Winchester and its Setting
Southern Setting
Compton
Cathedral from Compton Down
Northward from the Compton Ridge, there is a stunning view of the Cathedral, which appears to be the sole occupant of the chalk downland setting, with St Catherine’s Hill to the east. Towards the foreground the tree lined Roman Road offers a dramatic landscape feature. In the middle ground there is a large area of undulating farmland, which forms part of the Local Gap between Winchester and Compton.
Oliver’s Battery
Olivers Battery
This residential suburb is sited on a flat topped chalk ridge, with steep slopes falling away to the east and surrounded by countryside on its western and south eastern side, which contains the Yew Hill Butterfly Reserve (SINC). The housing presents a hard edge when viewed from Romsey Road, in between which is a dry valley that is the site of the South Winchester Golf Course with its string of lakes. From the top of the ridge there are views of the countryside to the west, south and east, which are part of the Hursley Scarplands Landscape, a topographically complex Upper Chalk landscape of ridges, scarps and valleys with numerous areas of small woodland. The character of this area should be maintained (Oliver’s Battery Village Design Statement adopted 2008).