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Looking for a beach with soft and golden ivory sand when in Dorset, visit Studland Bay. There are four different beaches in the bay plus another small beach on the neighbouring bay called Shell Bay. These sandy beaches are, South Beach, Middle Beach (which we feature in an earlier post), Knoll Beach and Naturist Beach.
Knoll Beach
We were on Knoll Beach looking into Studland Bay, see map below for exact location.
Beach Huts
If you haven’t noticed from our previous posts (Saltburn-By-The-Sea and Porthgwidden Beach), beach huts are a popular British seaside icon. They are deceivingly small from the outside but we have seen how beach goers use these creatively packing all the essentials and more into one tiny space. It takes its iconic shape from the Victorian Bathing Machine, a horse drawn wheeled hut that backs into the sea water on the beach to allow its user to bath and change. It was designed at a time when bathing in sea water was regarded as a miracle cure for illness. The sick would be transported to the sea and the hut allowed them to undress and bath modestly.
The bathing machine was first used in Purbeck area around 1810 and was still in use after a hundred year in 1910 when Frederick Percy Dolamore, Dorset’s Borough Engineer, designed the Dorset hut. Both bathing machine and Dorset hut were used together until the bathing machine slowly faded away. The beach huts in Middle Beach and Knoll Beach are way pass their prime with some needing urgent repairs. They look worn-out and battered giving you a feeling like they were abandoned. But we have seen many of them still in use by their owners.
Knoll Beach Book Shop
Unmanned, pay-what-you-can book shop on a beach is a rare find but here on Knoll Beach, we have a small book shop in the style of a beach hut. The Knoll Beach Bookshop is one of a kind. With an honesty box for money, you pick your book, pay what you can and just leave. Run by National Trust, it is a custom built beach house with plenty of shelf spaces for books. It is located next to a small parking lot for cars with trailers and a path to launch their boat or jet skis.
You can see photos inside the bookshop and the honesty box in our other article.
