An updated version of this profile is online at nationalcharacterareas.co.uk. This pdf is retained for historical and completeness purposes.
Vast arable fields stretch across the sparsely settled, rolling Chalk hills of the Berkshire and Marlborough Downs National Character Area (NCA). There are extensive views from the escarpment in particular, punctuated by landmarks including chalk-cut horse figures, beech clumps and ancient monuments. Historic routeways, including the Ridgeway National Trail, provide public access across this landscape. Writers and artists have been inspired by this landscape, including Eric Ravilious and Richard Jefferies, while monuments around Avebury have attracted historians and antiquarians such as John Aubrey. Avebury stone circle is a popular visitor destination and part of a World Heritage Site and there are numerous other Scheduled Monuments and heritage features across this landscape. Heritage features are at risk from damage by cultivation and animal burrowing.
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