A report on Dorset Downs, Marshwood and Powerstock Vales and National Character Area

The region is recognised as a National Character Area (No.

Together with Cranborne Chase, the Dorset Downs have been designated as National Character Area 134 by Natural England, the UK Government's advisor on the natural environment.

In Dorset this area is bounded by the Dorset Heaths and Weymouth Lowlands to the south, the Marshwood and Powerstock Vales to the west and the Blackmore Vale to the north.

To the east are the chalk hills of the Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase, and the coastal strip of the Weymouth Lowlands, and, to the west, the Greensand transitions into the Blackdowns.

134. Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase

139. Marshwood and Powerstock Vales