 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2025) |
Parson's Barn is a large sea-level cavern below the Ballard Point cliffs, between Studland and Swanage bays in the English Channel.[1] Ballard Point is the headland of the Ballard Downs, an area of chalk downland, on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, southern England.[2]
Parson's Barn lies directly east of Studland, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of Swanage, and a few hundred metres south of Handfast Point and the Old Harry Rocks.[3] Parson's Barn is the largest of several arches and caverns in this location and is 12 metres high at its mouth.[2]
The cavern was once used as a smugglers' cave.[3] A large section has collapsed since then and has been eroded away by the sea. Now only a few chalk stacks, called the Pinnacles, remain.
As the winds blow through the arches during severe gales it results in sounds similar to a ghostly pealing of bells. Legend has it that the eerie sound comes from a ship that had transporting bells to a church in Poole and that sank because of the crew's blasphemy. Legend also has it that Parson's Barn became its name because the local parson was brought here once a month to hold his sermon and to bless the local fishermen and their work.[citation needed]
