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Many of those who have passed through Worth Matravers have left their mark on the area and the village has changed
many of its visitors. Today it is a small village, a short cycle ride from Swanage within spitting distance of
the coast.
 The first visitors to leave their mark were the dinosaurs. It is megalosaurus who is believed to be
responsible for what are perhaps the finest examples of dinosaur prints in the country which appeared on the cliffs
between Worth Matravers and Acton some 43 million years ago. Purbeck still has secrets to reveal about this period.
Indeed there is a strong likelihood that a dinosaur graveyard lies off the coast of Swanage buried in the English
Channel.
William Maltravers was the constable at Corfe Castle who left his mark on the village in the 14th century when
he gave it his name. In and out of favour with the powers that were he was a powerful figure in the area. The word
‘Worth’ in this context means ‘Enclosure’ and so it is that this was his land.
 Marks are made in the opposite direction when we speak of the more ordinary folk. William Jeremiah Bower
was the last to work the stone quarries down the cliff at Winspit and he took his name from there being known to
one and all as Billy Winspit until he died in 1966. As time has gone by the quarries have fallen into disuse and
today the main appeal of the village is its remoteness and tranquility. But the quarries have left their mark not
only by the remains of their location but also the dry stone walls which line the landscape.
Worth Matravers is perhaps best visited at about 5 o’clock in the morning on an early summer's day. From the
pond in the village centre you can leave the ducks behind and head over the cliffs. Look out for birds such as
woodpeckers, blue-tits, great-tits and bullfinches. Drop down the valley to Winspit and rest awhile on the rocks.
Here your companion is the sea and the land around you. This is Purbeck.
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