North Wessex Downs AONB

North Wessex Downs
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
This is a typical view of the chalk North Wessex Downs in the north west part of Hampshire
Country	England
Counties	Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire
Highest point
- location	Walbury Hill
- elevation	297 m (974 ft)
Location of the North Wessex Downs AONB in the UK

Coordinates: 51°10′19″N 1°49′30″W / 51.172°N 1.825°W / 51.172; -1.825

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.

The AONB covers an area of some 1,730 km² (670 sq mi). It takes the form of a horseshoe on its side, with the open end facing east, surrounding the town of Newbury and the River Kennet watershed. The northern arm reaches as far east as the suburbs of Reading in mid-Berkshire and as far north as Didcot in South Oxfordshire, whilst the southern arm similarly reaches Basingstoke in northern Hampshire. The western extreme of the AONB reaches as far as Calne and Devizes. The highest points are the 297 m (974 ft) summit of Walbury Hill, situated southeast of Hungerford in West Berkshire (and the highest point in southern England east of the Mendip Hills), and the Milk Hill-Tan Hill plateau northeast of Devizes in central Wiltshire, at 295 m (968 ft) above sea level.