Dorset AONB Map
The Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers just over 40% of Dorset, stretching from Lyme Regis to Poole Harbour and inland as far as Blandford Forum.
The Dorset AONB area is shown on this map in green and you can find out more about some of the special sites in the AONB by clicking on the icons on the map.
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Iron Age hillfort on the steepest hill in Dorset, with spectacular views.
Former Cistercian Abbey founded 800 years ago, now a family run estate. Magnificent building and gardens.
Iron Age hillfort at the western end of the chalk ridge, overlooking the Marshwood Vale. The hollows in the interior are probably the remains of Iron Age grain storage pits.
Large human figure cut into the chalk hill above the village of Cerne Abbas.
Spectacular Iron Age hillfort overlooking the Blackmore Vale. The locations of Iron Age huts can be seen in the interior, and there is an earlier Neolithic long barrow inside the fort too.
Iron Age hillfort containing smaller Roman fort in one corner, built at the time of the Roman conquest.
The most massive Iron Age hillfort in Europe with high and complex ramparts.
Chalk hill figure of horse and rider created in 1808. The rider represents King George III, a regular visitor to Weymouth.
Early 17th Century hunting lodge set in parkland.
One of Britain's most majestic ruins. Extensive castle remains in a strategic position in the Purbeck Hills.
Monument erected 1844 in memory of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, Flag-Captain of HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. Wonderful views.
Prehistoric stone circle, constructed about 4,000 years ago. The circle is made up of nine stones of varying sizes and is now surrounded by trees.
Part of an extensive 4,000-year-old Bronze Age cemetery.
Remains of a Bronze Age stone circle, built about 4,000 years ago.
14th Century chapel on the hill south of Abbotsbury village. The chapel was used as a lighthouse and has a small turret.
Girdlers Coppice & Piddles Wood
Hazel coppice with oak standards, grassy rides, flood plain meadows.
National Nature Reserve with impressive hillfort. Chalk grassland with areas of mixed scrub.
Extensive Iron Age hillfort with Roman Fort in one corner. Chalk downland.
Chalk grassland and coppice woodland with a good range of flora and fauna.
Chalk downland slope, 10 hectares (25 acres)
Disused chalk pit.
An attractive area of previously managed water meadows.
Ancient meadows, scrub, woodland, bog habitats and hedgerows.
Ancient and semi-natural woodland, unimproved and restored pasture, mixed scrub and plantation woodland, ponds. Old brick kiln.
Broad leaved Woodland, High forest and Coppice with standards, herb rich neutral/acid grassland. (56 acres).
Mainly young woodland, good views, grassland. 8.43 ha (20.83 acres).
National Nature Reserve. Steeply sloping neutral pasture, hedgerows, sunken lane, stream and small wetland area.
Mainly broadleaved woodland, 4.31 hectares (10.65 acres) .
Mainly broadleaved woodland.
Mainly broadleaved area of woodland totalling 17.68 ha (43.69 acres).
Golden Cap is the highest point on the Jurassic Coast at 191 metres and gets its name from a distinctive yellow sandstone.
Abbotsbury Swannery/Chesil Beach
Sanctuary for mute swans originally established by Benedictine monks in the fourteenth century, an ancient site sheltered by Chesil Beach.
Excellent example shingle beach on Chesil Bank, reedbed, wet meadow and scrub.
Saline lagoon (The Fleet), shingle beach (Chesil) view of Portland Harbour.
Large reedbed, open water, flood meadows and scrub attracting a good range of birds all year.
Predominantly a grassland and saltmarsh habitat, with small reed beds and scrub areas at either side.
Stunning Heritage Coast with cliffs and chalk download. Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door is internationally renowned for its coastal scenery, geology and geomorphology.
Nature reserve with wet heathland, dry heath and wet woodland.
An accessible rocky shore with rich marine life. Marine Centre contains displays and aquaria.
Reserve on Purbeck ridge with chalk downland, scrub and woodland. Good view of Poole Harbour.
Dorset's largest working common, spectacular views of Corfe Castle.
Lowland heath and mire, National Nature Reserve, extensively grazed by cattle and ponies. Adjoining farmland is being gradually restored to heath.
Nature reserve with lowland heath. Salt marshes lead to Poole Harbour mudflats.
One of the largest natural harbours in the world, supporting 5% of UK's reed beds, grazing marshes, salt marshes and mud flats.
A tranquil island in Poole Harbour with spectacular views.
National Nature Reserve of dune, heath, woodland and wetland fringed with miles of sandy beach, a section of which is for naturists. Bird hides overlook Little Sea.
National Nature Reserve.
Ancient broadleaf woodland on north side of Purbeck Ridge.
Chalk headland with stacks and dramatic cliffs.
Superb area of coastal grassland and seacliffs, one of the best places in Britain for watching birds and wildlife.
Limestone grass reserve on a former quarried landscape.
The Yeovil Scarplands form the northwestern edge of the AONB, with the pleasant market town of Beaminster to the south. Its character is mixed with the meandering Axe Valley and associated dense 'ribbons' of trees providing a sharp contrast between the surrounding steep isolated escarpments.
The Weymouth Lowlands form a significant coastal landscape in the Dorset AONB, with the chalk landscapes to the north and the coastal town of Weymouth to the east.
The Blackmore (traditionally Blackmoor) Vale skirts the northern fringes of the AONB and is heavily influenced by the imposing chalk escarpment to its south. Its lush clay farmland, with dense hedges and scattered woodlands, provides a sharp contrast to the twisting and incised escarpment.
The Blackdowns form the western edge of the Dorset AONB with a gradual transition to the Marshwood Vale and Yeovil Scarplands to the east. Although much of the area extends into the East Devon AONB, the coastal town of Lyme Regis to the south is a major tourist destination.
The Marshwood and Powerstock Vale
The Marshwood and Powerstock Vales are to the west of the AONB with the vibrant market towns of Bridport to the south and Beaminster to the north. This is an intimate and varied landscape.
These internationally important heathlands form the northern part of the Isle of Purbeck, around the southern fringes of Poole Harbour. With a largely open character, the areas of protected heathland habitats add a sense of wilderness with varying colours and textures.
Many of the AONB landscapes are represented on a small scale in South Purbeck. The huge diversity of the South Purbeck landscapes is largely due to its varied and unique geology, with a rich cultural and ecological interest.
The Dorset Downs boast some of the finest chalk scenery in southern England. This is the largest of the character areas within the AONB, forming an elevated 'backbone' of varied chalk landscapes.