Across Swanage, flags were lowered as a mark of respect following the death of the Queen, the UK’s longest-serving monarch.
It was announced by Buckingham Palace on Thursday 8th September 2022 that Her Majesty had died peacefully at Balmoral. She was 96 and had reigned for 70 years after ascending the throne in 1952.
Along the seafront the flags were lowered
Flags were lowered to half mast
From Swanage Town Hall and St Mary’s Church to Swanage’s seafront and lifeboat station, flags were lowered to half mast as the light began to fade and the sun started to set.
On Friday 9th September 2022 church bells will be tolled for one hour from 12 noon with prayers being said in churches across Purbeck as the nation enters a period of mourning.
St Mary’s Church on Church Hill in Swanage
The Royal British Legion in Swanage
Dorset stage of The Tour of Britain cycle race cancelled
Events are likely to be scaled back, postponed or cancelled. The Tour of Britain cycle race that was to pass through Purbeck on Saturday 10th September 2022 has already announced that the last three stages have been cancelled as a mark of respect and also due to the reassignment of police resources.
The Swanage Folk Festival that takes place from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th September 2022 issued a statement:
“The Swanage Folk Festival wishes to offer the Royal Family its sincere condolences on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
“The committee will show its deepest respect by holding a two minute silence at the beginning of every session and at the start of the Dance Procession, throughout the festival.”
Swanage Pier
Swanage Lifeboat Station
“We have all lost a unique, loving and determined Monarch”
Leading the tributes in Dorset was Angus Campbell, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Dorset. He said:
“The country is in deep mourning following the loss of Her Majesty. All our thoughts are with the members of the Royal Family at this most difficult time.
“Whilst still a Princess, on her twenty-first birthday, Her Majesty broadcast a declaration to the country and the Commonwealth which included the words:
“‘I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.’
“Those words encapsulate the love, service and pure strength of character with which Her Majesty has led the monarchy of Great Britain and the Commonwealth over her extraordinary seventy-year reign. It is so special to see the words of a twenty-one-year-old Princess so perfectly foreshadowing her long life of dedicated service to us all.
“We have all lost a unique, loving and determined Monarch who has, over seventy years, not only delivered the extraordinary, devoted service and support she promised at such an early age, but given us so very much more besides.
“Our loss is incalculable.”
In 1997 the Queen rode in The Tank Museum’s Rolls Royce armoured car
The Queen officially opened the newly redeveloped Tank Museum in 2009
Visited Bovington and Poole
While there is no record that the Queen ever came to Swanage, she did visit the Tank Museum in Bovington on two occasions.
In 1997 Her Majesty rode in The Tank Museum’s Rolls Royce armoured car as she reviewed a guard of honour to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Cambrai. In 2009 she returned with The Duke of Edinburgh to officially open the newly redeveloped museum.
The Queen also officially opened the RNLI College in Poole on 28th July 2004. On the day, 233 lifeboat coxswains and senior helms – one from every RNLI lifeboat station across the UK and Ireland including Swanage – attended the event.
The Queen officially opened the RNLI College in Poole on 28th July 2004
“She has been an inspiration to us all”
Chair of Dorset Council councillor Val Pothecary said:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Royal Family and the country as we mourn the loss of Her Majesty, and I would like to offer them our heartfelt condolences.
“We give thanks for her wonderful life and years of devotion to serving the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. She has been an inspiration to us all.”
Purbeck House Hotel
Swanage Information Centre
