A Devon Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve
This wet and wild nature reserve provides rich rewards for visitors prepared to take their time and who don't mind a bit of mud!
About the reserve
A series of freshwater springs feeds this reserve. Its wet-peatland was once common here in the Blackdown Hills but is now very rare.
The permanently wet soils mean a host of peat-loving plants still thrive here. Ashculm Turbary is also home to good numbers of dragonflies and birds.
Taking your time
Narrow and uneven paths lead you through heather and purple moor grass. The reserve's plant life may seem pretty uniform, but take the time to look and you'll also see a host of wet-loving species including oblong-leaved sundew, pale butterwort and bog asphodel.
Harvest mice find a home in tall grass stems - look for their distinctive, spherical nests about the size of a satsuma. At dusk barn owls hunt these mice and other small mammals.
Ashculm Turbary has a healthy population of dragonflies. Look for golden-ringed and emperor dragonflies among many others from late spring through to early autumn.
Move with stealth and care and you could be rewarded with the sight of an adder, grass snake or slow worm, while common frogs, toads and smooth newts can also be seen.
Combine your exploration of Ashculm Turbary with visits to our other Blackdown Hills nature reserves, Clayhidon Turbary and Lickham Common.
https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/nature-reserves/ashculm-turbary