North Wessex Downs Area

North Wesses Downs is a Protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. You can find here approx. 11 thousand. monuments and finds from the Bronze Age, Neolithic Age, Roman times and the Middle Ages. There are also many walking, cycling and horse-riding paths. Kite-surfing is popular in some places, such as the Ridgeway and Wittenham Clumps, while kayaks and boats are available on the Kennet and Avon Canal. It is also an area known for horse racing.

The name North Wessex Downs is not widely used, it is rather a collective term for several smaller areas, including: Berkshire Downs, the White Horse Hills, the Vale of Pewsey or Savernake Forest. Part of the action of the novel "Juda the Unknown" by Thomas Hardy takes place in the former area. There, in the south-eastern part of the region, there is the eponymous Wodnikowe Wzgórze, where Richard Adams placed the plot of his most popular novel.