The Studland and Godlingston Heaths NNR is located on the Isle of Purbeck

Isle of Purbeck

The Isle of Purbeck, not a true island but a peninsula, is in the county of Dorset, England. It is bordered by 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 north. Its western boundary is less well...

 bordering Studland

Studland

Studland is a small village on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It is famous for its beaches and nature reserve. In 2001 Studland had a population of 480, the lowest in 50 years...

 Bay on the South Side of Poole Harbour

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 formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement...

, between Swanage

Swanage

Swanage is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is situated at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck, approximately 10 km south of Poole and 40 km east of Dorchester. The parish has a population of 10,124 . Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks,...

 and Sandbanks

Sandbanks

Sandbanks is a small peninsula or spit crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour on the English Channel coast at Poole in Dorset, England. It is well-known for the highly regarded Sandbanks Beach and property value; Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world...

. Extending to 631ha, it is owned and managed by the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

 following the Bankes bequest of the Kingston Lacy

Kingston Lacy

Kingston Lacy is a country house and estate near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England, now owned by the National Trust. From the 17th to the late 20th centuries it was the family seat of the Bankes family, who had previously resided nearby at Corfe Castle until its destruction in the English Civil War...

 estate. Studland & Godlingston Heath is designated as one of only 35 "Spotlight Reserves" in England by Natural England

Natural England

Natural England is the non-departmental public body of the UK government responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved...

 in the list of National Nature Reserves in England

National Nature Reserves in England

National Nature Reserves in England are managed by Natural England and are key places for wildlife and natural features in England. They were established to protect the most important areas of habitat and of geological formations...

 and is listed as a Site of Special Scientific Importance SSSI

Internationally Important Wildlife Habitat

The reserve predominantly consists of internationally important Lowland heath

Lowland heath

Lowland Heath is a Biodiversity Action Plan Habitat as it is an ancient wild landscape type. Natural England's Environmental Stewardship scheme describes it as containing dry heath, wet heath and valley mire communities, usually below 250 metres, on acidic soils and shallow peat, typically...

 but also has a wide range of habitats including Sand dune

Sand dune ecology

Sand dune ecology describes the biological and physico-chemical interactions that are a characteristic of sand dunes.Sand dunes provide a range of habitats for a range of unusual, interesting and characteristic plants that can cope with disturbed habitats...

, Peat bog, Alder

Alder

Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...

 and Willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

 Carr, freshwater lagoons such as the "Little Sea", and 5 km of the finest sandy beach in southern England. All six species of native British reptiles are found here including the rare and nationally-endangered Sand Lizard

Sand Lizard

The sand lizard is a lacertid lizard distributed across most of Europe and eastwards to Mongolia. It does not occur in the Iberian peninsula or European Turkey. Its distribution is often patchy....

 and Smooth Snake

Smooth Snake

Coronella austriaca is a harmless colubrid species found in northern and central Europe, but also as far east as northern Iran. The EMBL currently recognizes three subspecies, including the typical form described here.-Description:Both sexes grow to an average length of about 50 cm...

.

The Reserve is a notable stronghold of the rare Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

The Dartford Warbler, Sylvia undata, is a typical warbler from the warmer parts of western Europe, and northwestern Africa. Its breeding range lies west of a line from southern England to the heel of Italy...

 which has successfully survived in this corner of Dorset when nearly wiped out elsewhere in Southern England by prolonged periods of extreme winter cold.

Ancient History

The Reserve also features many prehistoric remains of man's activity in the area pre-dating Roman times, indicated on the OS maps as Tumulus

Tumulus

A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

. The reserve also contains the mysterious standing stone known as the Agglestone Rock

Agglestone Rock

Agglestone Rock is a sandstone block of about 400 tonnes weight, perched on a conical hill, approximately 1 mile from the village of Studland, south Dorset Legend has it that the devil threw the rock from the Isle of Wight with the intention of hitting Corfe Castle.-Geology:The rock is an "eroded...

.

Fire Risk

The reserve is notoriously prone to catching fire during hot, dry spells in summer, and huge areas have been successively devastated and regenerated in the past.
The area was also used in the run-up to D-Day

D-Day

D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...

 as a training area for the assault troops and as a bombing and strafing range by the Royal Air Force.

Access

The reserve is open to visitors all the year round.
Access is either via the Sandbanks Ferry

Sandbanks Ferry

Sandbanks Ferry is a vehicular chain ferry which crosses the entrance of Poole Harbour in the English county of Dorset. The route runs from Sandbanks to Studland and in doing so connects the coastal parts of the towns of Bournemouth and Poole with Swanage and the Isle of Purbeck...

 fom South Haven Point to Poole

Poole

Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...

 and Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...

, or via the A351 road through Wareham. There is a mainline rail service by South West Trains

South West Trains

South West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...

 to Wareham, and during the summer the Swanage Railway

Swanage Railway

The Swanage Railway is a long heritage railway in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England. The railway follows the route of the Purbeck branch line between Norden railway station, Corfe Castle railway station, Harman's Cross railway station, Herston Halt railway station and Swanage...

 steam rail service operates from Wareham to Swanage via Corfe Castle. Local Bus services on the Wareham - Swanage - South Haven Point circuit are provided by the Wilts & Dorset Bus Company. There is accommodation and other visitor facilities in Studland

Studland

Studland is a small village on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It is famous for its beaches and nature reserve. In 2001 Studland had a population of 480, the lowest in 50 years...

 village on the edge of the Reserve.

Other nature reserves on the Purbeck Peninsula

Natural England

Natural England

Natural England is the non-departmental public body of the UK government responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved...

 from its local base at Slepe Farm near Wareham, also administers the Stoborough Heath NNR and the adjacent Hartland Moor NNR
The RSPB owns and manages a large nature reserve at Arne

Arne, Dorset

Arne is a large village and civil parish in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England; situated east of Wareham. The local travel links are located from the village to Holton Heath railway station and to Bournemouth International Airport. The main road through the village is Arne Road connecting...

 and the Dorset Wildlife Trust

Dorset Wildlife Trust

The Dorset Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Dorset, United Kingdom. The Trust was originally founded in 1961 to protect and conserve the wildlife and natural habitats of the county. The Trust is headquartered at Brooklands Farm, just north of Dorchester...

 has two reserves at East Creech and also manages the unique Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve at Kimmeridge

Kimmeridge

Kimmeridge is a small village in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England, situated on the English Channel coast. Kimmeridge is about south of Wareham and about west of Swanage and is on the Isle of Purbeck...

 The National Trusts also owns and manages the great chalk grassland ridge of Ballard Down

Ballard Down

Ballard Down is an area of chalk downland in Dorset, southern England.The down forms a headland, Ballard Point, between Studland and Swanage bays in the English Channel, and once formed part of a continuous chalk ridge between what are now west Dorset and the Isle of Wight, part of the Southern...

to the South of Studland as a nature reserve.

Images

Stoborough Heath and Hartland Moor
Studland & Godlingston Heath

Little Sea
Agglestone Rock