The Character of Wessex: The Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase
Cranborne Chase has been a hunting ground since the time of the Bastard. It forms part of a wider character area stretching from just south of Salisbury to just north…
Cranborne Chase has been a hunting ground since the time of the Bastard. It forms part of a wider character area stretching from just south of Salisbury to just north…
The Forest of Dean and Lower Wye character area is a triangular area bounded, for the most part, by the rivers Severn and Wye, and the A40 around Ross-on-Wye. It…
Bounded by Wessex's historic capital, Winchester, to the south, and the newer commuter towns of Basingstoke and Andover to the north and west respectively, the Hampshire Downs is an area…
Formed at the end of the last ice age from the floodplains of eight rivers, the Somerset Levels are the largest remaining area of lowland wet grassland and floodplain in…
The birthplace of Wessex is actually two character areas in one, with the Upper Thames Clay Vales completely enclosing the Midvale Ridge. The latter is a limestone ridge stretching from…
Sandwiched in between the Mendip hills, and the heaths and vales of Dorset commonly known as "Hardy country", the Yeovil Scarplands are characterised by steep limestone and sandstone ridges separating…
The Thames Valley National Character Area (NCA), should not be confused with the birthplace of Wessex, centred on Dorchester-on-Thames. That falls within the Oxford & Upper Thames NCA, subject of…
The Devon Redlands take their name from the red sandstone that gives the region some dramatic cliffs on the coast and provides it with its distinctive brick-coloured building stone, as…
The West Dorset Vales character area, centred on Bridport, is bounded by the Jurassic Heritage Coast to the south, whilst the Wealden Greensand encloses it to the north and west.…
Contrary to what its name may imply, the New Forest is actually two-thirds heathland. "Forest" in this context means land set aside for royal hunting, and the New Forest has…