Branksome Park

[1] The area covers approximately 360 acres (1.5 km2), mostly occupied by housing, and includes Branksome Chine which leads to the award-winning blue-flagged beaches of Poole.

Branksome Park also has a small public library and is home to the All Saints Church constructed in 1877, and a school for disabled children which is located on the outskirts of the area.

Although Branksome Park is geographically part of Poole, its origin – like that of neighbouring Canford Cliffs, Lilliput and Sandbanks – is a result of overspill of the rapidly expanding town of Bournemouth at the turn of the 20th century.

Situated on cliffs above Poole Bay, there are several small valleys, called "Chines", leading down to the seafront.

The appellation "Chine" is peculiar to the Hampshire and Dorset coast, from Walkford to the Purbecks, and also to the Isle of Wight, and describes a deep wooded ravine, with, or without a stream or brook, leading to the sea.