Purewell Meadows Nature Reserve

Purewell Meadows is a 14 hectare nature reserve, made up of four hectares public open space, and ten hectares designated as a SSSI. The complex system of fields and ditches presents a range of plant habitats including wet acidic grassland over peat and more neutral damp grassland which are an integral component of the meadows of the Avon Valley.

Wet meadows such as the meadows found at Purewell are a fast disappearing habitat type in lowland Britain. The meadows are dominated by grasses and sedges but also contain a large number of flowering plants. These include Ragged Robin and Devils Bit Scabious. It is hoped that the introduction of grazing in Spring 2005 will help to increase wildflower diversity on the site. Several other Dorset Notable species are present within this area of the site and in the past there has been a population of the nationally rare marsh fritillary butterfly present.