Wytch

Walk

The Isle of Purbeck is carpeted in heathland from the sandy south eastern edge of Poole Harbour to the reed filled exit of the River Frome. It can be dramatic in all seasons, awash with flowers and grasses in the summer and full of migrating birds in the winter. Silver birch and ancient oak scatter the landscape alongside hidden white shell beaches and bird filled mud flats, while calm waters lap the shoreline. The bustling town of Poole can be seen across the water, but does not impinge in anyway on the tranquility this little area can provide. However, the Isle of Purbeck is popular and at times and can become busy, venturing deeper into the landscape guarantees a little more peace.

The National Trust owns a great deal of the surrounding landscape and manages it alongside a number of other conservation bodies including Natural England, the Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB. The heath is grazed by cattle as well as horses, helping to keep the growth of gorse, bramble and bracken down and leaving open areas for the flowers and grasses to flourish. In 2020, just over 8,000 acres of the Isle of Purbeck became the first ever Super Nature Reserve in the country. It is a united effort to ensure landscape-scale conservation and help tackle climate change.

Only a century ago the heathland continued to fill the landscape to the west all the way to Dorchester and was often depicted in Thomas Hardy novels as a dark and miserable place. Yet, despite this barren appearance, activity began many centuries ago with surviving evidence of Bronze Age burial mounds. The Romans would have taken full advantage of the easy access to the water, due to their requirement of salt. The salt industry was extremely important and, as it was so valuable, it was used as payment to the soldiers. This was called ‘salarium’, the Latin word for salt being ‘sal’, and is the origin of our own word ‘salary’.

Salt production continued into the medieval period. In 2019 a large medieval salt production site was discovered by Bournemouth University’s Archaeology department. Evidence unearthed suggested a series of workshops that were both highly productive and efficient and possibly all part of a larger industry owned by Milton Abbey. Evidence also suggests that the workshops were burnt to the ground just before the Norman Conquest.

From the car parking spot, turn right on the road to follow it though the heath. Curve with the bend down into the boggy valley and under the pylon wires to then veer off the road to the right, onto a footpath. Stay on the same path through the heath and turn right through a gate into the woodland. Head down into the valley to meet a little stream and on to the Corfe River.

The River Corfe is one of five entering Poole Harbour (the others being The Sherford River, the Wareham Stream, The Piddle and The Frome). Originally this 9 mile stream was called the River Wytch, giving its name to the nearby farms and the estuary through which it enters the harbour. The origin comes from the old English ‘wice’ referring to the Wych-elm or other tree with gnarly branches, the landscape today filled with modern examples. Crossing the river is the old Sharford Bridge. It sits on an old droveway which would have carried horses loaded with salt, peat or clay from the surrounding quarries and coastline. The bridge dates back to the 17th century and had some alterations in the 18th century, but little has changed since.

Turn left after the bridge to follow the river downstream and round (or over, depending on where the cows are) the hill to join a track. Stay on the zig zag path to approach the fir tree lined oil refinery.

The extraction of fossil fuels has been carried out in Dorset for centuries. Oil shale, a combustible rock which resembles coal and gives Burning Cliff its name, was mined from Kimmeridge since the 1600s, while liquid oil has been drilled for the past 100 years. The Wytch Farm Field was discovered in 1973 and began producing oil in 1979. BP bought the site in 1984 and proceeded to build what exists today. In 2011 BP sold the site to Perenco and today it holds the title of being the biggest onshore oil field in Western Europe. In March 2023, 200 barrels of reservoir fluid were accidentally leaked into Poole Harbour. Any oil leak is a worry but the fact that the oil field is surrounded by Nature Reserves, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Specific Scientific Interest raised more concern. Understandably the leak led to an increase in protests from environmental groups.

Continue to follow the edge of the oil field to a collection of 4 gates. Take the left hand gate on the right hand side and curve with the tree lined path with glimpses of the river appearing on the left. Once out of the trees, stay on the path to a farm gate and turn right to meet a crossroads at the old Wytch Farm. To the left a footpath continues to the harbour but is a little tricky to access around the cottage without feeling intrusive! However, across the fields (and the site of the medieval saltworks) is the water of Wych Lake, Corfe River’s estuary. Beyond are the high-rises of Poole sitting on the opposite shoreline and behind are the hills of east Dorset and the New Forest.

Cross straight over the cross roads to Wytch Farm. Continue past the farm buildings onto a track and up to the next gate. Weave through the boundary and turn right, passing a nodding donkey on the left. At the gate, join an oil refinery road and turn left skimming past the donkey.

The landscape opens up wide with Arne, Poole and its harbour to the left and the wild heathland of Wytch on the right. When the road bends, turn right onto a footpath signposted for Ower, back into the heathland.

Turn left at the way post, following the sandy and muddy path into the trees. Turn right at the next signpost to be completely surrounded by heathland and forest for as far as the eye can see. Turn left at the junction of tracks and continue straight to the end.

On meeting another oil refinery road, turn right and at the next cross roads, turn right again, staying on the same path for about a mile, cutting straight through Rempstone Heath.  

Rempstone estate covers a large area on the south side of Poole Harbour and has been heavily exploited for commercial benefit. Much of it is covered in Corsican pine plantation, marked private and fenced off, providing little access to the shoreline. These restrictions have only added to the estate’s associations with secrets and mystery. On the ridge to the south is Nine Barrow Down where Bronze Age burial mounds of Wessex chieftains (26 known in total, not just 9) lie. On the peak runs an ancient track, known as Studland Road, which connected Corfe Castle to the coast. At the base of the hill sits the Rempstone Stone Circle. It dates from the Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (c.2400-1000 BC). Local folklore claims that the stones landed in their position after being thrown at Corfe Castle by the Devil, a similar tale to the Agglestone on nearby Studland Heath. The stones are hidden in woodland just off the B3351, placed on a small spring that runs under the 18th century Rempstone Hall. The name Rempstone could derive from the ancient family that owned the manor, however, it can also be claimed that the family took the name from the land, where Rempstone derives from the Old English “Hring-Stun” – Old English for Stone Ring, linking it back to the stone circle.

This old route is one of many more modern links through the once active landscape. Industry brought the need for development in transportation with the Isle of Purbeck’s extraction of clay leading the way. Middlebere Tramway, just to the north, was a 3ft 9ins gauge horse-worked line, opened in 1806, connecting the clay pits at Norden Heath to Middlebere Quay, on the fringe of Poole Harbour (Middlebere Farm today). In 1840 the Pike Brothers, William Joseph and John William, to keep up with the competition, built Pike’s Tramway further to the north, over Ridge to the River Frome, downstream of Wareham (extended to the south in 1860). The line was a continual downhill gradient to the water with the wagons run by gravity to then be hauled back up by horses. In 1854 a second line was built on the Isle of Purbeck, creating a port to neighbour Middlebere at Goathorn, the line becoming known as the Fayle’s Tramway, its route running parallel to the south. Despite Fayle’s Tramway finally trumping Middlebere in 1907, the line fell out of use in the 1930s but parts of the route are sill visible in the woods and used by the Oil refinery. Despite being adapted for steam the Pike’s Tramway closed in 1957

The forest itself was not planted until the 1950s. The environment was also much more agricultural with cows grazing the fields. Today, if the land has not been managed back into its naturally acidic environment by the National Trust, it has been turned into Corsican pine plantations.

Stay on the same path, ignoring any diversions. When the main track turns sharply left, continue straight on, through the woods to a gate. Head straight down the hill to enter the edge of Bushey where the track turns to road. Walk between the little streams and farm cottages to a junction and turn right. Stay on the same road, along the bottom of the woodland, with fleeting views of Corfe Castle on the left.

Cross straight over the next road and bear left onto the footpath rather than bridleway. Follow the edge of the wood to a little gate and turn left to merge with the road to the oil refinery. Turn left then right though a gate and bear left to cross over the River Corfe. Bear left again to cut through the boundary and pass under the wires. Turn left, with views looking south to Corfe Castle, to meet another tail of the Corfe River. Climb up the hill to finally get a perfect view of the castle, its little hump centred in the gap of the Purbeck Hills. Continue straight ahead to the next gap in the hedge, marked by a little milestone, matching the stone sat at Sharford Bridge, its information now worn away. Turn right to head straight up to Scotland Farm.

Scotland Farm is owned by The National Trust and is currently home to Scotland Farm Heritage Crafts. Etched into the lintel above the entrance is ‘16PW65’, the date of its construction and the initials of Peter Whefen, the builder. He was clearly doing much better than his neighbours, escaping from the world to this isolated spot, building his farmhouse out of stone (nabbed from the recently slighted Corfe Castle) while, across the peaceful waters of the harbour, the Plague destroyed the town of Poole. The farmhouse has become a museum and is home to a collection of horse-drawn wagons, carts and traditional country crafts.

Walk through the kissing gate and turn left to head down the left hand side of the heavily buttressed barn. Skim past the farmhouse on the left and follow the drive out onto the road. Turn right onto the heathland lane to return to your vehicle.