As the name Blackmore Vale is more historical than geographical, it's modern boundaries are not so clear. The most geographically logical would be the valley country enclosed by the Stourton Hill, Castle Hills, Mere, Shaftesbury, Melbury Hill, Hambledon, Bulbarrow, High Stay Balcombe Downs and other points on the Dorset Downs. Another
description of the Vale states it "may conviently be divided into
three sections. The first, on the east, is overlooked by Shaftesbury
and the wooded height of Duncliffe Hill, a useful landmark visible from
many miles away in Wiltshire and Somerset. Here the landscape consists
of gently undiluting pastureland. On the north near the Somerset border
, the higher ground that culminates in Stour Hill forms a platform from
which to view the valley of the Stour and the low ground to the east
of Stalbridge, and to the east towards the chalk foothills. The Stour
introduces a wide band of level water meadows that curve irregularly
with the immense sweeps of the river till they disappearin the gap of
the downs near Shillingstone. The second section lies between the Stour
and the Sherborne-Dorchester road. Here is the true heart of the Vale
with all its melancholy charm. The downs themselves have receded and
are therefore less immense. Farther to the west the third section begins
to mingle with the hilly country of West Dorset. The downs have returned
to close all southern views, and the great wooded hills of Melbury on
the west and High Stoy on the east overshadow the lower-lying woods
and meadows........ The towns and villages actually covered by these webpages will actually be those closer to the County Line with Somerset, but may eventually include some of the villages on the Blackmore Vale and also the surrounding hills. |
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