Blandford Forest is a scattered area of

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

centred to the northwest of the town of

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this ...

North Dorset North Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. It was largely rural, but included the towns of Blandford Forum, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Stalbridge and Sturminster Newton. Much of North Dorset was in the River Stour vall ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.OS Explorer May 117: Cerne Abbas & Bere Regis.

Location

According to the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

, Blandford Forest comprises a number of scattered woodlands around the village of

Winterborne Stickland Winterborne Stickland is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies about west of the town of Blandford Forum. In 2013 the civil parish had an estimated population of 520. In the 2011 census the parish, combi ...

, including Whatcombe Wood and France Down.The Forestry Commission article states that the woodlands comprising the forest are "within a 1km radius of the village of Winterborne Stickland", but this is clearly wrong as there are no significant woods within that circle and some of the woods mentioned are up to 6 km away. More likely it means within a 10km radius.''Blandford Forest''
at www.forestry.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 Feb 2018.

History

The Forest has one scheduled archaeological site: the ancient earthwork of Crossdyke on

Okeford Hill At 258 metres, Bell Hill is one of the highest hills in the county of Dorset, England and a high point on the Wessex Ridgeway. Location Bell Hill lies about 5 miles west of Blandford Forum. The village of Ibberton nestles against its southwes ...

near

Shillingstone Shillingstone is a village and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale area of north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour between Sturminster Newton and Blandford Forum. In the 2011 Census the civil parish had 479 households and a populat ...

References

Forests and woodlands of Dorset {{Dorset-geo-stub