CORNWALL AND ISLES OF SCILLY LANDSCAPE CHARACTER STUDY

Landscape Character Area Description

LCA - Moor LCA No CA32

JCA

Constituent LDUs Total 9: 28, 74, 75, 241, 242, 304, 308, 309, 356

© Crown copyright. All rights reserved. County Council 100019590, 2008.

Location Extensive inland upland area towards eastern end of county. No large settlements. Designations 3 LDUs are completely covered by the AONB, and a further 5 are partly covered; all LDUS contain SSSIs; 2 LDUs are within the District WHS. 5 LDUS contain SACs; All LDUs contain SMs and 2 contain CGS.

Description An extensive exposed granite upland of tors, rocky outcrops and heath with pastoral farmland in the more sheltered areas especially in the valleys around the edges of the moorland. This is some of the highest land in Cornwall with Rough Tor and being the two highest peaks. Much of the area is unenclosed and unsettled, wild and often bleak with panoramic views of moorland grass and wet heath sweeping into the distance punctuated by granite boulders and scree as well as hidden bogs and mires and unsettling blocks of coniferous plantations. From the moorland plateau streams flow in all directions cutting into weakness in the underlying rock to form narrow incised valleys that are wooded and enclosed with attractive cataracts and waterfalls. Anciently enclosed farmland with its small fields and sinuous boundaries can be found in the sheltering folds of the undulating plateau usually surrounded by more rectangular fields where the moorland has been more recently enclosed. There are signs of human activity everywhere with a wealth of prehistoric features such as burial chambers, stone circles, settlements and field systems, medieval farmsteads, chapels, wells, crosses and streamworks, and post-medieval quarrying around St Breward, china clay working in the centre and north west of the moor and mining in the south east around Caradon Hill and Minions. The area around Caradon Hill is part of the international World Heritage Site and carries extensive well-preserved remains of former industrial activity. The centre of the moor is crossed by the A30 trunk road which bypasses Jamaica Inn made famous by Daphne du Maurier and the planned post-medieval settlement of . Other settlement is mainly isolated farms with the larger villages nestling around the edges of the upland. to the north and St Cleer to the south are the largest. Besides a natural water feature, the legendary Dozmary Pool, there are three reservoirs at Colliford, Siblyback and Crowdy that are used extensively for recreation. Key Landscape Characteristics Exposed large scale unenclosed moorland with gorse, bracken and heather.

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Landscape Character Area Description

Several dominant tors and cairns visible over large areas - Roughtor and Brown Willy to the north with Stowes Hill and Caradon Hill to the south. Shallow narrow wooded stream valleys becoming more enclosed and incised around the edges of the massif. Isolated coniferous plantations. Villages and hamlets on sheltered valley sides (creases); mainly 19th C mining terraces using vernacular materials and of distinctive local style. Areas of recently enclosed moorland intake on moorland edge enclosed and subdivided, mainly with wire fencing and some drystone walls. Extensive wetland areas of marshland around streams, often with tin streaming evidence. Man-made reservoirs which are in scale but not in keeping with this wild landscape. Widespread evidence of prehistoric activity, such as relict field patterns and standing stones. Extensive upstanding industrial remains, with many chimneys and engine houses, tramways, dressing floors, spoil heaps and surface workings.

Geology and soils Large granite boss and metamorphic aureole, forming an area of high ground rising to 420m AOD at Brown Willy. Erosion has assisted in the creation of rounded granite tors and scree-strewn slopes, locally known as clitter. Soils are generally poor draining, impoverished and often boggy, on the granite, but well- drained acid brown earths on the surrounding soils. The subsoil is a stony yellow-brown material known as growan or rab. Topography and drainage Gently undulating plateau with variably sloping sides, cut with shallow stream valleys in all directions. Rivers and streams follow lines of weakness in the granite across the Moor as shallow valleys that deepening dramatically across the softer rocks around the edge of the core, and feeding rivers to both north and south Cornish coasts. Biodiversity The Landscape Character Area has large areas of rough ground and moorland with acid grassland, and extensive areas of Lowland Heathland in the southern part, and some Upland Heathland, mostly in the northern part, and around tors. Some formerly grazed common land has scrubbed up with European Gorse or has been invaded by Bracken. The majority of the farmed land is improved grassland. Between the hills along the upper reaches and heads of streams large areas of wetland, with Fens, and Blanket Bog have developed by the combination of high rainfall and poorly-draining soils. The streams eventually form or join the rivers , East and West , Seaton, Tiddy, Lynher, Inny and Camel (into LCAS 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 2 and 33) and link to the semi-natural habitats in the valleys of those rivers in those LCAs. The upper reaches of the is designated a SAC, as is Crowdy Marsh, and much of the northern part of LCA 32 is SSSI, and the Upper Fowey Valley SSSI. Three valleys have been dammed to create Crowdy, Siblyback and Colliford reservoirs, which adds to the area of open water in the LCA. The largest natural area of open water is Dozmary Pool SSSI. Broadleaved woodland is retricted to the fringes of the LCA on lower valley slopes and in valley bottoms, as at Draynes Wood, a SSSI and NNR, and Cabilla Manor Woodlands. These include some Upland Oakwoods, Upland Mixed Ashwoods and Wet Woodland. Some areas of rough ground have been planted with conifers as at Smallacombe, Halvana, Priddacombe and Davidstow

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Landscape Character Area Description

Woods, forming extensive plantations. The area has had a long history of mining, and derelict areas of China clay quarries are found at Stannon, Whitebarrow and Glynn Valley Works. In the southeastern part near Minions, former areas of mining have developed an assemblage of rare species, with Phoenix United and Crow’s Nest being designated SACs for their importance. Where Cornish hedges are found, they are usually with open stone faces and turf tops, and without trees in the more windswept higher areas, but with variable vegetation on moorland fringes.

Land Cover The majority of the LCA is an open upland area of Lowland and Upland Heathland, Acid Grassland, with pastoral farmland of improved and semi-improved pasture, reservoirs and conifer plantations. Former areas of open workings or mines are found in places. Land Use There is rough grazing on the open moorland and common land, with improved pastoral farmland with trees and small farms in less exposed areas; and very little arable. Much of the farmland is anciently enclosed and includes more recent enclosure of some of the former rough ground. On the open moorland area are large conifer plantations. There are significant areas of disused and working industry (mining and quarrying, china clay workings), reservoirs and ex-military areas. Field and woodland pattern There is considerable variation in field size and pattern, with a smaller and more sinuous medieval pattern on the lower land around the fringes of the Moor and in some river valleys, and a straighter and larger pattern on higher land where there has been post-medieval enclosure of the rough ground. There are extensive prehistoric field systems on the Moor, together with important examples of abandoned medieval settlements and associated fields. Cornish hedges with hedgerows; some visible stone facing and some drystone and wire fencing on later land intakes. Conifer plantations at Davidstow, Halvana plantation and Smallacoombe Downs. Settlement pattern Dispersed or unsettled, with isolated houses and farms, generally vernacular in style and materials on moorland in more sheltered areas, contrasting with nucleated villages on the moorland fringes. The latter are based on enlarged medieval churchtowns (e.g., St Breward, Blisland, , St Neot, St Cleer) or developed as post-medieval industrial settlements (Minions, Darite, Pensilva). Bolventor is a planted nineteenth-century settlement on the main east-west route across the Moor (A30).There are some modern farm buildings. Transport pattern The A30 dual carriageway crosses the Landscape Character Area and has a significant impact on its landscape character. Elsewhere there are winding lanes throughout, open on the moorland edge but very enclosed on the sloping and lower land, creating a dramatic contrast at a local scale. Few defined footpaths cross the moor. Historic features is Cornwall’s best-preserved and most easily visible archaeological landscape, with features ranging in date from the early Neolithic (c 3500 BC) to twentieth-century industrial activity. Outstanding elements include the earlier prehistoric enclosures on Stowe’s Hill and Rough Tor, , numerous barrows, cairns, stone circles, stone rows and other Bronze Age ceremonial monuments, widely distributed Middle-Late Bronze Age roundhouse settlements and field systems, deserted medieval and post medieval farm settlements, and early medieval and medieval religious sites including stone crosses and holy wells, (e.g., King Doniert's Stone (late C9th), St Cleer holy well). There are extensive remains of

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Landscape Character Area Description medieval and later streamworking and associated water management features, and of predominantly post- medieval peat extraction. Post-medieval mining remains are concentrated around the south-eastern part of the Moor, focused on Minions and Caradon Hill, and there are also significant remains of post-medieval quarrying (Cheesewring, Gold Diggings, Hantergantick) and the china clay industry. Associated features include railways and tramways. In the twentieth century three large reservoirs have been constructed on the Moor and a World War II airfield was constructed on Davidstow Moor, now part forested.

Condition The wild moorland landscape character is reduced by impacts from the A30 trunk road and other man made features such as reservoirs and communication masts. Farmland generally fair, except for lack of hedge maintenance and scrubbing over of valley bottoms. On some areas intensive grazing of the moorland has left the heath in poor condition. The ecological corridor along the Fowey is generally intact, but there is some bracken incursion. There is evidence of poor maintenance of some farm buildings and drystone walls. Localised recreation pressure (St Breward area). Pressures Recreation schemes and tourist attractions. Housing development in uncharacteristic settlement forms. Loss of heath from unsympathetic agricultural improvements. Agricultural change. Grazing regimes may threaten open moorland landscape character and reduce visibility of standing archaeology. New reservoirs. Mineral extraction. Windfarms. Extensions to coniferous planting. Aesthetic and sensory This is a tranquil and variable area, from intimate enclosed valleys to wide high moorland. The granite tors and wild moorland have a genuine sense of wilderness where, despite the unique remains of extensive relict landscapes and the influence of thousands of years of human manipulation of the landscape, the forces of nature are still dominant. The intimate wooded valleys with their clear running streams provide a complete contrast to the wide open moorland.

Distinctive features Cairns, tors and prehistoric monuments on moorland, contrasting with mining quarrying relics; clapper bridges; Dozmary Pool; three reservoirs - generally in scale with the landscape but not of it; prominent plantations at Smallacoombe, Bolventor and Halvana; Caradon Hill communication masts; China clay works at Stannon, St Neots, Hawkstor, Temple and Durfold; sand and gravel workings at Five Lanes.

Visions and objectives This landscape is perceived as a wilderness area with a great richness and diversity in terms of the visual, historical and ecological elements. Pressures for change can result in the incremental loss of the special features which create a sense of place. The objective must be to retain and enhance the wild nature seeking to ensure a balanced management of the area's diverse landscape, ecological and archaeological landscape character. Planning and Land Management Guidelines Conserve moorland habitats and landscape character by continuing dialogue with landowners and commoners to maintain good grazing regimes and prevent scrubbing up, especially in areas of high

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Landscape Character Area Description

archaeological or biodiversity value and support the AONB management plan. Conserve the internationally important mining and quarrying heritage including mining settlements and smallholdings. Where extensive areas of despoliation are to be restored respect the local landscape pattern. Conserve local landscape character by ensuring that major infrastructure projects, such as forestry plantations, communications and transport corridors, are assessed for their potential impact on landscape character and, where approved, designed to be in scale with local landscape pattern and scale. Enhance local moorland landscape character by removing roadside wire fencing and installing more cattlegrids. Develop a recreation strategy for controlled access to the moorland areas.

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