Swanage - The Great Globe in 1986. And How it Came to be There.

            The Postcard

A postally unused postcard that was produced by The Delpool Picture Library in 1986. The photography was by Michael J. Allen and the card was printed by Dolphin Printers (Poole) Dorset.

The Great Globe at Swanage

The Great Globe at Swanage is one of the largest stone spheres in the world. It has a diameter of 10 feet, and weighs 40 tons. It was provided by George Burt, who was responsible for much of modern Swanage.

The Great Globe stands at Durlston Castle within Durlston Country Park, a 113-hectare (280-acre) country park and nature reserve. 

Constructed in Greenwich in 1887 in Mowlem's stone-yard (whose founder John Mowlem had lived in Swanage), it was brought to Swanage by sea. 

The Globe, which is made of Portland stone, consists of 15 segments, with four stones for each of the lower three courses and three in the top-most course. The segments are connected by granite dowels. 

The surface of the globe is carved in detail and lettered to show the continents, oceans and certain more specific areas of the world. 

It was erected by W. M. Hardy in 1887 upon a platform cut into the solid rock of the hill some 136 feet (41 m) above sea level.

Around the globe is a set of stone plaques carved with quotations from English, Roman poets and the Bible, and also various facts about the natural world. These were not completed until 1891. Eight large stone blocks around the globe represent the compass. 

The globe is now protected by an iron fence.

Taken on: February 1, 2025

Tags:

postcard

old

nostalgia

nostalgic

23STG24

Swanage

Great

Globe

Delpool

Picture

Library

Michael

Allen

Dolphin

Printers

Poole

Dorset

1887

Hardy

George

Burt

Durlston

Country

Park

1891

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