Located a 20 minute drive from the hotel, Thorncombe Wood offers magical woodland walks throughout its 26 hectares. This pocket of beauty homes rich history and stunning natural wildlife, including dragonflies, ponies and grass snakes.

Lose yourself amongst beautifully raw nature. Take a morning, afternoon or the whole day to explore the woodland and paths beyond. Whatever the season, there’ll always be something new to see at Thorncombe Wood Local Nature Reserve.

This magical pocket of mixed woodland and heath is listed on the Ancient Woodland Inventory.

The 26 hectare mixed woodland and heath site is home to a great diversity of trees including mature Oaks, Sweet Chestnut and Beech. The woodland gives way to Black Heath, an area of heath in restoration with its own herd of Dartmoor ponies. Rushy Pond, famous from Thomas Hardy works, is home to amphibians and dragonflies and a hunting ground for resident grass snakes as well as being a watering hole for the ponies and other wildlife.

Running through the site is a well preserved Roman road. This Scheduled Ancient Monument, would have stretched from Dorchester to Badbury Rings. There are lots of paths to explore both the site and further afield using the local rights of way to Puddletown Forest and Dorchester.