Island. All these localities were exploited under a licence from Queen Elizabeth the First to Lord Mountbank of Canford Manor. For more information on the geology this region please go to the Bournemouth geology webpage.

MINING AND QUARRYING

Pyrite (Iron Pyrites) in the Parkstone Clay

For larger-scale economic use, pyrite used to be collected so that copperas could be produced from it by weathering. On Brownsea Island pyrite was collected and quarried or mined for copperas production. The exploitation started in the days of Queen Elizabeth the First. Large lumps of the source mineral pyrite can be still be seen on the beach. The Poole Harbour Heritage Project is investigating the history including the brick remains of an old copperas plant which is present near to the exposures of the pyrite.

Pyrite is well-developed in various parts of the Poole Formation. This iron sulphide is easily oxidised above the water table, though and thus is not very obvious in cliffs of the Hampshire and Dorset area. It is best preserved at and below sea level, and can be found in places in beach exposures. Large lumps are visible in the Parkstone Clay on the southern shore of Brownsea Island.

It is possible, although not proven, that is at about the same horizon as the notable "petrified forest" of pyrite pipes in Poole Bay, that is known to local divers. It is approximately on the same line of strike.

MINING AND QUARRYING

Iron Cementation from Oxidation of Pyrite

The oxidation of pyrite FeS ₂ , produces, in general terms, suphuric acid from the sulphide and ferric hydroxide from the iron. The iron hydroxide fixes parts of the beach with a rusty cement. Thus, a special type of beachrock is formed in places on the south shore of the Island.

OFFSHORE:

The Harbour Floor around Brownsea Island

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am particularly grateful to Alan Hawkins and the other, very enthusiastic members of the Poole Harbour Heritage Trust (PHHP) who kindly arranged a specific visit to part of Brownsea Island where copperas workings seem to have taken place. I very much appreciate the helpful discussions of the group and I thank Dr William Sheldrick for copies of his paper and other publications. Geological aspects of the copperas site on Brownsea Island are considered here to some extent; for archaeological information follow the activities of the Poole Harbour Heritage Trust. I much appreciate permission from David Cousins to reproduce his excellent macro-lens photographs of jarosite etc from Brownsea Island. I very much appreciate permission to use aerial photographs and the courteous assistance of the Channel Coastal Observatory ,Channel Coastal Observatory, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, Southampton University. I particularly thank Travis Mason for help and advice. I am grateful to Dr. Ken Collins for very helpful information on the pyrite pipes of Poole Bay. I must thank Sarah Gardiner of the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, Southampton University, and whom is researching the sediment budget and geomorpholical history of Brownsea Island, for helpful discussion in the field.

. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES

.
Battrick , J. and Lawson, G. 1978. Brownsea Islander. Poole Historical Trust. 175pp. Hard Cover, ISBN 0 7137 0990 1. By Jack Battrick as told by Gail Lawson. [This has many old photographs, a lithograph of the pottery and its pier (p.17) and a fine detailed map of Branksea Island, dated 1857.]
Extract:
Introduction: Some years ago now Jack looked after my parents' garden in Sandbanks. In those carefree days I longed for Saturday mornings to arrive when I could chatter to him and persuade him to tell me more about the "Forbidden Island". Brownsea Island, his beloved homeland, lay across the thin strip of twinkling sea which separated Brownsea from the peninsula of Sandbanks.
In Jack's stories, Brownsea held a magic all of its own and its owners and workers attained a fascination which enthralled me.
In later years, as Jack grew older, I began to fear that these tales of the life on Brownsea might be lost for ever. Suzanne Sieger and I had been very close to Jack over the years and were able to persuade him to retell us his stories.
This little book is the result. We very much hope that we have succeeded in letting others feel the charm of Brownsea and the flavour of life as lived on the island. If we have succeeded we shall have enhanced the pleasure of a visit to this peaceful and beautiful sanctuary, and we shall be well pleased.
Jack died this year. We are so sad that he did not live to see the book which he had inspired, for he had so looked forward to seeing it in print.
Gail Lawson, 1978

.
Bennett , T. 1881. A Sketch of Brownsea Island. 24 pp. Poole, 1881. By Theophilus Bennett, M.A., Vicar.
.
Betley , J.H. 1982. The production of alum and copperas in Southern England. Textile History, 13, (1) 77-88.
.
Brannon, P. [date 18??]. The Town and Harbour of Poole, the Isle of Branksea and the Surrounding Scenery. Part 2 of: The Illustrated Historical and Picturesque Guide to Bournemouth and its Neighbourhood. By Philip Brannon, Architect etc.. Poole. Published by R. Sydenham, Longman and Co., London.
.
Bigham , J.M., Nordstrom, D.K. 2000. Iron and aluminum hydroxysulfates from acid sulfate waters. In: Alpers, C.N., Jambor, J. L., Nordstrom, D.K. (Eds.), Sulfate Minerals - Crystallography, Geochemistry and Environmental Significance. Reviews in Mineralogy & Geochemistry (40), 351-403.
.
Braye , J. 1890. Swanage (Isle of Purbeck): Its History, Resources as an Invigorating Health Resort, Botany and Geology. 2nd Edition. William Henry Everett and Son, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, London, 119 pp. (John Braye). Price One Shilling.
.
Bristow , C.R. and Freshney, E.C. 1987. Geology of Sheet 98NE and parts of SY98NW, SW, SE and SZ08NW and NE (Arne - Wytch Farm , Dorset). Report WA/87/28.

Bristow , C.R., Freshney, E.C. and Penn, I.E. 1991. Geology of the Country around Bournemouth: Memoir for 1:50,000 geological sheet 329 (England and Wales). British Geological Survey, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 116 pp. ISBN 0-110884377-X. Paperback. (Relevant to Tertiary strata of Brownsea Island.)
.
Bruce , P. 1989. Inshore along the Dorset Coast. Boldre Marine, Lymington. 115p + charts.
.
Brunsden , D. and Goudie, A. 1981. Classic coastal landforms of Dorset. Geographical Association, Landform Guides, No. 1, 39 pp.
.
Calkin , J.B. 1968. Ancient Purbeck: an account of the geology of the Isle of Purbeck and its early inhabitants. The Friary Press, Dorchester, 61pp. With 48 illustrations. Paperback booklet. Price 6 shillings. By J. Bernard Calkin, M.A., F.S.A. [With notes and illustrations regarding dinosaur footprints, fossil leaves, Roman mosaics, Purbeck Marble, Kimmeridge oil shale objects etc.]
.
Canning , A. D. and Maxted, K.R. 1979 (reprinted 1983). Coastal Studies in Purbeck: A Geographical Guide. Printed and Published by the Purbeck Press, Swanage, Dorset. 86 pp., paperback, ISBN 0 906406 07 2.
.
Chandler , M.E.J. 1962. The Lower Tertiary Floras of Southern England. 2. Flora of the Pipe-clay Series of Dorset (Lower Bagshot). British Museum (Natural History), London.

Chandler, M.E.J. 1963. The Lower Tertiary Floras of Southern England. 3. Flora of the Bournemouth Beds; the Boscombe and the Highcliff Sands. British Museum (Natural History), London.

Chandler, M.E.J. 1964. The Lower Tertiary Floras of Southern England. 4. A Summary and Survey of Findings in the Light of Recent Botanical Observations. British Museum (Natural History), London.

Chandler, M.E.J. 1978. Supplement to the Lower Tertiary Floras of Southern England, Part 5. 47p. Tertiary Research, Special Paper 4.
.
Cochrane, 1970. Poole Bay and Pubeck 300BC -AD1660. Printed by the Friary Press, Longmans Ltd., Dorchester. 9pp. Paperback. By Mr. C. Cochrane of Bournemouth, also the author of: The Lost Roads of Wessex. [This is a good book with much useful detail on the area. It has a short bibliography and some maps, both old and new.]

[Example extract - p.9 - The Borders of Poole Harbour, introductory part.]

"Nowadays, in the 1970s, it would be hard to find a vacant plot of land from the Haven Hotel at Sandbanks, where the car ferry plies its incessant passage to Shell Bay, to Fleets Corner beyond Poole, or inland to Wimborne and Christchurch. Westward there is a slight gap between Lytchett Matravers and Sandford (for the lately vacated Admiralty cordite factory at Holton has not yet been turned over to building), but from Sandford the new housing estates run through to Wareham and Stoborough.

Only there, and thanks to the Purbeck landlords, can be found recognition of the open heath that still surrounds Corfe Castle and isolates Swanage; and that till lately provided the rather dreary, sometimes foreboding, background to the entirety-ninety-odd miles - of Poole Harbour. Till lately. . . the peninsula of Sandbanks, the North Haven as it was known, must include today some of the most expensive residential property in all England. Sixty years ago the whole spit of land was on offer for (could it be?) a thousand pounds. That is the measure of it.
Across the harbour entrance from Sandbanks, at Shell Bay or South Haven as is its proper name, there remains mile upon mile of untouched heath, a potential klondyke at which many a land speculator must have pursed his lips. The privately-owned toll road, built with the car ferry in the 1920s, runs from the point towards Studland. An unambitious building or two provide teas for summer visitors. A few houseboats nestle out of sight in a harbourside creek. The walker can wander some three miles along the broad sandy coastline to Studland; five miles, finding his way from track to track, to Corfe Castle; or eight to nine or more in a determined ankle-testing foray to Wareham. Away from the beaches he will meet little company other than an occasional farm or forestry worker, or naturalist. For this is a country beloved of botanists and birdwatchers whose rather pompous "keep off" signs are more plentiful than pedestrians."
.
Dana , E.S. 1932 ed. (early edition 1922, based on Dana edition without Ford 1898), revised by W.E Ford. A Textbook of Mineralogy with an Extended Treatise on Crystallography and Physical Mineralogy. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, 851pp. By Professor Edward Salisbury Dana, late Emeritus Professor of Physics at Yale University, and Professor William E. Ford, late Professor of Mineralogy and Curator of the Mineral Collections, Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University. [This is a version of Dana, E.S. an old classic mineralogy textbook, revised by Ford, W.E., and very good for mineralogical reference, although not with as much information as the full Dana Mineralogy]
.
Dorset's Important Geological Sites Group (DIGS) . 1997. The Geology of Brownsea; Incorporating a Guide to the Geology Trail. 12pp. with a location map. Brochure, 30 pence from the National Trust on Brownsea Island. Prepared by Dorset's Important Geological Sites Group.
.
Diver , C. 1933. The Physiography of the South Haven Peninsula, Studland Heath, Dorset. Geographical Journal, 81, p. 404 et seq. (Classic work on the growth of the peninsula. The key maps of this have been much reproduced elsewhere, and can be seen in Arkell, 1947, for example.)
.
Fiennes, C. 1699. In Sydenham, J. 1839. History of Poole. By Celia Fiennes [also available on the internet, and there is an extract in Cochrane, 1970.].
.
Haigh , M.J. 1975. A biogeographical reconnaissance of the coastal marshlands of Poole Harbour, Dorset.
.
Ordnance Survey , 1:25,000 maps, Outdoor Leisure Series, 15, Purbeck and South Dorset. A specially designed map of this popular recreational area. This is the recommended topographic map for geologists using the area. Aerial photographs are also available from the Ordnance Survey.
.
Legg , R. 19??. Brownsea: Dorset's Fantasy Island. (History of the island, where Tertiary pottery clay was once worked)

Legg, R. 1989. Purbeck Island. 2nd Revised Edition (first published in 1972). Dorset Publishing Company at the Wincanton Press, Wincanton, Somerset. ISBN 0 948699 08 6. 230 pp. (Much useful historic and topographic and some geological information. Short sections on dinosaur footprints, quarries etc).
.
Mansel-Pleydell , J.C. 1888. Meeting at Poole; account of the geology of the district. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 9, xxxv - xxxviii. With notes by Mr. W. Penny.
.
National Trust . 19??, Brownsea Geology Trail - Leaflet. Available from the National Trust Office, Brownsea Island.

.

Ord , W.T. 1910. In: Hovenden, F., Monkton, H.W., Ord, W.T. and Woodward, A.S. Excursion to Swanage, Lulworth Cove and Bournemouth. Report by the Directors. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 21, 510-521.

Ord, W.T. (Dr William T. Ord) 1914. Geology. Pp. 303-356 in: Morris, D, 1914. (Editor - Sir Daniel Morris, K.C.M.G, J.P., M.A., D.C.L., D.Sc., F.L.S., F.R.H.S., President of the Bournemouth Natural Science Society). A Natural History of Bournemouth and District; including Archaeology, Topography, Municipal Government, Climate, Education, Fauna, Flora and Geology. By the Members of the Bournemouth Natural Science Society. 400pp. Published by the Natural Science Society. Sold by Horace G. Commin, 100, Old Commercial Road and Bright's Stores Ltd., The Arcade, Bournemouth. [This is an interesting account written when much was still visible in the cliffs and with some good points not discussed much elsewhere.]
.
Osborne, R. 1999. The Floating Egg: Episodes in the Making of Geology. 272 pp. By Roger Osborne. Pimplico Edition 1999, Pimplico, Random House, Vauxhall Bridge Road, London. First published in Great Britain by Jonathon Cape Ltd. 1998. [This very interesting book does not mention Brownsea Island but provides good information on the manufacture of alum and the alum industry of Yorkshire.]
.
Papike , J.J., Karner, J.M., Shearer, C.K. 2006. Comparative planetary mineralogy: Implications of martian and terrestrial jarosite. A crystal chemical perspective. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (70), 1309-1321.
.
Payne, D. 1953. Dorset Harbours. Christopher Johnson, London. 156 pp with photographs and diagrams. By Donald Payne, with a foreword by Vernon C. Boyle. [See the interesting chapter on Poole Harbour, pp 11-33, with discussion of the pirates, Newfoundland shipping business and pipe clay etc.]
.
Perkins , J.W. 1977. Geology Explained in Dorset. David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 224 pp. ISBN 0-7153-7319-6. A good explanation of Dorset geology with well-labelled diagrams. Out of print but may be obtainable through Amazon.
.
Poole Harbour Heritage Project . See the article below by Sheldrick.
.
Reid , C. 1898. Geology of the Country round Bournemouth. Memoir of the Geological Survey. Sheet 329 (England and Wales). By Clement Reid.

Reid, C. 1916. Ancient rivers of Bournemouth. Proceedings of the Bournemouth Natural Science Society, 7, 73-82.
.
Sheldrick , W. 2006. Poole and the birth of the chemical industry. Dorset Life - The Dorset Magazine, August 2006. 3pp. The Dorset Magazine Ltd. Reprinted by Poole Heritage Project Ltd., 6 Western Road, Poole, BH13 7BN (www.poolemaritime.org). Article by Dr. William Sheldrick who explains how the exploitation of copperas at Poole was the earliest example in England of continuous chemical processing. Copperas is hydrated ferrous sulphate, also known as green vitreol. It occurs naturally in small quantities as melanterite but is usually manufactured. Dr Sheldrick notes that the first large scale plant to produce copperas in England was in Parkstone Poole, in around 1564. In 1535 the greenish crystals of melanterite were being recovered from Durley cliffs near what was afterwards known as Alum Chine. James Blount, 6th Lord Mountjoy had copperas and alum works at Parkstone, Boscombe, Alum Chine and Brownsea Island. See the original paper for further details. [The article has a map, old prints and a photograph of the remains of a copperas plant on Brownsea Island]
.
Short, B.C. 1932. History of Poole. By Bernard C. Short.
.
Strahan , A. 1898. The Geology of the Isle of Purbeck and Weymouth. Memoirs of the Geological Survey. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. 278 pages with a map. (Old classic work with some interesting points)
.
Sydenham, J. 1839. History of Poole. Reprinted by the Poole Historical Trust.
.
Thomas , J. and Ensom, P. 1989. Bibliography and Index of Dorset Geology. Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society. 102 pp. Valuable guide to Dorset geological literature including journal articles, newspaper reports and obscure publications. See also the online version.
.
Torrens , H.S. 1977. Copperice at Brownsea. Geological Curators Group Newsletter, 1 (9), p.449. By Hugh Torrens.
.
Trimmer , J. and Bristow, H.W. [date not known to me - Victorian; Bristow and Trimmer published Geological Survey maps sheet 16 and 15 in 1855 and 1856]. By Joshua Trimmer assisted by Bristow. This is a report on the economic potential of the clay of Brownsea Island. This is a document of a few pages in the possession of Dr. William Sheldrick. It is an assessment of the Parkstone Clay under Brownsea Island for the purposes of manufacturing alum. It provides analyses of the aluminium oxide content of the clay. On the basis of that and wrongly assuming all the alluminium could be converted into alum it estimates that the clay was of great value. I am very grateful for this personal communication from the chemist, Dr William Sheldrick, who has a copy and who has considered it critically.
.
Van Raalte , C. 1906. Brownsea Island. Arthur L. Humphreys, London.
.
Welch , S.A., Christy, A.G., Kirste, D., Beavis, S.A., Beavis, F. 2007. Jarosite Dissolution I - Trace Cation Flux in Acid Sulfate Soils. By Susan A. Welch, Andrew G. Christy, Dirk Kirste, Sara G. Beavis, and Fern Beavis. Chemical Geology, accepted manuscript 2007.
Abstract:
In order to determine trace metal release, dissolution experiments were conducted with a natural jarosite-group sample under a range of conditions relevant to acid sulfate soils. The reaction is incongruent with respect to the Fe3+-dominant octahedral cation layer and other elements that substitute for ferric iron. Transition metals that substitute into the octahedral site are almost entirely retained in the solid phase, although when Fe3+ becomes increasingly soluble, Cr3+ concentration also increases. The solubility behaviour of Rb+ and Sr2+ generally follows that of K+, although the heavier cations are liberated faster in the early stages of the reaction. The REE are also large enough to substitute for K+, but their behaviour is more complex. The REE distribution of the solutions, when normalized to Post-Archean Average Australian Shale PAAS), show enrichments in the MREE in the dissolution experiments, despite the fact that the initial starting material is enriched in the LREE. Mechanisms for LREE and HREE depletion in solution are discussed.
.
West , I.M. 1980. Geology of the Solent Estuarine System In "The Solent Estuarine System: an assessment of present knowledge", N.E.R.C. Pubications, Series C, No. 22: 6-18. The estuaries of the Solent, Southampton Water and of Portsmouth, Langstone and Chichester Harbours lie at the centre of the Hampshire Basin. They are the latest of a series of shallow-water bodies that have existed here since the relatively deep Chalk sea-floor was uplifted about 65 million years ago. In the Palaeogene Period (Eocene and Oligocene) a wide variety of sediments accumulated in shallow seas, estuaries, lakes and lagoons and these frequently contain abundant plant and animal remains. These deposits now exist beneath and around the modern estuaries. After their deposition there was a long phase of folding, uplift and erosion during the Neogene (Miocene and Pliocene). Relatively recently, during glacial phases of the Pleistocene, the valleys of the local rivers were excavated to well below the present sea-level before being finally flooded during the Flandrian Transgression which thus created the modern estuaries. It is the Eocene, Oligocene, Pleistocene and Holocene (Flandrian) sediments of the region that are discussed in this account. .... continues
.
White , H.J.O. 1917. Geology of the Country around Bournemouth: Explanation of Sheet 329 [Geological Survey 1 inch to one mile sheet for Bournemouth]. 2nd Edition. Memoirs of the Geological Survey, England and Wales. Published by order of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury. Printed by J. Truscott and Son, Ltd, under the authority of His Majesty's Stationery Office. 79 pp. [This is an old edition of the Geological Survey Memoir - see also - Bristow, C.R., Freshney, E.C. and Penn, I.E. 1991. Geology of the Country around Bournemouth. Memoir for 1:50,000 geological sheet 329 (England and Wales). British Geological Survey, London, 116p. There is also the first edition of 1898 by C. Reid. Prefacxe to the Second Edition by A. Strahan, Director: "The first edition of this Memoir, which was written by the late Mr. Clement Reid, was exceptionally brief, a general memoir descriptive of the Hampshire Basin as a whole having been at that time in contemplation. Circumstances have prevented the preparation of the larger work, and opportunity has now been taken ot the exhaustion of the stock of the original pamphlet to produce a memoir on the lines of other New Series Sheet Explanations... continues .. Much of the ground has been re-examined by Mr. White in order to bring the memoir up to date, but the map remains unaltered as the edition published in 1895 and colour-printed (Drift) in 1904."]

Copyright © 2008 Ian West and Tonya West. All rights reserved. This is a purely academic website and images and text may not be copied for publication or for use on other webpages or for any commercial activity. A reasonable number of images and some text may be used for non-commercial academic purposes, including field trip handouts, lectures, student projects, dissertations etc, providing source is acknowledged.

Disclaimer: Geological fieldwork involves some level of risk, which can be reduced by knowledge, experience and appropriate safety precautions. Persons undertaking field work should assess the risk, as far as possible, in accordance with weather, conditions on the day and the type of persons involved. In providing field guides on the Internet no person is advised here to undertake geological field work in any way that might involve them in unreasonable risk from cliffs, ledges, rocks, sea or other causes. Not all places need be visited and the descriptions and photographs here can be used as an alternative to visiting. Individuals and leaders should take appropriate safety precautions, and in bad conditions be prepared to cancell part or all of the field trip if necessary. Permission should be sought for entry into private land and no damage should take place. Attention should be paid to weather warnings, local warnings and danger signs. No liability for death, injury, damage to, or loss of property in connection with a field trip is accepted by providing these websites of geological information. Discussion of geological and geomorphological features, coast erosion, coastal retreat, storm surges etc are given here for academic and educational purposes only. They are not intended for assessment of risk to property or to life. No liability is accepted if this website is used beyond its academic purposes in attempting to determine measures of risk to life or property.

Webpage - written and produced by:

Ian West, M.Sc. Ph.D. F.G.S.

.

at his private address, in connection with the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS),and web-hosted by courtesy of the Information System Services (ISS) of Southampton University. The website is an unfunded, private activity, and does not necessarily represent the views of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton or Southampton University.