Lepe Country Park

We are situated on the edge of the New Forest and the whole park is within the New Forest National Park.

Lepe is nine miles south of Southampton, with superb views of the Solent and Isle of Wight. With over a mile of beach, pine fringed cliffs, wildflower meadows, woods and historic D-Day remains, Lepe Country Park is the ideal place to relax and watch the world go by.

This stretch of the coastline also has a series of designations protecting its vulnerable habitats and species, these include:

·         Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation (SAC) which includes the Beaulieu Estuary, the intertidal mudflats and gravel and sand substrates and the saltmarsh of Calshot Spit.

·  Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site covering the intertidal shoreline for wetlands and waterfowl habitats

·  Solent and Southampton Water Special Protection Area (SPA), which covers the intertidal habitats for birds.

·  North Solent National Nature Reserve (NNR), which covers the Beaulieu Estuary and Lepe and possess a range of terrestrial and coastal habitats.

·  North Solent Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Hythe to Calshot SSSI.

·  Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC), a number of SINCs are within the park area.

The shoreline management plan (SMP) for Lepe is as an area of No Active Intervention. This approach was adopted by the Environment Agency alongside local authorities, coastal groups and after lengthy consultation which means there is no planned investment in defending against flooding or erosion, whether or not an artificial defence has existed previously, so that thee coastline returns to a natural state. 

To find out more about the geology of Lepe click here.