Area

Corfe Hills is principally 94.58 hectares of which 30 hectares is managed, with an additional 5.81 hectares on a site known as Rear of Corfe Hills School.

Site description / habitats

Corfe Hills comprises of three fragments of semi-natural heathland on undulating high ground; the northern block ( also known as Barrow Hill, Rushcombe Bottom ), central block, and southern block.  The central and southern blocks are also known as Broadstone golf course.  2 ponies graze on the north area of the northern block, and 2 on the south west area of the southern block.  Habitats found are;

• Acidic grassland
• Amenity grassland 
•  Bogs pools 
•  Dry acid dwarf shrub heath
•  Flush 
•  Humid heath 
•  Secondary oak / birch woodland 
•  Small ponds
•  Stream
•  Valley mire
•  Wet heath

History

On the northern block there are three bowl barrows, which represent burials during the Wessex Culture of the Bronze Age, and date from between 1700 and 1400 BC.  This marks the first known usage of the site.  Enclosure maps from 1822 show that the ground between the northern and central blocks had been converted to pasture.  Further loss of heathland occurred around 1850.  However, the major loss and fragmentation of heathland occurred in 1859 when the golf course was formed.  Part of the Roman Road runs through the northern block ( Barrow Hill ).

Owners and managers

The three main blocks of Corfe Hills are owned and have been managed by the Borough of Poole since 1990.  The Rear of Corfe Hills School site is owned by Lord Wimborne and is not managed.  The whole site is held and managed as Public Open Space.

Designation

Corfe Hills was designated as a Special Site of Scientific Interest ( SSSI ) in 1987.  It was included in the Dorset Heathlands Special Protection Area ( SPA ), and the wet heath was included in Dorset Heathlands RAMSAR, in Oct 1998. Corfe Hills was also designated as a Local Nature Reserve ( LNR ) in May 2000.  The majority of the site is included in the Candidate Dorset Heathlands Special Area of Conservation ( SAC ).  The bronze age burial mounds are designated as Scheduled Ancient Monuments ( SAM ).