The Agglestone Natural Rock Feature View all content for The Agglestone

The day was bright and having found a place to park up we set off over the wild heathland behind Studland and meandered our way through muddy lanes and low trees. We’d just stumbled on some of the best cep mushrooms we’d ever found when Mrs. C looked up and suddenly exclaimed “Is that it?” pointing through the undergrowth to a monstrous boulder on the horizon. And there it was, looking completely out of place and out of scale with its surroundings, more like Dartmoor than Dorset. Having lived 3 years of my life in relatively close proximity to this amazing natural feature I was surprised that I’d never heard of it, let alone seen it and I’d been anticipating something much smaller like a gnarled old standing stone. As we got closer we noticed that we weren’t alone. There was a climber there, which slightly annoyed me, and for the first half an hour we had to endure this annoying twat doing the same clumsy climb over and over again. Well I guess that’s what sandwiches were invented for and eventually he got bored and fell off (or did I push him?) and we had the place to ourselves. It really is awe-inspiring in its size and sheer strangeness and really looks otherworldly, like an organic UFO that’s crashed into a small hill. If you’d lived in this area thousands of years ago how could you not venerate it, there’s nothing like it for miles around and it’s set off with that glorious view over Poole Harbour and Brownsea Island. Even the hillock on which it stands doesn’t seem entirely natural, though to be fair there are other smaller hillocks thereabouts, some of them perhaps man-made.

Posted by A R Cane 10th November 2013ce

Comments (3)
I'm feeling the need to stick up for clumsy climbing annoying twats. I was out climbing on the Agglestone the other day when a couple came up and sat there for what must have been half an hour, just sitting there staring at me, eating butties. Really gave me the creeps so I left them to it, waited for them to go then returned. I've been coming here for years, it is my back yard, when we were kids my friends and I used to play round here, I kissed my first girlfriend right here by this stone, clumsily. I could climb over this stone all day long, and have done. There's no place like home.	Posted by postman 11th November 2013ce
Dear Clumsy Climber, I’m sorry to hear that my wife and I freaked you out as, to be honest, we didn’t even think you’d noticed us. You certainly seemed to be totally absorbed in your efforts; so much so that you completely ignored your poor dog which was tethered to the fence and whimpered pitifully whilst you indulged yourself. I had no idea you had such a close attachment to this amazing piece of rock, but I can well understand your love and obsession for it, as it truly is a wondrous thing. Please accept my apologies if we frightened you off, but we photographers are very particular about our light and as it was becoming an ever-changeable day I was becoming exceedingly anxious to capture the stone under the right circumstances and I thought you’d never leave. Now at least I understand your reluctance to clear off.	Posted by A R Cane 11th November 2013ce
Apologies gratefully accepted, but not necessary, I know what you mean about the right light, if it's just so it's like being on a different world. It wasn't my dog, it is my neighbors, we don't get along as he barks and whimpers all day long, he escaped and I found him wandering about on his own so I called the number on his collar and was waiting for his owner to come get him . It could happen couldn't it ? Probably didn't though.	Posted by postman 11th November 2013ce
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