Pamphill Moor is part of the Kingston Lacy Estate, and is now owned and managed by the National Trust.  It is a mixture of meadow and woodland situated between Kingston Lacy House and Wimborne.  Even though the Moor is so close to Badbury Rings, the geological conditions are quite different.  The main field, traversed along its upper edge in Section 2 of the walk, is Plateau Gravel, but along its lower edge (Sections 5, 6 and 7) it is Reading Beds Clay.  In the area between (which is not walked) lies a layer of sand, also part of the London series of clays.  The Moor is noted for its fine colony of Southern Marsh Orchids; it also has several nice ponds where eleven species of dragonfly have been recorded.

SECTION 1: FIELD UNDER FARM TENANCY  (Length 56m).

Having followed the directions above to reach the start of Section 1, cross over the stile, walk across approximately 50 metres of grazed field on Plateau Gravel to another stile, entering the conservation areas.  This ends Section 1.

SECTION 2: TOP BOUNDARY OF FIELD  (Length 304m).

Follow the footpath between Bramble and Gorse bushes around the boundary of Pamphill Moor.  The path passes above a Gorse clump containing an active Badger sett with eight entrances, currently housing five Badgers.  Walk along the top boundary of the field.  The path then crosses two "bridges" (railway sleepers) over wet slack alongside a dry bank with a clump of young English Elm cloned from the original tree, which has been felled long ago.  The bank is noted for a variety of grasshoppers and crickets and several rare spiders.  To the right of the path, the field slopes down to Reading Beds series clays, with several species of sedges and a good population of Cuckoo Flower.  The area around the second bridge has a good population of Southern Marsh Orchid, sedges and some Changing Forget-Me-Not.  To date the plant list for Pamphill Moor has recorded 152 species of vascular plants.  Both Large and Small Skippers are commonly seen here and by late summer large clumps of Water Mint and yellow Common Fleabane are hosts to Common Blues and fiery little Small Coppers.  Soon you will reach a stile midway along the hedge at the far end of the field.  Here you enter the wood.  This is the end of Section 2.

SECTION 3: WESTERN EDGE OF HART'S COPSE  (Length 164m).

Cross the stile and turn left to follow the path through the wood, Hart's Copse is approximately 1 ha of semi-natural ancient woodland with mature Pedunculate Oak, some Birch, Ash and Sweet Chestnut, with an understorey of Hazel and Holly.  Look high up in the canopy, preferably with binoculars, for Purple Hairstreaks.  This is also a good area for Primroses, Wood Anemones and Bitter Vetchling.The path then opens out. This area is very delightful with Bluebells in the spring, followed by Bracken later on.  At the top of the  rise the sandy area has several Fox earths, the downslope is wet slack with Sallow and a good colony of Kingcup.  Windblown or felled trees are left to rot down in the wood and the only extraction has been several mature Norway Spruce of commercial value.  Watch out for male Speckled Woods sitting on their sun beam territories and for the Common Darter dragonfly from late July onwards.  This dragonfly enjoys perching on sunny branches.  The section ends at the stile at the entrance to the north-west edge of the wood.

SECTION 4: NORTH-EAST SIDE OF THE WOOD  (Length 292m).

Follow the path along the edge of the wood, now bordered by a small stream with some interesting ferns.  This is a good area for Primroses, Wood Anemones and Bluebells, Wood Sedge, Pendulous Sedge, Remote Sedge and Toad Rush are found.The Path crosses a small footbridge to an area where Hazel has been recently coppiced, with top cuttings piled in suitable places to rot down and also to provide nesting cover for birds.  Birds breeding in the wood include Blue Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Robin, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Jay, Carrion Crow, Starling and Wood Pigeon.  Nest boxes of various types have been installed for the birds and also for bats.  Some fourteen Dormouse boxes were put up and, although there has been no signs of Dormice using them, these boxes are regularly used by Wood Mice and Blue Tits.Where the overhead electric cables pass over the wood, standard trees have to be kept clear; the Hazel understorey was last coppiced in 1987, two years after which the area was a mass of Foxglove and Wood Spurge.  Bramble then took over, which is now dying back, and Bluebell will now again be the dominant ground cover for some years, until the next coppicing.   Keep walking until you come back to the stile where you entered.  This ends Section 4.

SECTION 5: LOWER PART OF PAMPHILL MOOR  (Length 220m).

Emerging into the field, turn left and go down the path along the edge of Pamphill Moor, past a fenced pond, which dries out in the summer.  The stream is on the left of the path.  The stream and pond have produced records of eleven species of dragonfly and damselfly.  In May there is the Large Red, followed later by the Azure and the Blue Tailed damselflies.  From June onwards one of Britain's largest dragonflies, the Golden Ringed, can be seen patrolling.   The wet area above the pond has rushes, Yellow Iris, with Southern Marsh and Common Spotted Orchid on the flanks.  The path continues past clumps of Gorse, nest sites for Linnet, Robin, Wren, Blackbird and Song Thrush among others.  The clear areas between the Gorse clumps are the main area for Southern Marsh Orchid, which will normally show up to 1,000 plants in flower from late May to early July.  In the area by a post, number 6, the drier area has plentiful Bugle, Tormentil, Bush Vetch, Knapweed and Sawwort, with some Harebell and Common Centaury.  The path crosses a ditch with iron stained water, showing leaching from Plateau Gravels.  Upstream there is a good colony of Ragged Robin.

SECTION 6: LOWER PART OF TENANCY FIELD  (Length 70m).

Cross the stile into an area which tends to be more heavily grazed than the Moor field.  The Bramble banks on the left are good for feeding butterflies, with Painted Ladies and Commas regularly seen here.  The field slope on the right is permanently grazed, but supports Common Spotted and Southern Marsh Orchid, Betony, Knapweed, Sawwort, Ox-eye Daisy and several sedges.Follow the footpath along the lower edge to another stile and Bruce's Pond.  (Bruce was a dog who got rather muddy).  Look out for the Banded Damoiselle damselflies perched on the Brambles from late May to July.  The males have blue bodies with striking metallic blue stripes on their wings; the females lack the blue stripes and their bodies are metallic green.  The pond is severely silted up, but has Purple Loosestrife, Water Figwort and Greater Spearwort, the latter nearly extinct in Dorset.  The section ends at this stile.

SECTION 7: SHELTERED SMALL FIELD AND VINE POND  (Length 180m).

At the complex of stiles, go over the stile out of the field and over the stile on the left into a small field with a stream as the left hand boundary and a bank with mature Hazel as the right hand boundary.  This bank is massed with Primroses in spring.  Along the side of the stream are several small Alder Buckthorns, which have successfully been planted to attract Brimstone butterflies.  Cross the field diagonally towards the stream and make your way parallel to it to the far end.  The hedge has some Elm which is worth scrutinising.  This field is rough grass with large numbers of magnificent Marsh, Spear and Creeping Thistles, 5 feet or more high in July.  While in flower, many butterflies come to nectar on them, especially the Nymphalids - Peacocks, Red Admirals and Commas.  Return to the stile along the other hedge line, observing the lane on the other side of the hedge.

SECTION 8: SHADY PATH BACK TO THE SCHOOL  (Length 166m).

Cross the stile and follow the footpath up the hill to the electricity pylon.  The bank has Primroses and the field on your left is rough grazed by a horse and a donkey, and has a good population of Cuckoo Flower and some Southern Marsh Orchid.  On your right on the way, note the unusual area of raised bog; here Ragged Robin can be found.  At the top of the rise, pass over a stile and follow the path back to the starting point.