Dorset Downs

The Dorset Downs shown within Dorset

The Dorset Downs are an area of Chalk downland in the centre of the county Dorset in south west England. The downs are the most western part of a larger Chalk Formation which includes (from West to East) Cranborne Chase, Salisbury Plain, Hampshire Downs, Chiltern Hills, North Downs and South Downs.

The Dorset Downs are bounded on the north, along the steep scarp face, by the Blackmore Vale, a large clay and limestone valley. On the east the Downs would once, thousands of years ago, have been continuous with Cranborne Chase, but the River Stour now cuts a valley between them, which is the location of Blandford Forum and the eastern boundary of the downs. The hills dip gently south down to the River Frome at Dorchester, south of which is a narrow band of Purbeck Limestone along the English Channel coast. In the west the chalk dips down under Marl.

The top of the downs from above Cerne Abbas looking south east towards the River Piddle valley.

The main land uses on the downs are as arable agriculture, woodland and calcareous grassland, a habitat which is growing as farmers are encouraged with set aside subsidies. Chalk is a permiable rock and the Dorset Downs hold a large water table which acts as a resevoir of drinking water for much of the county. This property of chalk also means there are many seasonal rivers, called winterbournes, whose flow depends upon the level of the water table.

Places of interest

• Blandford Forest
• Bulbarrow Hill, including Rawlsbury camp.
• Dorsetshire Gap, a steep valley.
• Cerne valley, including Cerne Abbas Giant.
• Hambledon Hill and Hod Hill, two hills cut off from the downs in the Blackmore Vale.
• Nettlecombe Tout hill fort.
• Ringmoor settlement and field system.
• Shillingstone Hill, a densely wooded scarp face with a large quarry.

External links

• Photographs of the downs