North Wessex Downs AONB

North Wessex Downs AONB, Eddington, Berkshire, England

The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is located in the English counties of West Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.

The name North Wessex Downs is not a traditional one, the area covered being better known by various overlapping local names, including the Berkshire Downs, the North Hampshire Downs, the White Horse Hills, the Lambourn Downs, the Marlborough Downs, the Vale of Pewsey and Savernake Forest.

Horse racing forms a major industry in the area, largely because of the good quality turf that comes with the chalk underlay, and much of upland area is made over to gallops and other training areas.

Several of the upland villages, and especially the large village of Lambourn, are home to major racing stables. Other villages with strong horse racing connections include Beckhampton, Kingsclere and West Ilsley.

The term steeplechase originated in this area, a steeplechase originally being a race between two villages, navigated by reference to the church steeples visible across the rolling downs.


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