Howardian Hills

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Howardian Hills
The Howardian Hills - geograph.org.uk - 1938414.jpg
View of the Howardian Hills
Howardian Hills AONB locator map.svg
Location of the Howardian Hills AONB in England
Location North Yorkshire, England
Area79 sq mi (200 km2)
Established1987
Website www.howardianhills.org.uk

The Howardian Hills are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in England located between the Yorkshire Wolds, the North York Moors National Park, and the Vale of York. They are named after the Howard family who still own local lands.

Contents

Topography

The Howardian Hills form 79 square miles of well-wooded undulating countryside between the flat agricultural Vales of Pickering and York. The irregular 558 feet (170 m) high ridges of the Howardian Hills are a southern extension of the rocks of the Hambleton Hills in the North York Moors. Jurassic limestone, pastures, and extensive woodland overlook the agricultural plains below. On the eastern edge, the River Derwent cuts through the Hills in the Kirkham Gorge, a deep winding valley formed as an overflow channel from glacial Lake Pickering. [1] [2]

Settlement

Although there are no towns within the AONB, the market towns of Helmsley and Malton lie just beyond the boundary. [3] From Malton to Hovingham is a line of spring line villages. [4] The majority of older buildings are made of locally quarried limestone with red pantile roofs and those which developed as part of the grand country house estates have largely retained a coherent identity. The village of Ampleforth and its Abbey and College lie within the area.

Land use

New stone walling conservation work in the Howardian Hills AONB Dry Stone Wall.jpg
New stone walling conservation work in the Howardian Hills AONB

High grade arable land, pasture, and managed woodland makes this rich farming country whose diversity contributes to its attractive rural character. [1] [5]

Flora and fauna

The Howardian Hills AONB is a key area for several nationally important Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Priority habitats including lowland broadleaved woodland, wood pasture, veteran trees, limestone, and neutral grasslands and fen meadows. Characteristic species include brown hare, lapwing, tree sparrow, and barn owl as well as several local rarities such as knapweed broomrape and baneberry. [6]

Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB); one of 46 areas in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland designated for conservation due to significant landscape value, along with National Parks and Heritage Coasts.

The Howardian Hills are designated an AONB because of the following Special Qualities:

Each of these attributes is important in its own right, but it is their combination in a relatively small area that has produced a landscape of national significance.

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Lake Pickering was an extensive proglacial lake of the Devensian glacial. It filled the Vale of Pickering between the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds, when the ice blocked the drainage, which had flowed north-eastwards past the site of Filey towards the Northern North Sea basin. The lake surface rose until it overflowed southwards and cut an exit between the Howardian Hills and the Yorkshire Wolds at Kirkham Priory between Malton and Stamford Bridge, so creating the River Derwent.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hovingham</span> Village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Somerset</span>

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References

  1. 1 2 "AONB Howardian Hills". Natural England. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  2. Carter, Ann; Air Photography Unit, Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (March 1995). Howardian Hills Mapping Project: A Report for the National Mapping Programme (Report). H.M.S.O. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  3. "Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". landscapesforlife.org.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  4. Humphery-Smith, Cecil R. (2003). The Phillimore atlas and index of parish registers (3rd ed.). Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN   978-1-86077-239-9.
  5. "Facts" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  6. "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". Howardian Hills. Retrieved 19 November 2021.

54°08′23″N1°00′24″W / 54.13974°N 1.00656°W / 54.13974; -1.00656