3D HAMBLE VALLEY Lower Hamble estuary – a busy water with huge number of moorings. Wooded sides hide the surrounding development from the estuary. Upper Hamble estuary at Manor farmLower Hamble estuary yacht Saltmarsh behind seawall at Bunny – dense woodland covered valley sidemoorings. meadows. and more rural character than south. Holly Hill woodland park on steepHigh street – Hambe-le-Rice River crossing Warsash to Hamble-le- wooded valley side. Rice. Hampshire County 1 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Hamble Valley Hampshire County 2 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Hamble Valley 1.0 Location and Boundaries 1.1 This character area stretches from the lowland mosaic of the Forest of Bere through a coastal plain setting, to the junction with Southampton Water at Warsash. Its edges are defined by the top of the predominantly wooded valley sides. 1.2 Component County Landscape Types River Valley Floor, Coastal Plain Enclosed (majority of valley side) Intertidal Estuary and Harbour, Coastal Reclaim and Grazing Marsh, Settlement, Lowland Mosaic Medium Scale, Lowland Mosaic Small Scale, Lowland Mosaic Open. 1.3 Composition of Borough/District LCAs: Winchester CC Fareham BC Durley Claylands Upper Hamble Valley Whiteley Woodlands (forms western Lower Hamble Valley boundary) Lower Swanwick Warsash Village (western part) Eastleigh BC Sarisbury Green (eastern part) Hamble Valley Old Bursledon (eastern slopes) Hamble Common (part) The extent of this LCA is compatible with the Eastleigh and Fareham District assessments. The County assessment boundary passes through built up settlement hence only part of the urban related character areas are included that are on the valley sides. The valley is fairly small in scale by the time it passes into the Winchester City Council land and there is only a small section in this area. It is not picked out as a valley character area in the City assessment because of its scale, but it makes sense to identify the head of the valley in this County assessment. 1.4 Associations with NCAs and Natural Areas:: NCA 128: South Hampshire Lowlands NA 75: South Coast Plain and Hampshire Lowlands 2.0 Key Characteristics • Well defined strong valley landform with dense semi natural woodland which clothes the valley sides and tops. • A lively, colourful and distinctive yachting character provided by the huge numbers of yachts and boat moorings, yards, and marinas and intensively used waters for recreation. Hampshire County 3 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Hamble Valley • Large detached residences set within mature woodland along the valley tops and water’s edge with substantial gardens and secluded character. • The river valley varies from a bustling vibrant yachting scene in the southern reaches to secluded narrow creeks in its upper reaches with woodland overhanging the shore. • High quality waterside conservation areas – and popular visitor areas. • An abundance of waterside public access sites. • Extremely rich and cognitive associations with a long naval boat building and safe anchorage history now supplanted by a vibrant recreational yachting environment. • International and national wildlife designations associated with the estuary, intertidal habitats and semi natural woodland in upper reaches. 3.0 Physical Characteristics and Landuse 3.1 The Hamble valley passes through sands and clay formations of the Bracklesham Group at its head, and then through a wide band of London Clay. Moving further south, into the setting of the coastal plain, the geology is mainly of sandsilts and clays overlain by river terrace gravel deposits of the Pleistocene associated with the Solent river. These river terrace gravels extend in patches up the valley (further north than in the surrounding Forest of Bere landscape) and along with the valley floor give rise to brick earth and loamy/clay soils which have a high agricultural soil quality. The valley sides are less distinct than further south and of a varied topography with small hills and ridges creating a small scale landscape. The valley is deepest around Bursledon, around 35m and becomes gradually lower towards the coast. At Warsash the geology and soils are distinctly more sandy and lighter. 3.2 The heavily wooded river valley sides are characteristic along the valleys length and heighten the valley side tops creating a strong sense of enclosure. Below the M27 the valley sides are well settled but in an enduring wooded setting. Further north as well as woodland, permanent pasture is very dominant on the undulating valley sides. The southern area – associated with the eastern side and the sandier lighter soil around Warsash has established as an important area for strawberry cultivation –although the area is much reduced from 20th C development. At harvest time, some of the ship building workforce were employed in the strawberry fields. The river use is also distinctly different along its course. To the south of the motorway, it is dominated by associated recreational boating and yachting with hundreds of moorings and numerous boat yards, marinas and slips. To the north exploitation of the river and shore is minimal with woodland often sweeping down to the shore edge. The river is popular with anglers and bait digging especially on the east side. Commercial shell fishing takes place at the entrance to the estuary – including oyster beds. 3.3 The Hamble is a relatively short river with a small catchment area that stretches virtually to the edge of the Meon valley and Horton Heath and Fair Oak. There are several tributaries to the north which are chalk spring fed. To the east tributaries run from Shedfield and from Swanwick in the south and confluence at Curbridge. The water becomes tidal at Botley Mill and there is an insignificant sediment input into the Solent from the Hamble as it has relatively stable discharges. Hook spit is a good example of a recurved spit induced from the northwest direction of long shore Hampshire County 4 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Hamble Valley drift. It has grown north eastwards constricting the entrance to the Hamble and enclosing Hook lakes. 4.0 Experiential/Perceptual Characteristics 4.1 A landscape visually contained by the wooded valley sides giving a natural setting to the valley floor. There are extensive views up and down the estuary but few places from the top of the valley where there are views across it. Because of the visual enclosure, the character area feels distinctly separate from its surrounding landscapes especially in the southern half. Further north the landscape is more contained because of the narrow tributary valleys. 4.2 This character area is rich in access provision and has a wealth of attractions and sites with public access. Sites include; Manor Farm Country Park, Holly Hill (fine example of late Victorian villa wooded landscape), Bunny Meadows, Hook with Warsash local nature reserve (waterside access with saltmarsh and saline lagoons), Hamble common giving superb views across the Solent. The area is rich in promoted trails and walks such as the Hamble trail, Cobbett trail – centred around Botley, Solent Way and Strawberry trail which is a circular route. There are limited multi user routes – but Manor farm offers permissive horse riding routes. There is a ferry crossing from Warsash to Hamble. Access to the water is excellent with some public slips, above Bursledon access is limited by the 3 bridge crossings and limited to small craft. 4.3 The valley offers different experiences along its length in term of tranquillity. South of the M27 the waterside scene is bustling, colourful and can sometimes feel crowded. The upper reaches offer a tranquil wooded setting which in contrast; is intimate, a sense of being natural, and quiet. Although close to the conurbation of Southampton the valley forms a strong separating landscape from the rural land of the southern coastal plain and Forest of Bere to the north. The wooded valley sides, and predominantly natural waterside edge, impart a strong sense of naturalness. 5.0 Biodiversity Character 5.1 The river Hamble, from its mouth to Botley in the north, is designated as part of the Solent Maritime SAC which encompasses a major estuarine system on the south coast of England. The Hamble comprises one of four coastal plain estuaries designated as part of the SAC and is also in part designated as the Solent and Southhampton Waters RAMSAR supporting internationally important numbers of wintering waterfowl, important breeding gull and tern populations and an important assemblage of rare invertebrates and plants. The Solent and its inlets are unique in Britain and Europe for their hydrographic regime of four tides each day, exhibiting an unusual strong double tidal flow and long periods of slack water at high and low tides as well as the complexity of the marine and estuarine habitats present within the area. Sediment habitats within the estuaries include extensive estuarine flats, often with intertidal areas supporting eelgrass and green algae, sand and shingle spits, and natural shoreline transitions. The Lincegrove and Hackett’s Marsh SSSI (structurally one of the best examples of mature saltmarsh on the south coast comprising saltmarsh grass, sea lavender, thrift, sea aster and sea club-rush), and Lee-on-the-Solent to Itchen Estuary SSSI (supporting an outstanding assemblage of nationally scarce coastal plants comprising extensive intertidal muds with a littoral fringe of vegetated shingle, saltmarsh, reedbed, marshy grasslands and deciduous Hampshire County 5 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Hamble Valley woodland) cover parts of these sediment habitats. Overall, the mudflats range from low and variable salinity in the upper reaches of the estuaries to sheltered almost fully marine muds in Chichester and Langstone Harbours. 5.2 Another SSSI in this character area is the Upper Hamble Estuary and Woods SSSI comprising the uppermost section of the estuary of the River Hamble and its flanking zones of saltmarsh, reedswamp and ancient semi-natural woodland.