Tadnoll and Winfrith Heath | |
Map: | Dorset |
Location: | near Winfrith Newburgh |
Grid Ref Uk: | SY 804 863 |
Coordinates: | 50.6758°N -2.2789°W |
Operator: | Dorset Wildlife Trust |
Tadnoll and Winfrith Heath is a nature reserve of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, near the village of Winfrith Newburgh in Dorset, England. There is heathland and wetland in the reserve.
Winfrith Heath is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.[1] The wetland is designated a Ramsar site, and the reserve has been listed as a Special Area of Conservation.[2]
The total area of the reserve is . The chalk stream Tadnoll Brook, a tributary of the River Frome, runs through the site.[2]
The heathland has common heather, bell heather and gorse. Species of birds include nightjar and Dartford warbler, and the silver-studded blue butterfly may be seen.[2]
In the boggy areas of heathland there is sphagnum moss, bog asphodel and sundew.[2] The wetland habitat supports important species of plant and insects including marsh clubmoss and the small red damselfly. In new ponds, colonies of pillwort, a rare aquatic fern, have formed in less than a decade.[3]