Hook Common and Bartley Heath, Hampshire

Hook Common and Bartley Heath are two adjacent areas of heathland, wet and dry, and wood pasture (scattered trees amidst patches of grassland), separated by the B3349, just south of Hook in Hampshire. The place is managed as a nature reserve by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, and is also designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Other habitats are patches of marsh, home to the rare marsh gentian (though this has not been seen in recent years), and some shallow pools, remnants of former gravel pits. The nature reserve is around one mile across, big enough to escape the sights and sounds of the busy surroundings, which include two major routes, the A287 and the M3, both built across the original heathland, which is now only about half of its original area.

Trees are mostly oak and beech. Continuous woodland occupies around half of the reserve, heath and wood pasture the remainder. Other wildflower species of note are petty whin, fringed water-lily and heath spotted orchid. Four of the UK's six reptile species live here - slowworm, adder, grass snake and common lizard, the two absentees being sand lizard and smooth snake.


Another fragment of the same landscape is found 2 miles east at Odiham Common, while the best example is the New Forest. Like the forest, the heath here is grazed by cattle and Exmoor ponies, in order to maintain and improve the habitats, by reducing the spread of scrub and bracken.

The Nature Reserve

Parking is rather limited around the nature reserve; the best place is probably at the north end of Hook Road, where it joins Station Road, on the south side of Hook. Hook Common is west, entered through a gate at the start of a straight track, often rather boggy, that leads through trees for quarter of a mile to a sizeable open area, heath and wood pasture, which is crossed by a few lesser paths, one heading south then east, back to Hook Road. Bartley Heath, the most flower-rich section of the reserve, lies to the east, entered through a gate in the fence opposite a roundabout on the B3349, where it meets Station Road. A short belt of trees gives way to another large open area, stretching half a mile; the most scenic part of the reserve. The heath extends to a disused road, Holt Lane, beyond which, furthest reaches of the reserve are densely wooded.