Old Harry Rocks – The Real Location Behind The Clifftop Murders
Old Harry Rocks is a group of real sea stacks on the Isle of Purbeck coast in Dorset, between Studland and Swanage, and the setting for The Clifftop Murders, book 2 in my Dorset Crime series. Here's how a very wet day waiting for a rainbow inspired the book's opening scene.
Where are Old Harry Rocks?
Old Harry Rocks stand on the Purbeck coast path between Swanage and Studland. One of the best ways to reach them is on foot: walk from Corfe Castle up Rollington Hill, then carry on along the Purbeck Way towards Swanage. If you think you've already seen the best of the views, you're about to get a nice surprise.
The walk towards Old Harry Rocks is beautiful. It's a gentle uphill walk, the ground rising as you approach the sea. And despite the number of people who walk that route, there's plenty of space and plenty of wildlife. When I walked the path in May 2021, I sat down to take in the surroundings and spotted a skylark racing into the sky just a few metres away.
On a clear day, the Needles on the Isle of Wight are easily visible from Purbeck. I have childhood memories of looking across the sea at them from the beach at Swanage. If you get the right angle, you can even get a photo of them in the distance, with Old Harry Rocks in the foreground. And you get a real sense of the geology as you walk along the limestone towards the view of the Needles (also formed of limestone), with the redder rocks of the Jurassic Coast and Swanage off to your right.
Waiting for a rainbow at Old Harry Rocks
The view of the rocks, and my attempts to capture it on camera during an excursion to Studland back in 2013, inspired the opening scene of The Clifftop Murders.
My children were very young, and I'd decided I needed a weekend to myself in the countryside. So I made for the Isle of Purbeck. Foolishly, I'd chosen to camp – and to carry my tent on my back. The less said about that, the better.
On the second day, I was determined to get a photo of Old Harry Rocks. So I left Swanage on the bus (leaving my tent in Corfe to drown in the rising mud) and headed up the coast. The rain was finally easing off, and I thought I'd get lucky.
No such luck. As I headed towards the cliffs from the bus, the heavens opened. The trickle of people heading back along the path from the clifftop to the road became a stream – everyone else was doing the sensible thing, and leaving.
But my next bus wasn't for an hour. And as I approached the clifftops, I spotted the sun shining over Bournemouth in the distance.
If the sun was shining there, then surely the gap in the clouds would move south, and soon be over my head. And that would mean a rainbow.
So I sat down. I picked the driest spot I could find, spread my coat around me (without taking it off, I wasn't that daft), and waited. (I'm not sure if it's a myth that this is similar to what cows do in the rain, but I couldn't help but think of them.) For an hour.
Finally the rainbow arrived, and I got my photographs.
By the time I'd finished, the sun was shining and I decided to take the coastal path back into Swanage. Which I can wholeheartedly recommend.
How does The Clifftop Murders begin?
So when I was looking for a location for The Clifftop Murders, Old Harry Rocks and my day waiting for a rainbow came to mind.
Ameena Khan, who sadly comes to a sticky end right at the beginning of the book, is a keen amateur photographer, like me. But instead of waiting for a rainbow, she's waiting for the dawn. The cliffs in that spot face almost due east, so she'll get a stunning shot of the sun rising over the sea.
Or she would have done, if somebody hadn't pushed her off the cliff.
The clifftop location is dramatic and exposed. It's the kind of place where you can see for miles, where the wind catches at your clothes and the drop is dizzying. Perfect for photography. And, unfortunately, perfect for murder.
Why did I choose Old Harry Rocks?
Sadly, the rocks are eroding fast and there aren't as many of them as there were when I was a child. The main pillar is Old Harry, then there's Old Harry's Wife (sadly without a name of her own) a little further out to sea, and other smaller stacks that are constantly eroding and changing shape.
They're one of Dorset's most iconic landmarks. And like Corfe Castle in the first book, they're a place that's been part of my life since I was small. Using them as the setting for a murder felt like bringing together two parts of my world: the Dorset I love, and the crime fiction I write.
Can you walk to Old Harry Rocks?
Yes, and I love that stretch of the coastal path. The first time I took it, I was small enough to be riding on my dad's shoulders. It's a relatively easy walk from Swanage to Studland, and there are good pubs at both ends and a bus route linking the two. What's not to like?
If you do make the walk, I hope you get better weather than I did that day. And if you don't – well, wait for the rainbow. It's worth it.
Just don't get too close to the cliff edge. You never know who might be watching.
Read more
New to the series? Start with The Corfe Castle Murders, or get the prequel novella The Ballard Down Murder free.
