Dorset

Hod Hill circular walk

This short walk skirts the ramparts of the Iron Age fort at Hod Hill. Perched high above a meander on the River Stour, if offers sweeping views over the Dorset countryside and is home to an array of wildflowers and butterflies. You will also be able to see the remains of one of the best preserved Roman forts in the UK, built within the earthen walls that were built some 450 years before the legions arrived in Britain.

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Total steps: 10

Start point

Car park on Hanford Lane, grid ref: ST855112

Step 1

From the car park, go through the gate and up the steep grassy field, keeping the woodland to your right.

Step 2

At the top of the hill, go through the gate beside the National Trust Hod Hill omega sign.

Step 3

Turn right (anti-clockwise) along the ramparts.

Wildlife

This walk is great for wildlife enthusiasts. In the spring and summer, orchids, cowslips, birdsfoot trefoil and dropwort stud the grass, benefitting from the thin, dry chalk soils. It's also a fantastic place to see butterflies, with rarities such as marsh fritillary and Adonis blue, as well as the beautiful marbled white in good numbers. Skylarks sing overhead and, in the winter, it's a great place to watch kestrels hunting small mammals and buzzards riding the updraught.

Step 4

The more sheltered woody edge provides a place for butterflies like the speckled wood. There is a constant battle to prevent scrub from colonising the very important SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) grassland and smothering the chalk flora.

Step 5

Keep going for about 218yd (200m).

Step 6

Continue along the ramparts and have a look down to the River Stour on its route from Stourhead to Christchurch.

Step 7

The next section of ramparts is particularly rich in wildflowers including cowslip, common spotted, pyramidal and fragrant orchid, agrimony and clustered bellflower.

Step 8

Turn left upon reaching the corner of the rampart and continue along its top. There's a path here which drops down an old lane to Stourpaine.

Step 9

Keep going round the hillfort and take in the fantastic views over rural Dorset and the Cranborne Chase towards Melbury Down.

Step 10

Go back through the gate you came through and return down to the car park.

End point

Car park on Hanford Lane, grid ref: ST855112

Trail map

Map for Hod Hill circular walk, Dorset — Hod Hill circular walk, Dorset | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey

A brown, orange and cream patterned male Marsh Fritillary butterfly

Trail

Hod Hill butterfly walk

This mile-long trail involves a gentle stroll around the Iron Age fort at Hod Hill, with a special focus on spotting the many species of butterfly that live here.

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Stourpaine, Nr Blandford Forum, Dorset

01297489481

westdorset@nationaltrust.org.uk

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