Settlement
Until the coming of the railways and, later, the motor-car, the Chilterns were largely rural with country towns situated on the main routes through the hills. The position of the hills, northwest of London, affected the routing of major roads, railways and canals. These were funnelled through convenient valleys (e.g. High Wycombe, Hemel Hempstead) and encouraged settlement and, later, commuter housing. As at 2002 there were 100,000 people living within the AoNB area of the Chilterns.
The western edge of the Chilterns is notable for its ancient strip parishes, elongated parishes with villages in the flatter land below the escarpment and woodland and summer pastures in the higher land.
Read more about this topic: Chiltern Hills
Famous quotes containing the word settlement:
“A Settlement is above all a place for enthusiasms, a spot to which those who have a passion for the equalization of human joys and opportunities are early attracted.”
—Jane Addams (1860–1935)
“... if the Settlement seeks its expression through social activity, it must learn the difference between mere social unrest and spiritual impulse.”
—Jane Addams (1860–1935)
“I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.”
—John Adams (1735–1826)