This text is taken from the Landscape section of the East Meon Neighbourhood Plan
East Meon is a village of considerable antiquity, which grew up near the source of the River Meon. This is the highest rising chalk stream in England and emerges south of the village, flowing north before changing direction near Frogmore to flow westwards, through and beyond the village of East Meon down through the Meon Valley.
East Meon has a very attractive and unspoiled rural landscape setting, lying in a well-defined valley between high chalk downs. Much of the village lies between 100 and 110m AOD (above ordnance datum) but the surrounding hills rise to over 200m in places.
Park Hill, a steep-sided down, lies immediately to the north of the village providing a dramatic backdrop in views looking north towards the village. Park Hill connects to Pidham Hill, to the east forming a long south-facing down.
East Meon is located in the South Downs National Park, a national landscape designation which recognises the high quality of the mainly chalk downland landscapes that extend from Hampshire to East Sussex. This is the highest level of landscape protection available.
To the south, the village is also overlooked by Small Down and Salt Hill while Henwood Down overlooks the village from the west. Taken together, the distinctive landforms of the chalk downs create a highly distinctive and scenically attractive setting for East Meon. The surrounding countryside is well-managed with a mixture of land under arable cultivation or pasture, together with a few, mainly large, woodland blocks. The village of East Meon is set well apart from other settlements and there are very few visual detractors in the landscape. All these factors combine to give East Meon a truly unique rural landscape setting which is highly valued by residents and visitors.
At the regional level, the South Downs Integrated Landscape Character Assessment (SDILCA) identifies East Meon village and the countryside to the immediate south as lying within the Meon Valley landscape character area (LCA). This is one of four chalk valley systems identified as a specific landscape type within the SDILCA. For all the chalk valley systems, the SDILCA identifies natural, cultural, aesthetic and perceptual attributes which are vulnerable to change and have therefore been taken into account during site allocation. More detailed analysis at the local level is provided by the Hampshire Integrated Landscape Character Assessment (HILCA).
In the HILCA, East Meon is located within the Meon Valley LCA. The HILCA identifies a series of key characteristics of this landscape character area. Those most relevant to East Meon and its landscape setting are:
- A fairly narrow major river valley with a Looking over the High St from Park Hill passes through downland, lowland mosaic and coastal plain landscapes as the river makes its way to the coast.
- Southern valley sides are indented by dry valleys and scarp faces in the downland section.
- Increasing proportion of grazing and improved grassland land on the valley sides from the downlandto the lowland landscapes.
- Extensive informal enclosure field patterns and significant water meadow
The SDLP identifies five broad areas of the South Downs National Park. East Meon falls within the Dip Slope area. The Dip Slope contains iconic South Downs landscapes and some of the most tranquil areas and darkest night skies in the National Park.
The link below will take you to the detailed South Downs National Park Integrated landscape Character Assessment for more detail.
SDNP Integrated Landscape Character Assessment 2011