Although over thousands of years everybody has surely come and had a look, the only significant building, that we know about has been St. Aldhelm's Chapel which could have been built, very roughly, at the beginning of the twelfth century. Other suggestions do date it earlier, also that it was built on an earlier earthwork which may have been a very small and short-lived occupation. Why such a remote place should be chosen for a chapel is a mystery, but then it is only a small building being some 35 feet square.
  The chapel is over a mile out of Worth Matravers village and does seem a long trek for worshipers from that local. One might surmise there was a small settlement closer to the chapel but there is no evidence for that. It would of course be nice to have a rule-of-thumb to equate the size of a place of worship to the number of people it served, but no such rule exists. A small settlement with a wealthy benefactor could have a large and grand building, whereas a poor and large settlement could have only a minimalist building.

St.Aldhelm's Chapel

  Perhaps there was an ulterior motive. The chapel, named after St. Aldhelm who was the Bishop of Sherborne and died in 709 AD, may have been built as a warning to sailors who were traversing what is certainly a dangerous part of our coastline. The cross on the roof could have been a bell or beacon to warn sailors below, but evidence is lacking.
  It has been considered St. Aldhelm's Chapel was in fact a lookout disguised as a religious building. That possibility is perhaps negated by it's lack of openings. Something that is suspicious however is the orientation which is North-East, South-West etc., where churches and chapels tended to be orientated East, West, etc., for spiritual reasons. This relied on it being architecturally possible, and in this case there is nothing to prevent it. If there were an earlier earthwork with no particular orientation the chapel may of course follow it for convenience.

  If we look at St. Aldhelm's Head from the mariners point of view it was better known as St. Albans Head, after a completely different martyr who had nothing to do with Purbeck or Dorset but was however the first martyr in Britain and of Roman origin, and executed in the 3rd century.
  The Bishop of Sherborne was however responsible for a number of churches and chapels in the Dorchester area and possibly at Corfe, so this could this be a much later celebration of him.

  The building is seemingly Norman, with what some consider a Saxon door. The roof is vaulted and supported by a central pier. Could this be an obscure one-off construction, an early folly perhaps? There are signs of a small one-man enclosure near the door where a resident priest could spend all his time praying for sailors passing beneath, or of course lighting a beacon, or ringing a bell.

  There is a popular local story along the lines of a local family losing a daughter and son-in-law by drowning, and erecting the chapel as a remembrance, and somewhere they could pray for their souls. This supposedly occurred in 1140 and would of course post-date the early days of St. Nicholas's Church in Worth village by some 50 years.
  A popular name for St. Aldhelm's Chapel was also the Devil's Chapel which perhaps suggests something sinsiter and unknown.
  It fell into disrepair over the centuries, to be restored by 1874 by the Earl of Eldon.

  All things considered, we don't know who built it, when it was built (accurately), or specifically why it was built. That aside it is a delightful building at a delightful and scarey location.

  In terms of parishes it is at the very south of the Parish of Worth which extends northwards to Harmans Cross. Worth village is of course a very small part of the parish in both size and population.

Coastguard Lookout       NCI

  More recent years saw 4 coastguards cottages built (1834) and a coastguard station, which although no longer used by the coastguard, is manned part-time by volunteers of The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) which is a registered charity, and referred to as NCI St. Alban's Head. All members are unpaid volunteers and keep a friendly eye over both the sea, and walkers on the Jurassic path.

WWII saw the erection of a radar station which was subsequently bombed.

(return to top of page)

Rev:20080126

© 2008 isleofpurbeck.com

Disclaimer: Whilst we endeavour to ensure the content of this site is correct, we cannot undertake that information you find here, is, or will remain accurate and complete. If you wish to place reliance on any such information you must check it's accuracy by some other means before doing so.