Kingston (near Corfe Castle)

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DORSET OPC

Blashenwell

Blashenwell Farm:

Corfe Castle is visible in the gap in the Purbeck Hills and beyond this lies Poole Harbour.

© Copyright John Lamper and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence

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Blue/grey and green Purbeck Marble was exploited from this location. It is believed that these quarries may go back as far as the Roman period, and were used as late as the year 1850/80 by G.E. Street when he built the nearby new church at Kingston (Haysom 1998: 48-54).

According to www.roman-britain.org the Isle of Purbeck was a hive of activity in Roman times and there were shale quarries at  Blashenwell Farm and Encombe.

cist-burials in other Purbeck stone were found at Blashenwell, SY 9518 8047 (Royal Commission on Historical Monuments 1952, p. 599).

Blashenwell Farm has also played host to School Camps. In ‘Walking in Dorset’ by James Roberts, the author writes: ‘I have an especial fondness for walks in this area which dates back to school camp in 1973 at Blashenwell Farm at Kingston, for which I owe a debt of thanks to Mike Goode and Ken House. My well deserved report from that camp was ‘If Roberts put half the effort into doing camp tasks instead of avoiding them, he (and we all) would have a better time.’

Past residents

Daisy Stevens. Daisy’s husband Harry Stevens died aged 34 in captivity as a prisoner-of-war on 16 July 1917 and is commemorated at the Swanage War Memorial