Gore Heath

Wareham St Martin is a civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The parish spreads across a large, and mostly rural area to the north of the town of Wareham including much of Wareham Forest. However the town of Wareham lies within its own civil parish, and the only significant settlement within Wareham St. Martin parish is the village of Sandford on the A351 road between Wareham and Poole. The parish also includes the Holton Heath trading estate. The parish has an area of 29.66 square kilometres. At the time of the 2001 census, it had a population of 2,752 living in 1,146 dwellings. The parish was part of the Purbeck local government district of the county of Dorset. It is within the Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency of the House of Commons. Prior to Brexit in 2020, it was in the South West England constituency of the European Parliament.

Decoy Heath is an area of open heathland and bog forming part of Wareham Forest west of the Poole-Bournemouth conurbation in south Dorset, England. It is part of the Dorset Heaths. Decoy Heath is the lower part of Morden Bog, which is a National Nature Reserve, and lies in the centre of Wareham Forest about 2.5 kilometres north-northwest of the village of Sandford to the west of the B 3075. To the east, across the B road is Gore Heath; to the north, beyond the Sherford River, the land rises up to the open hillsides of Chitten Hill (41m) and to the south to wooded slopes of Great Ovens Hill (37m). To the west are Morden Heath, Northport Heath and Trigon Hill. The Hardy Way runs along the western edge of the heath and there is a memorial by the wayside. The Decoy Pond and its associated overnight shelter are a scheduled monument. It is one of only two surviving decoy ponds in Dorset.

Slepe is a hamlet in the county of Dorset, England. It is located on the A35 east of Organford.

Sandford is a village in the English county of Dorset, on the A351 road some two miles from Wareham and seven miles from Poole. Sandford forms the only significant settlement within the civil parish of Wareham St. Martin, which otherwise covers much of the rural area to the north of Wareham. The parish forms part of the Purbeck local government district within the county of Dorset. It is within the Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency of the House of Commons. Prior to Brexit in 2020, it was in the South West England constituency of the European Parliament. The electoral ward is also called St.Martin, and includes Holton Heath with the surrounding countryside. The total population at the 2011 census was 2,774.To the north lies Gore Heath, part of Wareham Forest, which is the subject of a controversial proposal for gravel extraction.

Organford is a hamlet in the county of Dorset, England. It is located just south of the A35 between Lytchett Minster and Slepe.

Wareham railway station serves the town of Wareham in Dorset, England. It is situated about 0.6 miles (1 km) north of the town centre. It is 120 miles 70 chains (194.5 km) down the line from London Waterloo. On tickets it is printed "Wareham Dorset" to avoid confusion with Ware railway station.

Holton Heath railway station serves the area of Holton Heath in Wareham St Martin, Dorset, England. It is 118 miles 61 chains (191.1 km) down the line from London Waterloo. It was opened to serve the Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath during the First World War. It did not open to the public until 1924.

St Martin's Church, Wareham, sometimes St Martin's-on-the-walls, is an Anglo-Saxon church in the town of Wareham, Dorset in England. It is the most complete example of an Anglo-Saxon church in Dorset.It is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Holton Heath is an area of the parish of Wareham St. Martin, Dorset, England. The area includes a trading estate, on the site of the former Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, (RNCF). East of the trading estate is the Holton Heath National Nature Reserve, currently closed to the public.The area is served by the Holton Heath railway station.

The Royal Naval Cordite Factory, Holton Heath (RNCF) was set up at Holton Heath, Dorset, England, in World War I to manufacture cordite for the Royal Navy. It was reactivated in World War II to manufacture gun propellants for the Admiralty and its output was supplemented by the Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent. After the end of World War II, the explosive manufacturing areas of the site were closed down and some areas of the site reopened as the Admiralty Materials Laboratory. A major part of the explosives site became a nature reserve in 1981. Other parts of the site were converted into an industrial estate; and some may be used for housing. The Admiralty Materials Laboratory was later merged with other departments to become the Admiralty Research Establishment which later became part of Defence Research Agency (DRA) and DRA Holton Heath finally closed in the late 1990s. None of the site is now owned by the Ministry of Defence.

Morden (otherwise Moreden) is a civil parish in the Purbeck district of south Dorset, England. Morden is about 6 miles (10 km) north-west of Poole. At the 2011 census the civil parish had 141 households and a population of 323.As well as the village of Morden, the parish includes the hamlets of East Morden, West Morden and Whitefields.St Mary's Church, Morden, was rebuilt in 1873 except for the lower part of the 13th-century tower. East Morden has a pub, the Cock & Bottle.In the north of the parish, Charborough was anciently a separate manor, hamlet and ecclesiastical parish. The Grade I listed 17th-century mansion called Charborough House or Charborough Park stands in an extensive deer park, and near the house is the small parish church, also dedicated to St Mary, rebuilt in 1775 and Grade II* listed.

Wareham Town Museum tells the story of the Wareham area of Dorset in southern England from prehistoric times to the present day, with a special exhibition on Lawrence of Arabia, who lived nearby. The museum, which is in the centre of Wareham, in Wareham Town Hall, is supported by the Wareham Town Council and is run by volunteers.