The key characteristics of Charnwood are:

73. Charnwood

The key characteristics of Charnwood are:

• Unique landscape with upland qualities, rising out of lowland farmland.

• Outcrops of ancient Precambrian volcanic and plutonic rocks within bracken and heathland.

• Mudstone vales of pasture fields.

• Dry stone walls and hedges.

• Frequent woodlands.

• Large settlements mainly at the edge, with a few attractive villages and scattered farmsteads at the centre.

• Strongly rectilinear patterns of parliamentary enclosure fields and roads.

• Attractive historic parks and mansions.

• Farmsteads and village buildings dominated by dark local stone.

• Attractively-sited reservoirs and pools.

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.