The key characteristics of the Thames Valley are:

115. Thames Valley

The key characteristics of the Thames Valley are:

• Hydrological floodplain of the river Thames as a landscape feature provides unity to the large areas of fragmented poor agricultural land.

• The western Thames valley is wide and flat with the river barely discernible, occupying only a small part of the wider geological floodplain.

• Woodlands characterise the north-western area, the wooded character extending up to the southern edge of the Chiltern Hills.

• To the south, the open Thames floodplain dominates with its associated flat grazing land, becoming characterised by a number of formal historic landscapes on higher ground such as Windsor Park.

• Towards London in the east, the natural character of the area is overtaken by urban influences; a dense network of roads including the M25 corridor, Heathrow Airport, railway lines, golf courses, pylon lines, reservoirs, extensive mineral extraction and numerous flooded gravel pits.

For further details on this character area and for an introduction to the region, please see the PDF documents in the box at the top right hand side of this page.