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130. Hampshire Downs
• Strongly rolling downland with scarps, hilltops and valleys which have an overall open and exposed character.
• Scarps and hilltops are characterised by extensive open tracts of large arable fields and some ley pasture, sporadically interrupted by woodlands. In contrast, within the sheltered downland valleys, the network of mixed-species hedgerows interspersed by numerous oak/ash or hazel woodland coppice gives a strong sense of enclosure.
• Clay-with-flints overlying Chalk mainly on higher ground supports a mix of arable farms, former commons, wood-pastures and ancient semi-natural woodland. A network of distinctive and ancient droving roads and track ways are a particular feature, as are numerous large estates with formal parkland.
• Distinctive appearance of chalk cob and flint in traditional rural buildings and walls surrounding farm courtyards, with thatch surviving in many places.
• Widespread prehistoric settlement and burial mounds with visually prominent Iron Age hillforts, Roman estates and nucleated medieval village settlement patterns.
• The Test and Itchen are significant and distinctive Chalk river valleys cut into the broad downland landscape.
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.
