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Fontmell and Melbury Downs

Open accesson open access land, where the right to roam applies

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Fontmell and Melbury Downs is one of 124 Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Dorset. It is among the largest in the county. The surrounding countryside is part of Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape.

The nearest railway station is Gillingham (Dorset), about 8.7 km to the north-west. Other SSSIs nearby include Sutton Combe and Cranborne Chase.

More places to visit near Fontmell and Melbury Downs

Photo of Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs, a National Landscape in England.Highlight

Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs

You’re inside itNational Landscape near Tisbury

Big chalk downland and old hunting country, with some of the darkest night skies in southern England

Photo along the Wessex Ridgeway, a 136-mile long-distance path running from Marlborough to Lyme Regis, south west England.

Wessex Ridgeway

Long-distance path

The prehistoric chalk line continued — from Marlborough across Salisbury Plain and Cranborne Chase to the sea at Lyme Regis.

2.1 km SE · Wiltshire, Dorset & Devon

Photo along the Hardy Way, a 217-mile long-distance path running from Higher Bockhampton to Stinsford, south west England.Highlight

Hardy Way

Long-distance path

Around Thomas Hardy's Wessex from his birthplace cottage to the churchyard at Stinsford, via Corfe Castle and Lulworth Cove.

5.2 km E · Dorset & Wiltshire

Photo of Shaftesbury, a village in Dorset, south west England.Iconic

Shaftesbury

Village

A hilltop Saxon town famous for Gold Hill, a steep cobbled lane of thatched cottages falling away over the Blackmore Vale.

5.3 km NW · Dorset

Photo of the Dorset National Landscape, a National Landscape in Dorset, south west England.Highlight

Dorset National Landscape

National Landscape near Dorchester

Chalk ridges, quiet combes and one of the finest coastlines in England, from Lyme Bay to Purbeck

6.8 km SW

Photo of Old Wardour Castle, a ruined castle near Tisbury, Wiltshire, south west England.Highlight

Old Wardour Castle

Castle near Tisbury

Romantic hexagonal ruin by a lake.

9 km NE