John Walbridge who was the tenant of Lower Kingcombe Farm in 1918 bought the 446 acres from the Earl of Sandwich  and it was described as 'a famous dairy farm noted for its Dorset Blue Cheese and Butter' The land was mostly intact as were the fields and hay meadows, no spray had been used nor any artificial fertilizers. Arthur Walbridge who was the last in the line died on Christmas Day 1985 and the estate was purchased by a property speculator from London. He decided to break the estate up into lots and auction them to make a  good profit but this caused a national outcry as Lower Kingcombe's importance became public. The Dorset Trust for Conservation was brought into the fr ay and they started an appeal world wide and raised the £320,000 to purchase 327 acres of the estate to build a conservation area, which now holds some of the flora and fauna that is associated with England's past.

It is a large nature reserve of national importance managed as a working farm with suckling cows and sheep playing an important part in the annual grazing regime which preserves the various grassland habitats.