Lovely place
4
4
Date of visit: September 2023
I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Good
I feel others would get more from this place than I could but it was a lovely place with a great attention to detail. There’s not a whole lot here but enough for an hour or two.
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
Lifts good. Ramps good. Paths bumpy: not so good, I had to turn back on the way to the lighthouse and give up. They offer a tramper for hire so we did that instead but I found I couldn’t tolerate that with my muscle condition so that was the end of exploring for us. However we had got as far as the bird watching platform ( see photo) which they have made in glass so I could see out and I saw a peregrine falcon. Well my bird Watching husband, spotted it to be fair and showed it to me so that was lovely and there are so many lovely details in this place. See if you can see the glass etching on the platform for example. Also the ramp that takes you from the car park to the building has a lot of carved messages in it. Taking you from the beginning of the world to the present day which I think is such a lovely touch as these ramps are usually just so functional. There are all sorts of things like this to look for.
Parking & Transport
Excellent
Car park with disabled spots. Very close to centre of Swanage so probably good public transport links.
Accessible Toilets
Poor
A small just about accessible toilet I had a lot of trouble getting my chair in the door and it’s a a small chair with E fix wheels. Not great.
Staff
Excellent
The lady sorting the trailer was great and the lady advising us on where to take it for the best views etc was also very knowledgeable.
Additional Information
The lighthouse is not a place you can actually go to see. The meadows are nice to walk through probably, we too the tramper a small way through. The observatory sounded interesting so that’s for a day maybe.
Comments
s_a
02 Jul 2026
Beautiful venue with interesting history. Paths can very VERY steep and bumpy (take your life in your hands). Some areas marked as inaccessible, car park on a steep hill. Good luck managing your manual chair on that slope
