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Photo: Edwin Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0
Shapwick · NNR · Open Access

Shapwick Heath

Our verdict

One of Britain's great wetlands and somehow still uncrowded. Flat walking, ancient history underfoot, and birdlife that makes binoculars compulsory.

The heart of the Avalon Marshes — reedbeds, fen and flooded peat workings threaded with flat tracks, hiding bitterns, otters and the 6,000-year-old Sweet Track.

National Nature Reserve at the heart of the Avalon Marshes, with open access on the old peat moors. Dogs on leads for the wetland birds.