Chilterns Home Search

The Chiltern Hills, generally known as ‘The Chilterns’, form a chalk escarpment in south-east England that is 11 miles (18km) at its widest and stretches 46 miles (74 km) north-east from Goring-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, through Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire to Hitchin in Hertfordshire.

The Chiltern  Hills are almost entirely located within the Thames drainage basin with the River Thames flowing through a gap between the Berkshire Downs and the Chilterns at Goring. In 1965 a large portion of the Chilterns was officially designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (A.O.N.B) and so enjoys special protection from major developments.

The Chilterns boasts some fine countryside and is one of the most wooded areas in England; ash, cherry, and oak trees are widespread and there is a wealth of ancient beech woodland with carpets of bluebells in the spring. The area is home to  the 11 mile network of locks and towpaths of the Grand Union Canal, and National Trails such as the ancient Ridgeway, part of the ‘oldest road in Britain’. The character of the Chilterns A.O.N.B also comes from its attractive villages such as Amersham, Great Missenden, and Marlow, and fine individual houses often built with locally produced natural materials such as flint, timber, and clay tiles, ensuring they complement their surroundings.

A Chilterns home search is a popular choice; around 95,000 people have made the Chilterns their home and the area is consistently voted one of the best places to live in Britain. The area is particularly sought after by families moving out of London looking for more space – inside and out.

Excellent transport links pass through the Chilterns making it a prime location for those needing to commute back into the capital, north-west to Oxford, Banbury, and Birmingham, or north to Milton Keynes and Northampton. Roads include the M40 motorway, which passes through the Chilterns in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire,  and

railways include the Chiltern Main Line to Marylebone via Princes Risborough, High Wycombe and Beaconsfield,  the London to Aylesbury Line via Amersham, and the branch lines of the Great Western Main Line such as Henley and Marlow link the southern side of the Chilterns with Paddington. The proximity of a mainline railway station is particularly sought after in this popular commuter region, and both demand and prices reflect this.

In 2012 the UK Government announced that Phase 1 of the proposed High Speed 2 (HS2) rail route between Birmingham and London would pass through the Chilterns near Wendover, Great Missenden, Amersham, and the Chalfonts, mostly through tunnels and partly at surface level. Disruption to affected areas will be significant and any Chilterns home search must pay particular attention to HS2.

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