Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs

Coordinates: 50°57′41″N 2°02′39″W / 50.96142°N 2.04409°W / 50.96142; -2.04409

Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Fovant Badges on the West Wiltshire Downs
Country	England
Counties	Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire
Location	south-west England
Highest point	Win Green
- elevation	277 m (909 ft)

The Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) covers 379 square miles (980 km²) of Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. It is the sixth largest AONB in the country.

The landscape is mainly chalk downland that is farmed. Settlers populated the area thousands of years ago and constructed Ackling Dyke and the Knowlton Circles. The area was later the scene of conflict in the English Civil War, seeing the destruction of Old Wardour Castle. Other features include Tollard Royal, once considered the capital of Cranborne Chase; and Fovant, where soldiers training during the First World War cut regimental badges into the chalk hillside.

This AONB includes two large blocks of woodland, Grovely Wood and Great Ridge Wood.

External links

• Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB website
• Cranborne Chase AONB Woodfair
• Historic Landscape Characterisation - Explore the history and archaeology of the AONB