Natural England

147. Blackdowns

• Contrast between open, heathy windswept plateaux and ridges, and sheltered lush valleys. 

• High ground with rectilinear field patterns and straight roads.

• Slopes and vales with strong patterns of small, irregular fields and sunken lanes.

• Wooded scarps and slopes.

• Beech shelterbelts and avenues on high ground.

• Hamlets and villages mainly in the valleys with buildings of chert, cob and thatch.

• Distinctive coastal landscape of unstable undercliffs, irregular headlands and valley saltmarshes.

• Several coastal settlements but remote inland areas.

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.