A Journey Through the Heritage Area

A traveller journeying south to north encounters firstly  an ‘ancient’ landscape, typified by numerous ancient woodlands, winding lanes and hedgerows, which quickly give way to a more open arable landscape of large fields, straight roads, regular hedgerows and few woodlands. Leaving these ‘chalklands’ behind our traveller encounters an altogether different low lying landscape of mixed farmland with scattered blocks of woodland, wet meadows, fens and  wet woodlands in the river valleys. Roads and lanes are winding, and fields are small and irregular in shape. Village greens are a feature in many places - a valued legacy from times gone by. 

Further to the east, heathland provides a strong link to the past. A landscape dominated by heather, gorse and heathland grasses, it is a relic of prehistoric and historic farming practices. Places like Yateley Common, Hazeley Heath and Bartley Heath have survived as the result of exploitation for grazing, firewood, and turves, which prevented the heathland from reverting to woodland.

For more information on Hampshire's landscape visit: www.hants.gov.uk/environment/lss

For more information on Hampshires's heathlands visit:
www.hants.gov.uk/biodiversity/heathland