Holt

About

Several scattered hamlets with wonderful names; Gods Blessing Green and Pig Oak, make up Holt, itself centred around a large green faced by pretty thatched cottages and a traditional village inn.

Holt is recorded in the Domesday Book as the 'foresta de Winburne', a royal chase and forest. Known to have connections with the Monmouth Rebellion, it is documented as the place where Judge Jefferies conducted his first interview with the Duke of Monmouth.

Holt is the only ancient forest in Dorset still to appear by name on the modern OS Maps. In 1985 it was designated a National Nature Reserve because of the wide variety of plants, birds and reptiles living there including several rare species such as the Sand Lizard and Dartford Warbler.