Upton Heath is one of the largest remaining fragments of a

heath 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 ...

that once stretched across central southern England from Dorchester to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and beyond. Today it is confined to an area immediately west of Upton and

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 ...

, much of which is protected.''Upton Heath Guide Map''
at dorsetforyou.com. Retrieved 6 September 2013 From the Heath there are views across

Poole Harbour Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley (ria) formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being th ...

Corfe Castle Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the P ...

and the

Isle of Purbeck The Isle of Purbeck is a peninsula in Dorset, England. It is bordered by water on three sides: the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the n ...

History

On 5 August 2022, a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

broke out on Upton Heath. Investigators believe the fire was started deliberately.

Location

Upton Heath is part of the

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...

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 ...

and covers an area of 205 hectares. It lies within the Poole Basin and is bounded by the village of

Corfe Mullen Corfe Mullen is a village in Dorset, England, on the north-western urban fringe of the South East Dorset conurbation. The village had a population of 10,133 at the 2011 Census. It is served by six churches, four pubs, five schools, a library, v ...

to the north, the

district of Broadstone to the northeast,

Creekmoor Creekmoor is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England, with a population of 9,257, reducing to 9,180 at the 2011 census. Bordered by the Upton Heath Nature Reserve and Upton Country Park, the area is mainly populated by families. The suburb is re ...

to the east, the A35 dual carriageway to the south and the hamlet of Beacon Hill to the southwest.

Lytchett Matravers Lytchett Matravers is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. The 2011 census recorded the parish as having 1,439 households and a population of 3,424. History The name comes from the Brittonic ''litchet'' meaning "grey wood" and the ...

lies about 4 kilometres to the west beyond Lychett Heath and the village of Upton lies to the south over the other side of the A35. The highest point on Upton Heath is the

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

at SY983956, which has extensive views to the south.

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

1:50,000 ''Landranger'' map series, No. 195

Nature Reserve

Upton Heath looking towards Poole Harbour

Much of the area has been designated as the Upton Heath Nature Reserve and is largely managed by the

Dorset Wildlife Trust Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Dorset, United Kingdom. The trust was founded in 1961 as Dorset Naturalists' Trust, to protect and conserve the wildlife and natural habitats of the county. DWT is one of 4 ...

. It is wild, wet and generally unsuitable for building which is why it was not developed as Poole expanded. However abandoned

sand pit A sandpit (most Commonwealth countries) or sandbox (US and Canada) is a low, wide container or shallow depression filled with soft (beach) sand in which children can play. Sharp sand (as used in the building industry) is not suitable for s ...

s and

clay pit A clay pit is a quarry or mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement. Quarries where clay is mined to make bricks are sometimes called brick pits. A brickyard or brickworks is of ...

s reflect its historic use for the

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

and brick making industries.''Upton Heath Nature Reserve''
at dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2013 In June 2011, one third of the heath was devastated by what one source described as the "worst fire at Upton Heath for 35 years". Local people had to evacuate their homes and 200 firefighters were engaged as the fire spread rapidly over a square kilometre. Dorset Wildlife Trust said that the fire had happened at the peak of the bird and reptile breeding season and had put wildlife development back 25 years. Two men believed to be responsible for starting the fire were being sought by police and the

Crimestoppers Crime Stoppers or Crimestoppers is a community program that helps people to provide anonymous information about criminal activity. Often managed by non-profit groups or the police, it operates separately from the emergency telephone number sy ...

offered a reward. In the aftermath of the Upton Heath Fire, an organisation called Heathwatch was formed with local people volunteering to act as wardens. Two men, wanted by police, were arrested as a result of the initiative.''Dorset Wildlife Trust – Heathwatch''
at dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2013

Wildlife

Of particular interest on the heath are its reptiles – all six native British reptile species are found in the dry areas of the heath: the adder,

grass snake The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian non-venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecies are recogniz ...

smooth snake The smooth snake (''Coronella austriaca'')Street D (1979). ''The Reptiles of Northern and Central Europe''. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. 268 pp. . is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in northern and cen ...

slowworm The slow worm (''Anguis fragilis'') is a reptile native to western Eurasia. It is also called a deaf adder, a slowworm, a blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple and hazelworm. These legless lizards are also sometimes called common slowworms. Th ...

viviparous lizard The viviparous lizard, or common lizard, (''Zootoca vivipara'', formerly ''Lacerta vivipara''), is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other species of non-marine reptile, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning i ...

and

sand lizard The sand lizard (''Lacerta agilis'') is a lacertid lizard distributed across most of Europe from France and across the continent to Lake Baikal in Russia. It does not occur in European Turkey. Its distribution is often patchy. In the sand lizard ...

. Resident birds include the

European stonechat The European stonechat (''Saxicola rubicola'') is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a subspecies of the common stonechat. Long considered a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, genetic evidence has placed it and its relativ ...

European nightjar The European nightjar (''Caprimulgus europaeus''), common goatsucker, Eurasian nightjar or just nightjar, is a crepuscular and nocturnal bird in the nightjar family that breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic to Mongolia and Northwest ...

, and rare

Dartford warbler The Dartford warbler (''Curruca undata'') is a typical warbler from the warmer parts of western Europe and northwestern Africa. It is a small warbler with a long thin tail and a thin pointed bill. The adult male has grey-brown upperparts and is d ...

. In addition, the boggy areas support many

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

species as well as carnivorous

round-leaved sundew ''Drosera rotundifolia'', the round-leaved sundew, roundleaf sundew, or common sundew, is a carnivorous species of flowering plant that grows in bogs, marshes and fens. One of the most widespread sundew species, it has a circumboreal distribution ...

and

raft spider The raft spider, scientific name ''Dolomedes fimbriatus'', is a large semi-aquatic spider of the family Pisauridae found throughout north-western and central Europe. It is one of only two species of the genus ''Dolomedes'' found in Europe, the ot ...

s. Local butterflies including the

silver-studded blue The silver-studded blue (''Plebejus argus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It has bright blue wings rimmed in black with white edges and silver spots on its hindwings, lending it the name of the silver-studded blue. ''P. argus'' can be ...

and grayling. Amongst the rare flowering plants on the reserve are the marsh gentian and

Dorset heath ''Erica ciliaris'' is a species of heather, known in the British Isles as Dorset heath. It grows to , and has leaves long, with long, glandular hairs. The flowers are long, bright pink, and arranged in long racemes. Distribution ''Erica cil ...

Access

There is a public car park just northeast of the trig point. Otherwise access is limited due to the difficult terrain. There are

public footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

s along the perimeter of the heath and one along the line of the dismantled railway in the south of the area. Trail leaflets describing walks on the heath are available from Dorset Wildlife Trust.

References

{{coord, 50.750, -2.022, type:landmark_region:GB_dim:3000, display=title Geography of Dorset Protected areas of Dorset Dorset Wildlife Trust reserves