Dingle Marshes Nature Reserve

Bittern - Tim Stenton

Bittern - Tim Stenton

Dingle Marshes nature reserve Suffolk Wildlife Trust

By Steve Aylward

Marsh harrier - Andrew Parkinson/2020VISION

Marsh harrier - Andrew Parkinson/2020VISION

Dingle Marshes Suffolk Wildlife Trust

By Steve Aylward

Grey Plover - Neil Aldridge

Grey Plover - Neil Aldridge

Dingle Marshes nature reserve Suffolk Wildlife Trust

By Steve Aylward

Dingle Marshes nature reserve Suffolk Wildlife Trust

By Steve Aylward

Dingle Marshes Nature Reserve

That spine-tingling experience of genuine wilderness is a pretty rare thing.

Location

Beach Road, Dunwich
Southwold
Suffolk
IP17 3DZ

OS Map Reference

TM479708
A static map of Dingle Marshes Nature Reserve

Know before you go

Size
91 hectares
z

Entry fee

Free

Grazing animals

Seasonal cattle grazing.

Please refer to the link in walking trails below for more information.

Walking trails

Do’s and don’ts when walking with livestock       

Difficult access for those with poor mobility. Long distance path with 30% on shingle.

Dingle marshes and Dunwich forest circular walk: (4.5 miles):

Circular walk

Access

Not suitable for wheelchairs.

No drone flying without express permission.
(Permission will only be granted in exceptional circumstances)

If you'd like to visit this reserve as a group, please contact us in advance.

Find out why we ask you to keep your dog on a short lead at most of our reserves and why this is important for wildlife conservation. Why we ask dogs are kept on a lead

Dogs

On a lead

When to visit

Opening times

Open at all times

Best time to visit

April to September

About the reserve

But Dingle Marshes, a 229 acre mixture of coastal and freshwater habitats, moody heathland and atmospheric forest, can get you breathtakingly close. Parking at Dunwich beach, it is just a few steps to reach the mile-long shingle ridge that makes up the reserve’s seaward side, a shifting path bordered by foaming waves and saline lagoons. It is these brackish pools that act as a magnet for wading birds and ducks including redshanks, grey plovers and wigeons. In winter, large flocks of heavily striped twite can be seen here searching for seeds at the water’s edge.

Further inland the reserve’s freshwater reedbeds – the biggest in Britain – support a wide range of bird life, including a significant proportion of the UK’s bittern and marsh harrier populations. Both species show well throughout May, while reed-dwellers like the charismatic bearded tit can be seen hurtling over the path at most times of the year. In summer listen out for the clouds of singing warblers who are protected from the North Sea winds by a large shingle bank that also provides habitat for sea kale, yellow horned poppy and little terns.

This reserve, which is run through a unique partnership involving Suffolk Wildlife Trust, RSPB and Natural England, is a place of dynamism and change. Located a short distance from Dunwich, a place famous for being more of the sea than land, the shingle banks at Dingle have been breached multiple times. It is perhaps only a matter of time before this largely freshwater reserve makes way for the kind of habitat that will support more avocet and tiny starlet anemones.

The four mile circuit, which due to the hard going nature of the shingle takes a couple of hours to complete, also takes in Exmoor Pony grazed heathland before dipping inside a section of Dunwich Forest. Even beneath the mixed canopy it is occasionally possible to get good views over the marshes and a small hide overlooking the reedbed can be reached along tracks within the forest.  This bit of the reserve can be a bit busier but there is still a good chance of seeing birds such as crossbills, goldcrests and siskins, hear singing woodlarks in spring, or spot red deer picking their way through the trees in autumn. Bought with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.  

Contact us

Suffolk Wildlife Trust
Contact number: 01473 890089

Environmental designation

National Nature Reserve (NNR)
Natura 2000
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

Explore Dingle Marshes from the air