Marshwood Vale

Coordinates: 50°46′44″N 2°49′50″W / 50.7788°N 2.8306°W / 50.7788; -2.8306

The Marshwood Vale (or Vale of Marshwood) is a low-lying, bowl-shaped valley of Lower Lias clay, in the western tip of the county of Dorset in south-west England. It lies to the north of the A35 trunk road between the towns of Bridport and Lyme Regis, and to the south of the two highest hills in Dorset, Lewesdon Hill (279m) and Pilsdon Pen (277m). It is drained by the River Char, which flows south-west to its mouth on the English Channel coast at Charmouth. All of the vale lies within the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

There is an electoral ward with the same name stretching from Whitchurch Canonicororum north to Thorncombe. The total population of this ward is 1,717.

Landscape

The landscape of the vale is agricultural and consists of narrow lanes winding between farms that lie amongst small fields, old hedgerows, copses and ancient semi-natural woods. The vale is virtually surrounded by hills, the most notable of which are Lewesdon Hill (279 m), Dorset's county top, Pilsdon Pen (277 m), Dorset's second highest point and site of an Iron Age hill fort, Lambert's Castle Hill (258 m), also with an Iron Age hill fort and spectacular views across the vale, and Hardown Hill (207 m). In recent decades the vale has escaped wholesale ploughing and large-scale agricultural intensification, leading to a landscape that still contains a wealth of wildlife.

Marshwood

Coordinates: 50°47′35″N 2°52′39″W / 50.7931°N 2.8776°W / 50.7931; -2.8776

Marshwood is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated on the northern edge of the Marshwood Vale approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) northeast of Lyme Regis. Dorset County Council estimate that the parish had a population of 310 in 2013. Figures published from the 2011 census are for Marshwood parish combined with the small neighbouring parish of Bettiscombe: the combined population was 346.

The Bottle Inn on the outskirts of Marshwood is home to the world stinging nettle eating championships.

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