The Midvale Ridge is a

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...

in South Central England formed by a band of low-lying

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

hills that run from southeast to northwest from the

Vale of Aylesbury The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum ( Hertfo ...

to Swindon. It has been designated as National Character Area 109 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 UK Government's advisors on the natural environment. The Midvale Ridge crosses the counties of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

, Oxfordshire and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

. It is surrounded by the lowlands of the Oxfordshire clay vales and offers good views over the local countryside. The area is dominated by agriculture with a mixed arable/ pastoral farming landscape. Cereals are the most important arable crop.''109 Midvale Ridge''
at www.naturalengland.org.uk. Accessed on 7 Oct 2013 The main settlements are the town of Swindon in the west, and the city of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

, in the centre. Otherwise the area is relatively sparsely populated with small nucleated villages along the crest of the ridge and along the springline. Soils comprise a mix of heavy

rendzina Rendzina (or ''rendsina'') is a soil type recognized in various soil classification systems, including those of Britain and Germany as well as some obsolete systems. They are humus-rich shallow soils that are usually formed from carbonate- or occ ...

stagnogley A stagnogley soil is a typically non-alluvial, non-calcareous, loamy or clayey soil with a relatively impervious, subsurface horizon (soil), horizon. Stagnogley soils are related to the pseudogleys and are a type of gleyic soil. The name of this h ...

s and lighter sandy brown earths with small patches of sandy soils. The area has a number of important

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...

sites and has yielded

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of international importance, including the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

s for several

ammonite Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttle ...

species and several species of prehistoric sponges known only from the

Faringdon Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. It extends to the River Thames in the north; the highest ground is on the ...

area.

References

Natural regions of England Geography of Buckinghamshire Geography of Oxfordshire Geography of Wiltshire {{Oxfordshire-geo-stub