Great Globe

{{For|the Victorian tourist attraction in London|Wyld's Great Globe}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

File:The Globe, Swanage, England-LCCN2002708139.tif (1890s photochrome)]]

The Great Globe at Swanage is one of the largest stone spheres in the world and stands at Durlston Castle within Durlston Country Park, a {{convert|113|ha|acre|adj=on}} country park and nature reserve.{{cite web |url=http://www.aboutbritain.com/DurlstonCountryPark.htm |title=Durlston Country Park |author= |date=2012 |work=web page |publisher=AboutBritain.com |accessdate=20 December 2012}} It is constructed of Portland stone, weighs about 40 tonnes and is {{convert|3|m|ft|0}} in diameter.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dorset/content/panoramas/durlston_360.shtml |title=Durlston's Great Globe |author= |date=March 2008 |work=web page |publisher=BBC |accessdate=20 December 2012}}

File:2012-07-25 great globe view towards durlston castle.JPG

South of Durlston Castle within the Estate grounds is the Great Globe.Discover Dorset, Isle of Purbeck, 1998, Paul Hyland, p.70, {{ISBN|1-874336-58-X}} Constructed in Greenwich in 1887 in Mowlem's stone-yard (whose founder John Mowlem had lived in Swanage), it was brought to Swanage by sea. The Globe, which is made of Portland stone, consists of 15 segments, with four stones for each of the lower three courses and three in the top-most course, the segments connected by granite dowels.Swanage Rediscovered, 2007, Amberwood Graphics, Stewart Borrett, p.23, {{ISBN|0-9513676-1-7}} It measures {{convert|10|ft|m}} in diameter and weighs 40 tons.{{cite web| year =2010| url =http://www.isleofpurbeck.com/durlston.html| title =The Isle of Pirbeck, Durlston Castle & The Globe| publisher =Isleofpurbeck.com| accessdate =2010-05-01| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100401124201/http://www.isleofpurbeck.com/durlston.html| archive-date =2010-04-01| url-status =dead}} Its surface is carved in detail and lettered to show the continents, oceans and certain more specific areas of the world.Curiosities of Swanage, 2007, Lewer/Calkin, p.23, {{ISBN|0-905868-19-6}} It was erected by W.M. Hardy that year upon a platform cut into the solid rock of the hill some {{convert|136|ft|m}} above sea level.Swanage Past, 2004, Lewer/Smale, p.130, {{ISBN|1-86077-311-7}} Around the globe is a set of stone plaques carved with quotations from English, Roman poets and the Bible, and also various facts about the natural world. These were not completed until 1891. Eight large stone blocks around the globe represent the compass. The globe is now protected by an iron fence.

The globe is a Grade II listed building, having been designated thus in 1983.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1119930|desc=The Globe to South East of Durlson Head Castle|access-date=30 May 2022}}