Home > Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England

The rough equivalent for Scotland is the National Scenic Area designated by Scottish Natural Heritage. With the advent of devolved government for Scotland, policy and management of these areas may well differ from the situation in England.

AONBs may be compared to, but have a diminutuve status to National parks . The latter have their own authorities, have special legal powers to prevent unsympathetic development, and are well known to many inhabitants of England and Wales. By contrast, there are very limited statutory duties imposed on local authorities within an AONB and there is evidence to indicate many residents in such areas may be unaware of the status.

However, the Whitehall Government has recently said that it accepts that AONBs and National Parks should have equal status when it comes to planning consent and other sensitive issues.

AONBs vary greatly in terms of size, type and use of land, whether they are partly or wholly open to the public. Some local councils have AONB officers and other dedicated staff, others do not.

There are 36 AONBs in England (and a 37th which is shared with Wales). The most recent one to be set up was the Tamar Valley AONB in 1994. The smallest AONB is the Isles of Scilly (1976), 16 sq. km. The largest AONB is the Cotswolds (1966), 2,038 km².

1 List of AONBs in England

• Arnside and Silverdale AONB
• Blackdown Hills AONB
• Cannock Chase AONB
• Chichester Harbour AONB
• Chilterns AONB
• Cornwall AONB
• Cotswolds AONB
• Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB
• Dedham Vale AONB
• Dorset AONB
• East Devon AONB
• East Hampshire AONB
• Forest of Bowland AONB
• High Weald AONB
• Howardian Hills AONB
• Isle of Wight AONB
• Isles of Scilly AONB
• Kent Downs AONB
• Lincolnshire Wolds AONB
• Malvern Hills AONBMalvern Hills AONB is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the English counties of Worcestershire and Herefordshire. The Malvern Hills are a famous beauty spot, with scenic views over both Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The Hills run north/south fo
• Mendip Hills AONB
• Nidderdale AONB
• Norfolk Coast AONB
• North Devon AONB
• North Pennines AONB
• Northumberland Coast AONB
• North Wessex Downs AONBThe North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The name North Wessex Downs is not a traditional one, the area covered being better known by various ov
• Quantock Hills AONBThe Quantock Hills are a range of hills near Bridgwater in Somerset in the south-west of England. The hills are officially designated as the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The hills form the sothern border of Sedgemoor and the Somerse
• Shropshire Hills AONB
• Solway Coast AONB
• South Devon
• South Hampshire Coast
• Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONBSuffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Suffolk, England. See also Suffolk Coast and Heaths Path Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England Suffolk.
• Surrey Hills AONBSurrey Hills is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the state of Victoria. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Boroondara. Its local primary school is called Surrey Hills Primary. Surrey Hills's CBD of sorts is a strip of shops along Union
• Sussex Downs AONBNear Beachy Head The South Downs is one of the two areas of chalk downland in southern England. The North & South Downs run parallel to each other, and would once have formed part of the same dome-shaped chalk outcrop. Erosion, however, has removed the ch
• Tamar Valley AONB
• Wye Valley AONB (shared with Wales)