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An Essay On Howardian Hills

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The Howardian Hills is a remarkable landscape, revered for its aesthetic, historical and ecological features. Its designation as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) was confirmed in 1987, in recognition of its importance to the national landscape. An AONB designation is, as the name implies, ‘an outstanding landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty are so precious’, that it needs safeguarding in the national interest. The Howardian Hills AONB covers an area of 79 square miles (204km²); comprising of well-wooded undulating hills and valleys, arable and pasture farmland, hedgerows, designed parklands and picturesque villages. Moreover, the Howardian Hills has a high concentration of luxurious country estates with landscaped gardens and parkland; the most well-known of these is probably Castle Howard from which the area takes its name. The area has an astonishing heritage with numerous archaeological and historic features, ranging from Bronze Age burial mounds and Iron Age earthworks to …show more content…

The Saxon tower of All Saints Church at Appleton-le-Street is one of the finest Pre-Conquest towers in northern England, and the nave of Stonegrave Minster has two rows of Norman pillars with finely carved capitals. However, the most significant ecclesiastical buildings are Kirkham Priory, founded c.1122, and Ampleforth Abbey established in 1802 as a priory and a public school. Kirkham Priory was one of the largest and richest monasteries in the north of England. The ruins stand beside the tranquil River Derwent and include an impressive thirteenth-century gatehouse. In contrast, Ampleforth Abbey only evolved to abbey status in 1890. In 1919 Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed a new abbey church as part of the school complex; construction began in 1924 and finished in 1961 with its

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