Чилтернские холмы: ландшафт Юго-Восточной Англии

Range of hills in Southeast England

The Chiltern Hills are a chalk escarpment in southern England, northwest of London, covering 660 square miles (1,709 km2) across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire, stretching 45 mile (72 km) from Goring on Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast. The hills are 12 mile (19 km) at their widest. In 1965, almost half of the Chiltern Hills was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The northwest boundary is clearly defined by the escarpment. The dip slope is by definition more gradual, and merges with the landscape to the southeast.

The chalk escarpment of the Chiltern Hills overlooks the Vale of Aylesbury and roughly coincides with the southernmost extent of the ice sheet during the Anglian glacial maximum. The Chiltern Hills are part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England, formed between 65 and 95 million years ago, The Chalk Group, like the underlying Gault Clay and Upper Greensand, is diachronous. During the late stages of the Alpine Orogeny, as the African Plate collided with Eurasian Plate, Mesozoic extensional structures, such as the Weald Basin of southern England, underwent structural inversion. They were first extracted for fabrication into flint axes in the Neolithic period, then for knapping into flintlocks. Nodules are to be seen everywhere in the older houses as a construction material for walls.

The highest point is at 267 m (876 ft.) above sea level at Haddington Hill near Wendover in Buckinghamshire; a stone monument marks the summit. The nearby Ivinghoe Beacon is a more prominent hill, although its altitude is only 249 m (817 ft.). It is the starting point of the Icknield Way Path and the Ridgeway long distance path, which follows the line of the Chiltern Hill for many miles to the west, where they merge with the Wiltshire downs and southern Cotswolds. To the east of Ivinghoe Beacon is Dunstable Downs, a steep section of the Chiltern scarp. Near Wendover is Coombe Hill, 260 m (852 ft.) above sea level. The more gently sloping country – the dip slope – to the southeast of the Chiltern scarp is also generally referred to as part of the Chiltern Hills; it contains much beech woodland The Thames flows through a gap between the Berkshire Downs and the Chiltern Hills. Portions around Leighton Buzzard and Hitchin are drained by the Ouzel, the Flit and the Hiz, all of which ultimately flow into the River Great Ouse (the last two via the Ivel).

Several transport routes pass through the Chiltern Hills in natural or human made corridors. There are also over of public footpaths in the Chiltern Hills, including long distance trackways such as the Icknield Way and The Ridgeway. The M40 motorway passes through the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire sections with a deep cutting through the Stokenchurch Gap. The M1 motorway crosses the Bedfordshire section near Luton. Other major roads include the A41 and the A413. The Chiltern Main Line Railway via High Wycombe and Princes Risborough, the London to Aylesbury Line via Amersham, the West Coast Main Line via Berkhamsted, and the Midland Main Line all run through the Chiltern Hills. The Great Western Main Line and its branches such as the Henley and Marlow branch lines link the southern side of the Chiltern Hills with London Paddington. The Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway is a preserved line. High Speed 2 (HS2) will pass underneath the Chiltern Hills in the Chiltern tunnel. This tunnel, the longest under construction on the HS2 route, will be in length. The Conservation Board has made clear it was opposed to the routing of HS2 through the Chiltern Hills AONB. Bus services are provided by Arriva Shires & Essex and Carousel Buses. Air corridors from Luton Airport pass over the Chiltern Hills. Apart from the River Thames, there are no navigable rivers. The Grand Union Canal passes through the Chiltern Hills between Berkhamsted and Marsworth following the course of the Gade and Bulbourne. Also, after crossing a watershed, the Ouzel is partly in the Chiltern Hills.

During the Iron Age, the Chiltern ridge provided a relatively safe and easily navigable route across southern Britain. The toponym, Chiltern, is believed to be Brittonic in origin. According to Eilert Ekwall, Chiltern is possibly related to the broader ethnic name Celt (Celtæ in early Celtic languages); the root celto "high" (and suffix erno ) could provide the origin of Chiltern. Before the 18th century, the population lived dispersed across the largely rural landscape of the Chiltern Hills in remote villages, hamlets, farmsteads, and market towns along the main turnpike routes which coursed through the navigable valleys. The development of canals in the 18th century and railways in the 19th century encouraged settlement and the growth of High Wycombe, Tring, and Luton. Significant housing and industrial development took place in the first half of the 20th century and continued throughout the 20th century. In 1965 almost half of the Chiltern Hills was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The hills have been used for their natural resources for millennia. The chalk has been quarried for the manufacture of cement, and flint for local building material. Beechwoods supplied furniture makers with quality hardwood. In a region without building stone, local clay provided the raw materials for brick manufacture. Timber and flint were also used for construction. Mediaeval strip parishes reflected the diversity of land from clay farmland, through wooded slopes to downland. Their boundaries were often drawn to include a section of each type of land, resulting in an irregular county boundary. These have tended to be smoothed out by successive reorganisations. As people have come to appreciate the open country, the area has become a visitor destination and the National Trust has acquired land to preserve its character, for example at Ashridge, near Tring. In places, with the reduction of sheep grazing, action has been taken to maintain open downland by suppressing the natural growth of scrub and birch woodland. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Youth Hostels Association established several youth hostels for people visiting the hills. The hills have been used as a location for telecommunication relay stations such as Stokenchurch BT Tower and that at Zouches Farm.

The Chiltern Hills is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and so enjoys special protection from major developments, which should not take place in such areas except in exceptional circumstances. This protection applies to major development proposals that raise issues of national significance. In 2000 the government confirmed that the landscape qualities of AONBs are equivalent to those of National Parks, and that the protection given to both types of area by the land use planning system should also be equivalent.

The Chiltern Hills Conservation Board was established by Parliamentary Order in July 2004. It is an independent body comprising 27 members drawn from the relevant local authorities and from those living in local communities within the Chiltern AONB area. The Board's purposes are set out in Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000: In summary these are: First, to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the AONB, and increase the understanding and enjoyment by the public of the special qualities of the AONB. Second, while taking account of the first purpose, to foster the economic and social wellbeing of local communities within the AONB. Third, to publish and promote the implementation of a management plan for the AONB. In contrast to National Parks, The Chiltern Hills – as other AONBs – do not possess their own planning authority. The Board has an advisory role on planning and development matters and seeks to influence the actions of local government by commenting upon planning applications. The local authorities (two County Councils, three Unitary Authorities and four District and Borough Councils) are expected to respect the area's status as a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Examples of historical architecture in the Chiltern region are preserved at the Chiltern Open Air Museum near Chalfont St Giles. This open air folk museum contains reconstructed buildings which might otherwise have been destroyed or demolished as a result of redevelopment or road construction.

The Chiltern Hills includes the Chiltern Hundreds. By established custom, Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, who are prohibited from resigning their seats directly, may apply for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds as a device to enable their departure from the House.