Turbary Common is a remaining pocket of the lowland heath that once covered much of southeast Dorset. At roughly 36 hectares, it now stands as the biggest stretch of heathland left in north Bournemouth, combining wet and dry heath, scrub and a wooded valley just off Turbary Park Avenue. Because it's so scarce, the site carries strong protection: it's a Site of Special Scientific Interest, forming part of the larger Dorset Heathlands Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and Ramsar site.
Wildlife
There's a quiet abundance of specialist wildlife on this heath. Small, dark Dartford warblers, strongly associated with lowland heath, nest here, along with long-winged conehead crickets and every one of the six native British reptile species, sand lizards among them. Near the eastern edge, a waterlogged valley mire hosts carnivorous sundew and bog asphodel, and pulls in scarce dragonflies over summer. Conservation grazing keeps gorse and scrub under control so heather and open heath aren't overwhelmed.
The valley mire restoration
For years, the valley mire suffered quiet damage from surface water and landfill drainage pipes running straight through it, which squeezed out bog specialists in favour of common reed. Wessex Water funded a project, completed in 2025, that redirected those pipes to a wooded area downstream, dug a new 170-metre channel allowing water to flow and filter naturally, and cleared the reedbed that had taken hold, alongside a new footpath linking to Turbary Park Avenue.
Visiting
There's no admission fee and barely any gates, you can wander in from surrounding streets on any day of the year. Paths mix sand and hard surfacing, some wheelchair accessible (though a few gates require a RADAR key), while low-lying areas can get muddy after rainfall. Dogs need to stay under close control given the ground-nesting birds, reptiles and occasional grazing animals present. It's a genuinely quiet, unpolished part of the conurbation, worth pairing with nearby Redhill Common, another leftover fragment of the old Turbary heath. For more green spaces and walking routes, see our guide to things to do in Bournemouth.
