What it’s like, to live in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - High Weald
How many of us live in historical landscapes? Up till my 30th I’ve lived in the least tranquil places I possibly could. Chasing career goals I lived in the big cities all my life. When I first came to England I was stunned by the amount of greenery everywhere and the way people garden for the people to see and enjoy, hardly ever putting up high fences cutting them off the rest of the world. Large green fields with sheep and cows walking around, enjoying their life. It all felt like a picture from a fairytale book. And then the cherry on top was to hear wild life noises when we fall asleep, and wake up at
In my latest video I was saying, that we are living in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and it covers only 15% of the country. But what does that actually mean?
Back in 2020 I didn’t know much about it either. All I knew that to build our studio we had to apply for planning permission and that it wouldn’t be easy because of the area we live in. And only this year when I realised my higher goal with creating this garden, I started doing proper research… And Oh My God! Make yourself a cup of tea, I will walk you through the fascinating historical moments of our area where we live.
These green patches are parts of AONB, scattered all over the country.
And this is us – High Weald. It is one of 46 National Landscapes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, part of a family of protected landscapes by law to conserve and enhance its natural beauty.
The key of our landscape features were established by the 14th century and it is considered to be one of the best surviving, coherent medieval landscapes in Northern Europe. I think it’s quite impressive and makes you think a lot about what you are doing, being a part of this territory.
Going back in time, way back to the start of Neolithic period (c.4300 – 1400BC), also known as the New Stone Age, it was a time in human history when people just began to farm and settle in permanent villages.
The town where we leave, was known as woodland pastures where the pigs grazed, these pasture areas were known as dens. Slowly dens would become permanent settlements and later that would influence the name of many town including ours – Tenterden.
I’ve found the whole website about our area and now will start making plans exploring all different beautiful locations around. https://highweald.org/about-the-landscape/
I think I’ve spend good few hours there, especially scrolling through the interactive map and learning the history. (Illustrations/pictures are also from there)
Another fascinating fact is that the road we walk every day to the local farm shop is actually a Roman Road (see the picture below)! It’s only 4 of them in the whole High Weald area and we live on one of them. And although it looks nothing different from all the other roads around, makes you think about it differently.
Public foot paths. If you are not from the UK reading this, you will be as fascinated as I was when I just moved in. There are over 2,570km of public rights of way just in the High Weald! Let me show you how much is that on this map:
What’s so fascinating about it you’ll ask? All those green lines mean that you have your right of way to walk there! The footpath would usually go through the field or woodland, but sometimes it will go through someone’s garden! And if that’s the case, the owner of the land has to provide for people walking past, some biscuits and a cup of tea, to make them feel welcome! Okay, I’m only joking about the last part, but yes, the owner has to make the public footpath accessible, so that people can walk through. Once Sam and I walked through one of those and I can’t say we felt very welcomed going through someone’s garden. But sometimes it’s the only way to get somewhere. I personally adore footpaths! You can explore most magical places following them!
One of my absolute favourite ones is the one on the other side of town, that’s going through the ancient woodland. Oh yes, that’s another fascinating fact I’ve learned – that lots of woodlands are newly planted (up to 100 years), but some are ancient (500 year old). And only 2.5% of the country is covered by the ancient woodlands. And we are lucky to have few of them around our town! And all of the High Weald has the highest coverage of ancient woodland of any National Landscape in the country. Here are some pictures from 2020 for you to have a look at this beauty. Will make some more this year!
I discovered this website and going to do my research on woodland plants for my garden https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/habitats/ancient-woodland/
Another goal for this year is to see this huge wild meadow near us and learn bout the plants that grow there. Only 3% of the High Weald is covered by wild meadows, so I have to contribute to increasing this number and create my tiny meadow at home.
And the last fact for you – The High Weald is home to some of the darkest skies in the South East. For someone like me, who is so obsessed with the universe, stars, planets and all that, this fact became one of the best! Can’t wait to try and make more night sky pictures this year! This one was made in the end of 2024.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed discovering it. Now, answering the question in the topic of this article – it is absolutely astonishing to know all these facts and realise that I have the honour to nurture this beautiful and such important part of the country. Now, knowing all this, I talk about the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with pride and tell everyone about fascinating facts. I can’t wait to learn all about native plants and introduce them to our garden, creating greater biodiversity in the area and so excited to see how it will turn out! Thank you for following my journey!
Love,
Alena
