Wolds are open tracts of hilly uplands in southern and central England. They are typically chalk and limestone hills, similar to downs, with varying surface soils deposited when the glaciers of the Ice Age melted. The main English wolds are the Lincolnshire Wolds, the Yorkshire Wolds, and the Cotswolds. Most of these regions are farmland. People do not always use the word wolds as a precise geographical term. The word comes from the Old English word weald, meaning forest.
