Editing Ballard Down

{{Short description|Area of chalk downland on the Purbeck Hills, Dorset, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2008}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Ballard Down
| elevation_m = 162
| elevation_ref = 
| prominence = ''c.'' 65 m
| listing = ''(none)''
| location = [[Purbeck Hills]], [[England]]
| coordinates = {{coord|50.63049|-1.96601|type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SZ025812)|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| grid_ref_UK = SZ025812
| topo_map = [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] ''Landranger'' 195
| map = Dorset
| map_caption = Ballard Down shown within [[Dorset]]<br />({{gbmapping|SZ025812}})
| photo = Barrow, obelisk and bridleway, Ballard Down, Purbeck - geograph.org.uk - 262320.jpg
| photo_caption = The [[obelisk]] at Ballard Down
}}
'''Ballard Down''' is an area of [[chalk]] [[downland]] on the [[Purbeck Hills]] in the [[English county]] of [[Dorset]]. The hills meet the [[English Channel]] here, and Ballard Down forms a headland, '''Ballard Point''', between [[Studland Bay]] to the north and [[Swanage Bay]] to the south. The [[Chalk Group|chalk]] here forms part of a system of chalk downlands in southern England, and once formed a continuous ridge between what is now west [[Dorset]] and the present day [[Isle of Wight]]. [[Old Harry Rocks]], just offshore from the [[Escarpment|dip]] slope of the down, and [[The Needles]] on the westernmost tip of the Isle of Wight, are remnants of this ridge. The [[Escarpment|scarp]] slope of the down faces south, over Swanage, meeting the sea as [[Ballard Cliff]].

The down was an area of [[calcareous grassland]] for up to 1000 years until [[World War II]], when there was a sudden rise in the need for [[arable land|arable]] [[agriculture|agricultural]] land. The down is now owned by the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]], and has largely been returned to grassland. The National Trust allows [[grazing]] on the down to prevent it becoming a natural [[Fagus sylvatica|beech]] [[woodland]] [[climax community]].

[[File:Dorset Obelisk.jpg|thumb|World War 2 plaque]]
[[File:ONL (1887) 1.528 - St Mary Woolnoth.jpg|thumb|The monument in its original position outside [[St Mary Woolnoth]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.swanage.co.uk/the-obelisk/|title = The Obelisk &#124; Swanage.co.uk}}</ref>]]
The [[obelisk]] at Ballard Down commemorates the provision of a new supply of [[drinking water]] for Swanage in 1883. Erected in 1892 by [[George Burt (Britain)|George Burt]], it was taken down in 1941 as it was a landmark that might have aided enemy aircraft during [[World War II]], but was re-erected in 1952.

Ballard Down forms the easternmost part of the [[Jurassic Coast]] [[World Heritage Site]].<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite web | year = 2001 | url = https://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=1029 | title = Dorset and East Devon Coast | publisher = UNESCO World Heritage Centre | access-date = 2007-01-14| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070222211325/https://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=1029| archive-date= 22 February 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref>

The BBC's adaptation of [[EM Forster]]'s novel '[[Howards End]]' (2017) used Ballard Down as a location.

== References ==
<references/>

{{Jurassic Coast}}

[[Category:Isle of Purbeck]]
[[Category:Hills of Dorset]]
[[Category:Nature reserves in Dorset]]
[[Category:National nature reserves in England]]
[[Category:Jurassic Coast]]
<!-- [[Category:Headlands of Dorset]] -->
[[Category:National Trust properties in Dorset]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Dorset]]


{{Dorset-geo-stub}}