An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of their national importance by the relevant public body: Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency respectively. In place of AONB, Scotland uses the similar national scenic area (NSA) designation. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty enjoy levels of protection from development similar to those of UK national parks, but unlike national parks the responsible bodies do not have their own planning powers. They also differ from national parks in their more limited opportunities for extensive outdoor recreation.
Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is derived from the Old English word dun, meaning "hill".
The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about 260 square miles (670 km2) across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. The Downs are bounded on the northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose crest there are extensive views northwards across the Weald. The South Downs National Park forms a much larger area than the chalk range of the South Downs and includes large parts of the Weald.
The South Downs National Park is England's newest national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of 1,627 square kilometres (628 sq mi) in southern England, stretches for 140 kilometres (87 mi) from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex. The national park covers the chalk hills of the South Downs and a substantial part of a separate physiographic region, the western Weald, with its heavily wooded sandstone and clay hills and vales. The South Downs Way spans the entire length of the park and is the only National Trail that lies wholly within a national park.
The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The name North Wessex Downs is not a traditional one, the area covered being better known by various overlapping local names, including the Berkshire Downs, the North Hampshire Downs, the White Horse Hills, the Lambourn Downs, the Marlborough Downs, the Vale of Pewsey and Savernake Forest.
The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is in south-east England. Covering an area of 1,450 square kilometres (560 sq mi), it takes up parts of the counties of East Sussex, Kent, West Sussex and Surrey in order of respective contribution. It is the fourth largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in England and Wales. It has an attractive landscape with a mosaic of small farms and woodlands, historic parks, sunken lanes and ridge-top villages.
Queen Elizabeth Country Park is a large country park situated on the South Downs in southern England. It is located on the A3 road three miles south of Petersfield, Hampshire and lies within the South Downs National Park.
England comprises most of the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, in addition to a number of small islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. England is bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of mainland Britain, divided from France only by a 33 km (21 mi) sea gap, the English Channel. The 50 km (31 mi) Channel Tunnel, near Folkestone, directly links England to mainland Europe. The English/French border is halfway along the tunnel.
The Surrey Hills is a 422 km2 (163 sq mi) Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which principally covers parts of the North Downs and Greensand Ridge in Surrey, England. The AONB was designated in 1958 and adjoins the Kent Downs AONB to the east and the South Downs National Park in the south west.
Stanmer Park is a large public park immediately to the west of the University of Sussex, and to the north-east of the city of Brighton in the county of East Sussex, England, UK. It is a Local Nature Reserve and English Heritage, under the National Heritage Act 1983, has registered the park on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England at Grade II level.
East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in England was designated in 1962. The designation was revoked in March 2010, together with the neighbouring Sussex Downs AONB, upon the establishment of the South Downs National Park. The southern part of the area is mainly rolling chalk downland used for farming that is a westward extension of the Sussex Downs. The north and east includes steep wooded hills and heathland.
The South Hampshire Coast was an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Hampshire, England, UK that was subsumed into the New Forest National Park when it was established on 1 April 2005. It lies between the New Forest and the west shore of the Solent.
Froxfield in Hampshire is a hamlet in the civil parish of Froxfield and Privett containing several small hamlets including Privett. Froxfield and Privett stand just over 3 miles WNW of Petersfield within the East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) of Hampshire. Entirely within South Downs National Park, it sits on high ground with stunning views of the Hangers.
The Sussex Border Path is a long-distance footpath around the borders of Sussex, a historic county and former medieval kingdom in southern England. The main path is 150 miles (240 km) long and stays close to Sussex's borders with Hampshire, Surrey and Kent, connecting Thorney Island to Rye. There is also an additional 33-mile (53 km) spur known as the Mid Sussex Path which links East Grinstead with Fishersgate and Mile Oak on the western boundary of the city of Brighton and Hove.
Sussex is a historic county and cultural region in the south of England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, north-east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West Sussex and East Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove. The city of Brighton & Hove was created a unitary authority in 1997, and was granted City status in 2000. Until then Chichester had been Sussex's only city. By convention, Chichester is Sussex's capital city and Lewes is Sussex's county town.
The western Weald is an area of undulating countryside in Hampshire and West Sussex containing a mixture of woodland and heathland areas.
Sussex Downs Conservation Board was an English local government organisation based in East and West Sussex to promote and manage the Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In March 2010 the status of the AONB was revoked and the management of the Sussex Downs AONB was merged with the East Hampshire AONB under the South Downs Joint Committee pending the formation of a national park authority. On the 1 April 2011 the South Downs National Park was established under the South Downs National Park Authority.
The Hampshire Downs form a large area of downland in central, southern England, mainly in the county of Hampshire. They are part of a belt of chalk downland that extends from the South Downs in the southeast, north to the Berkshire and Marlborough Downs, and west to the Dorset Downs.
Ringstead Downs is a 6.9-hectare (17-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Hunstanton in Norfolk. It is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it is the western part of the 11-hectare (27-acre) Ringstead Downs nature reserve, which is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.
Holkham Brick Pit is a 0.5-hectare (1.2-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
