Cranborne Chase
Cranborne Chase is a designated area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) which straddles the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire and Hamshire. The area is named after the village of Cranborne, founded by the Saxons, which had a manor house and a small monastery. The word "chase" comes from the hunts, frequented by royalty (including Kings John, Henry VIII and James I), which took place on the downs. Cranborne Chase is a beautiful and dramatic landscape, with areas of rolling chalk grassland, ancient woodlands, chalk escarpments, down land hillsides and chalk river valleys each with a distinct and recognisable character, and which covers several hundred square miles.
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| Knowlton Henge and Church |
The area has a long archaeological history and there are many Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments, including the henge monument at Knowlton, as well as the remains of a number of Iron Age settlements on the downs, most notably the hill fort at Badbury Rings (Vindocladia). The landscape is quiet and secluded, with just a few picturesque villages like Cranborne and the quaintly named Sixpenny Handley. Major towns are found on its border and Wimborne Minster, Blandford Forum (the finest and most complete Georgian town in England), Shaftesbury, and Wilton are all worth a visit. To the north east is the wonderful city of Salisbury.
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| Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset |
Cranborne Chase is a wonderful area to explore and one of the little-known gems of Southern England!
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