Durdle Door

The form of the coastline around Durdle Door is controlled by its geology—both by the contrasting hardnesses of the rocks, and by the local patterns of faults and folds.

[8] Around this part of the coast, nearly all of the limestone has been removed by sea erosion, whilst the remainder forms the small headland which includes the arch.

[10] As the coastline in this area is generally an eroding landscape, the cliffs are subject to occasional rockfalls and landslides; a particularly large slide occurred just to the east of Durdle Door in April 2013, destroying a part of the South West Coast Path.

[14] Similar names in the region include Durlston Bay and Durlston Head further east, where a coastal stack suggests the existence of an earlier arch, and the Thurlestone, an arched rock in the neighbouring county of Devon to the west.

[18] Dorset-born Arthur Moule, a friend of Thomas Hardy and missionary to China wrote these lines about Durdle Door for his 1879 book of poetry Songs of Heaven and home, written in a foreign Land:[19] Shall the tide thus ebb and flow forever?and for evermoreRave the wave and glance the ripple through therocks at Durdle Door?

A 'back view' of the Durdle Door promontory from the east, showing the remnants of the more resistant strata in Man O'War Bay
People on the beach show the scale of the arch. The Isle of Portland can be seen on the horizon.