Marshwood and Powerstock Vales

The Marshwood and Powerstock Vales form a natural region in southwest England reaching to the Dorset coastline.

The boundary of the Marshwood and Powerstock Vales NCA runs along the coastline from just east of Charmouth to West Bay, cutting briefing inland towards Bridport before heading eastwards again to Chilcombe.

It then heads westwards towards Mapperton, Beaminster and Stoke Abbott before swinging in a wide arc to return to the coast via Pilsdon and Whitchurch Canonicorum.

To the east are the chalk hills of the Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase, and the coastal strip of the Weymouth Lowlands, and, to the west, the Greensand transitions into the Blackdowns.

Lastly, to the south is Lyme Bay on the English Channel where the coastline is characterised by slumped, mobile cliffs, prominent headlands like Golden Cap, and hidden valleys.