Wareham Forest Walk - Decoy Heath - geograph

Decoy Heath is an area of open

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

and

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

forming part of

Wareham Forest Wareham Forest is an area of countryside in Dorset, England, consisting of open heathland, including Decoy Heath and Gore Heath, and plantations of conifers such as Morden Heath and Bloxworth Heath. The site is managed by Forestry England for co ...

west of the

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

conurbation in south

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

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 ...

. It is part of the

Dorset Heaths The Dorset Heaths form an important area of heathland within the Poole Basin in southern England. Much of the area is protected. Extent According to Natural England, who have designated the Dorset Heaths as National Character Area 135, th ...

. Decoy Heath is the lower part of Morden Bog, which is a National Nature Reserve, and lies in the centre of Wareham Forest about 2.5 kilometres north-northwest of the village of Sandford to the west of the B 3075. To the east, across the B road is

Gore Heath Gore Heath is an area of coniferous woodland and open heathland forming part of Wareham Forest west of the Poole- Bournemouth conurbation in south Dorset, England. It is part of the Dorset Heaths and an SSSI. Gore Heath lies about 1 kilometre w ...

; to the north, beyond the Sherford River, the land rises up to the open hillsides of Chitten Hill (41m) and to the south to wooded slopes of Great Ovens Hill (37m). To the west are

Morden Heath Morden is a district and town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester ...

, Northport Heath and

Trigon Hill Trigon Hill is a hill on the edge of a clay pit near Cold Harbour, Dorset, on the Dorset Heaths The Dorset Heaths form an important area of heathland within the Poole Basin in southern England. Much of the area is protected. Extent Acc ...

. The

Hardy Way {{Use British English, date=March 2018 The Hardy Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in southern England in the United Kingdom. Length of the Hardy Way The route runs for 354 km or 220 miles. The route The route is named for the writ ...

runs along the western edge of the heath and there is a memorial by the wayside. Wareham Forest Walk - Decoy Heath - geograph

The Decoy Pond and its associated overnight shelter are a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. It is one of only two surviving decoy ponds in Dorset.''Decoy pond and associated overnight shelter on Decoy Heath''
at historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 7 Nov 2016.

References

Geography of Dorset {{Dorset-geo-stub