The Thames Basin Heaths are a natural region in southern England in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, a slightly mottled east-west belt of ecologically recognised and protected land. They are recognised as

national character area A National Character Area (NCA) is a natural subdivision of England based on a combination of landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity and economic activity. There are 159 National Character Areas and they follow natural, rather than administrative, b ...

129 by

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

, the government's advisor on the

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...

. They cover of countryside. Inset towns include Newbury,

Camberley Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...

Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...

and

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

, To the west sit the

Berkshire Downs The Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in southern England, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Berkshire Downs are wholly within the traditional county of Berkshire, although split between ...

, across similar size, well-drained, and intensively farmed, sports-use or settled Thames floodplains to the north are the similarly protected Chilterns and to the near south are the

Hampshire Downs The Hampshire Downs form a large area of downland in central southern England, mainly in the county of Hampshire but with parts in Berkshire and Wiltshire. They are part of a belt of chalk downland that extends from the South Downs in the sout ...

.''NCA 129: Thames Basin Heaths Key Facts & Data''
at www.naturalengland.org.uk. Accessed on 6 Apr 2013. Not protected as extensively but in significant part adding to the habitats of fauna are the

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an area in South East England that extends along the River Thames west of London towards Oxford. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub on the M4 corridor, with a high concentration of technology companies ...

(including Thames Basin lowlands) to the east and as described to the north.

Environment

The terrain of the

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

is characterized by flat or gently sloping plateaux with numerous watercourses incising broad or sometimes steep-sided valleys. Apart from these, the heaths are lower heading east (before the

London Basin The London Basin is an elongated, roughly triangular sedimentary basin approximately long which underlies London and a large area of south east England, south eastern East Anglia and the adjacent North Sea. The basin formed as a result of compr ...

) and along the main river valleys to the low-lying areas of the Kennet floodplain and lower reaches of the Loddon and its largest tributary, the Blackwater. At the western edge is the chalk scarp of the

. The highest elevation is 296 metres.

Drainage

The other main watercourses are the

Basingstoke Canal The Basingstoke Canal is an English canal, completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation. From Basingstoke, the canal passes through or near Greywell, North Warnborough, Odiham, Do ...

, the Kennet & Avon Canal, the Wey,

Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

, Pang and

Mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...

Protected areas

Just over 20,000 hectares (17%) sits in the

North Wessex Downs The North Wessex Downs are an area of chalk downland landscapes located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The North Wessex Downs has been designated as a National Landscape (formerly known as Area of ...

AONB An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

. The zone has: *Two

Special Protection Areas A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Birds Directive, Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitat (ecology), ha ...

: Thames Basin Heaths SPA; and South West London Waterbodies SPA *Three

Special Areas of Conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

: Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons, Ash, Pirbright and

Chobham Chobham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England. The village has a small high street area, specialising in traditional trades and motor trades. The River Bourne ...

SAC; Kennet Valley Alderwoods SAC; and Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain SAC *Three national nature reserves: Chobham Common NNR; Castle Bottom NNR; Ashford Hill NNR. There are many

Sites of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

or SSSIs within – one of the largest is the Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths SSSI where rare types of birds and other species are professionally monitored and conserved. Much of the east of the zone there can be easily traced a

Roman Road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

, the

Devil's Highway (Roman Britain) The Devil's Highway was a Roman roads in Britain, Roman road in Roman Britain, Britain connecting Londinium (London) to Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester) via Pontes (Roman Britain), Pontes (Staines-upon-Thames, Staines). The road was the principal ...

. The region has an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

, one of several so-named, in this case specifically, Caesar's Camp, Bracknell Forest.

Incursionary barriers

Ecologically near-sterile obstacles to migration, coupled with longstanding biome and habitat loss are significant. Chiefly these are the: * M3 motorway *

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...

To a lesser extent (the narrower) main routes of rail and road: *The

South West Main Line The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south wes ...

*The

Waterloo to Reading Line Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia *Waterloo, New South Wales ...

*The Ascot to Guildford Line * A30 * A329 No

wildlife crossing Wildlife crossings are structures that allow animals to cross human-made barriers safely. Wildlife crossings may include underpass tunnels or wildlife tunnels, viaducts, and overpasses or green bridges (mainly for large or herd-type animals ...

s to abate these obstacles have yet been made.

References

{{coord missing, Surrey Natural regions of England

Environment

Drainage

Protected areas

Incursionary barriers

See also

References