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The Yorkshire Wolds Designation Project
The Yorkshire Wolds Designation Project
Welcome to the Yorkshire Wolds Designation Project website, which is here to provide information about Natural England’s proposal to designate a new Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) within the Yorkshire Wolds.
The statutory purpose of an AONB designation is to conserve and enhance natural beauty. The designation of an AONB within the Yorkshire Wolds would recognise the national significance of its beautiful landscapes.
Following years of technical assessment, statutory and public consultation, Natural England formally submitted a proposal to designate a new AONB within the Yorkshire Wolds to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs on 7 September 2026. Known as the Yorkshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Designation) Order 2026, the proposal covers an area of 463km2, and would be the first new AONB to be designated in England in over 30 years.
The Secretary of State will now consider the Order and submitted evidence, and come to a decision. They may decide to confirm the Order as submitted, or with changes; or they may decide not to confirm it. There is no timescale for this to happen.
The Order will not come into effect unless and until confirmed by the Secretary of State.
The Proposed Yorkshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
The Proposed Yorkshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Interactive map
Interactive map
The interactive map below identifies the Proposed Yorkshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The proposed boundary has been digitised at 1:25,000 scale against Ordnance Survey mapping. This may differ slightly from what is shown on the basemap or aerial imagery used in the online map. This interactive map should therefore be considered indicative.
Maps of the area proposed for designation, shown on Ordnance Survey mapping, can be viewed on the Yorkshire Wolds AONB Proposed Designation Submission page and should be referenced for all aspects pertaining to the Order. Paper copies of the maps will also be available to view at the locations listed on the ‘Have your Say’ page of this website.
Click on the map to view interactively and in more detail
The Yorkshire Wolds
The Yorkshire Wolds
Identified as a distinct area of landscape in Natural England's National Character Areas dataset, the Yorkshire Wolds is described as follows.
The Yorkshire Wolds National Character Area (NCA) forms an arc of high, gently rolling ground extending from the Humber Estuary west of Hull, to the North Sea coast at Flamborough Head, north of Bridlington. It comprises a prominent chalk escarpment and foothills rising from the Vale of York to the west and the Vale of Pickering to the north, and falling to the plain of Holderness to the east. A very low proportion of the area is urban and woodland, and the vast majority of the land is agricultural. Woodland planting is restricted to small, scattered woodland blocks on higher land and steeper slopes.
Photograph of a view over Thixendale
Map showing the Yorkshire Wolds and surrounding National Character Areas
Why is the Yorkshire Wolds being considered for Designation
Why is the Yorkshire Wolds being considered for Designation
Natural England is the Government’s adviser on the natural environment and has powers under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to consider which areas of countryside are nationally important for their outstanding natural beauty and then to designate such areas as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, if it is desirable to do so for the purpose of conserving and enhancing their natural beauty.
In June 2021, a written ministerial statement by Secretary of State, George Eustice (Defra) announced that Natural England ‘will be taking forward the government’s commitment to designate additional protected landscapes and is currently considering the designation of four new areas’. This includes the possible designation of a new Yorkshire Wolds AONB.
Full details of Natural England’s subsequent announcement can be seen via the link below:
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