The National Landscapes Association provides a strong voice for the nation's 46 National Landscapes - places so special they have been designated in the national interest.
See here for the page dedicated to The North Wessex Downs National Landscape.
The North Wessex Downs National Landscape straddles the boundaries of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire and covers 173 parishes. It is the third largest National Landscape in the country covering an area of 668 square miles (1,730 square kilometres). It received its designation as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1972.
Conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the North Wessex Downs is the responsibility of nine local authorities within the four counties. They come together with community, farming, conservation, tourism and heritage representatives to make up a governing Council of Partners, which is supported by a small professional team.eam.
North Wessex Downs Landscape Character
The North Wessex Downs is a visibly ancient landscape of great beauty, diversity and size. It embraces the high, open arable sweeps of the chalk downs and dramatic scarp slopes with their prehistoric monuments and beech knolls, the moulded dip slopes, sheltered chalk river valleys, intimate and secluded wooded areas and low-lying heaths with a rich mosaic of woodland, pasture, heath and commons. The North Wessex Downs AONB forms a surprisingly remote, expansive and tranquil landscape in the heart of southern England.
