Camping in Damerham

Damerham lies within the Cranborne Chase National Landscape, a broad sweep of chalk downland straddling Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset, and it is well placed for anyone wanting to camp within reach of genuinely dark skies and open country. As with the rest of England, wild camping is not legally permitted here without the landowner's explicit permission, so pitching up on the downs or in woodland without asking first is not an option; the honest route is a proper campsite or a farm pitch where the owner has agreed to it. The terrain around the village is gently undulating chalk downland, crossed by old droveways and bridleways, which makes for excellent walking and cycling from a fixed base but means most established sites sit on the flatter ground near the villages rather than up on the open down itself.

The best camping season here runs from late spring to early autumn, when the ground is drier underfoot and the long evenings make the most of Cranborne Chase's International Dark Sky Reserve status — camping here after dark, away from any significant artificial light, is one of the more compelling reasons to pitch a tent in this part of Hampshire rather than somewhere more built up. Nights can still turn cool even in midsummer on exposed downland, so it is worth packing for a wider temperature range than the daytime forecast suggests. Sites in the wider area range from simple, small-scale farm campsites with basic facilities to more established touring parks with electric hook-ups, and increasingly a scattering of glamping options — shepherd's huts, bell tents and safari tents — for those who want the setting without doing without a proper bed. Given how few sites sit within Damerham itself, most campers base themselves in or around Fordingbridge, Rockbourne or the fringes of the New Forest and drive or cycle in to explore the downland, which also puts New Forest ponies, ancient woodland and a broader choice of pubs within easy range of the same trip.