Castle Bottom Nature Reserve

Visiting Castle Bottom Nature Reserve

This small local nature reserve is often completely overlooked by residents of Eversley and Yateley, nestling, quietly hidden between the two settlements.  It can only be reached on foot, typically from the top of Eversley, past Coopers Hill, near Busta Triangle, following the end of footpath 11 and the whole of footpath 13. Alternative access points are from Footpath 26, accessed via Kits Croft or indeed from myriad paths accessed from the old Blackbushe Airfield.

Whilst there is no evidence of a “castle”, it is believed to contain a Bronze Age burial mound (almost 3,500 years old). These mounds were usually placed in open country, believed to also provide waymarkers for travellers of the ancient footpaths that criss-crossed the land.   

Due to its unique location, at the bottom of steep slopes, it has two valley mire complexes, each with its own small acidic streams running through the centre. Higher on the slopes, the evergreen Shrub Ling is commons alongside pine and birch scrub, before the ever-present Gorse bushes make their appearance at the quarries near the top.

If you ever read the Thames basin Heaths Partnership, Heath Week articles in the Eversley & Bramshill magazine (usually around July each year, see https://www.tbhpartnership.org.uk/ ) you’ll know that Heathland is considered by some to be even more endangered than rainforests, with Hampshire alone harbouring around 10% of the world’s total Heathland habitat. The key risks to this unique habitat include forestry, gravel extraction, transport and property development.

Castle Bottom is a classified “Special Protection Area” as it is one of the most important Valley Mires in Southern England, home to rare bird populations, such as Nightjars and Woodlarks and other wildlife. A small herd of Exmoor ponies are responsible for the preservation and management of the habitat, keeping invasive grasses and undergrowth to a minimum and breaking up the heather structures, in a much more subtle way than we as humans could ever hope.

Through the reserve a clear path with well-maintained steps and walkways allow the visitor to experience this peaceful, magical setting but also indicating the clear bounds of where you can walk (and please keep your dogs on leads), preserving the rest of this unique reserve for all others to enjoy.