About the reserve

Purn Hill is part of the western Mendips, and has panoramic views across the Somerset Levels to the Blackdowns and Quantocks. Purn Hill is home to three plants that are nationally rare or threatened. These are honewort, Somerset hair-grass and white rock rose, which is only found at two sites in the UK - Brean Down being the other one. Ladies bedstraw, dropwort, pale flax, yellow-wort and carline thistle are also found here. Purn Hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and much of the grassland on its slopes is of national importance, found only on a few other sites on the south facing slopes of the Mendips. This site was purchased with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Hemmings Waste Management (through landfill tax credits), and the Alan Evans Memorial Trust.