8D: ANDOVER OPEN DOWNS View from Danebury ring eastwards across Open Downs– regular straight sided and large scale field pattern of extensive formal enclosures. Expansive arable near Thruxton –Frequent visual reminders of an Near Penton Mewsey – over more typical of the Open Downs. ancient ritual landscape. wooded Downland Mosaic Large Scale – glimpses of Andover © Andrew Smith - Geogrpah Occasionally more wooded characterPenton Mewsey © Colin Bates – Enham Alamein purpose built homes on some steeper slopes and whereGeograph, located at the head of the for war heroes after WW1 © Chris clays are thicker. R Anton, Test tributary. Talbot - Geograph Hampshire County 1 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Andover Open Downs Hampshire County 2 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Andover Open Downs 1.0 Location and Boundaries 1.1 This character area lies along the western edge of Hampshire County and forms a bowl of higher downland which surroundings the town of Andover. To the southwest this character abuts the edges of the Salisbury Plain while to the northwest it abuts the Chute Forest both of which extend into Wiltshire. The eastern edge of this character area is bordered by the Test Valley while the southern and northern boundaries are defined by marked scarps. 1.2 Component County Landscape Types: Open Downs, Downland Mosaic Small Scale, Downland Mosaic Large Scale. 1.3 Composition of Borough/District LCAs: Test District North Andover Plateau Andover Chalk Downland Thruxton and Danebury Chalk Downland Harewood Forest Wooded Quarley Hill Downs Downs Cholderton Downs Amport Wooded Downs There is a good correlation between the boundary of this character area and those listed above. The southern boundary is almost identical to the Thruxton and Danebury Chalk Downland area and the northern boundary follows the northern edge of the Tangley and Doles Wood character area. This character area does not include the main river valleys. Beyond the boarder into Wiltshire this landscape character area correlates with Area 3B Salisbury Plain East. Although not pulled out as a separate character area it should be noted that in the far western corner the river valley of River Bourne correlates with that of the Bourne Chalk River Valley (5C) identified in the Wiltshire Assessment. 1.4 Associations with NCAs and Natural Areas: NCA 130: Hampshire Downs JCA 132: Salisbury Plain and West Wiltshire Downs NA 78: Hampshire Downs and NA 80: South Wessex Downs 1.5 Townscape Assessment Areas: Andover 2.0 Key Characteristics • Plateau downland with gentle undulating ridges and dry chalk valleys. • Occasional prominent hills within the downland create visual features. Hampshire County 3 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Andover Open Downs • Open, expansive landscape with long distant views across downland and the river valleys which dissect the plateau. • Biodiversity value from Harewood Forest, and dispersed areas of chalk grassland, including internationally-designated sites. • Predominately arable land use with limited pasture in the west and south on the fringes of Salisbury Plain and Boscombe Down East. • There is little woodland cover creating a simple composition of landscape elements except where there are notable deposits of clay with flints - here woodland cover becomes dominant e.g. Harewood Forest. • A landscape with significant time depth and important archaeology particularly from prehistoric and Roman periods, especially associated with the areas of open dowland and higher areas -, including burial mounds and hill forts such as Danebury. • Very regular formal enclosure pattern dates predominately from the 19th century. Defined in places by a weak hedgerow structure or no boundaries at all and particularly in the open downland tends to overwrite earlier field boundary patterns. • Occasional parkland landscapes provide visual diversity. • Urban edges of Andover extend into this character area. • Dispersed pattern of nucleated villages and farmsteads. • Tranquil and remote away from Andover and particularly in the south were there is little settlement. 3.0 Physical Characteristics and Land Use 3.1 The Upper Chalk geology surrounding the town of Andover forms a gently undulating plateau of downland with characteristic rounded simple landforms and a ‘fan’ of dry river valleys which slope towards the tributaries of the Test. Landform shows greater variety and complexity where there are deposits of clay with flints or where the chalk forms prominent hills which protrude above the plateau and form landmark features e.g. Quarley Hill, Thruxton Hill and Chattis Hill. The area generally slopes in a south-easterly direction, the highest areas occurring along the northern and western boundary i.e. around 172m AOD at Tower Hill. Soils are generally calcareous and free draining with heavy clays occurring where there are deposits of clay with flint. Within the ‘fan’ of dry river valleys that extend north and west of Andover there are valley gravel deposits. The agricultural land quality of this area is predominately medium with small patches of higher quality land north of Charlton, Redenham Park and near Quarley Hill. 3.2 Open arable farmland is the principal land use with some concentrated areas of woodland to the east at Harewood Forest and more fragmented areas of woodland south and west of Abbots Ann. Otherwise the open, large scale, arable fields form a simple landscape pattern defined by a weak structure of hedgerows or no hedgerows at all. Interspersed with the arable pattern of land use are two airfields at Thruxton and Middle Wallop. In the Harewood Forest area hedgerows comprise shelterbelts or spinneys contributing to the general sense of enclosure found there and contrasting with the openness of the wider area. Some patches of pasture can be found around the southern edges of the area on the fringes of Salisbury Plain i.e. Boscombe Down East. Hampshire County 4 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Andover Open Downs 3.3 This landscape character falls into three separate Environment Agency river catchments: the Upper Test in the north, the Lower Test in the south and the River Bourne Hants in the far west. River valleys (with the exception of the River Bourne) are dry due to the free draining nature of the chalk plateau. 3.4 The prominent hills which rise above the open arable plain have attracted attention and use over the centuries. Their physical, visual dominance and high value culturally make them notable features of this landscape character area. 4.0 Experiential/Perceptual Characteristics 4.1 As a result of its elevation, topography and predominately open arable cultivation, this landscape offers wide views, big skies and a visually simple composition. The small hills which protrude from the downland plateau form notable landmarks and assist with orientation and sense of place. Its simplicity and openness can make this landscape feel bleak and uncompromising in certain weather conditions. 4.2 The Test Way long distance path passes through the north-eastern part of this character area. Areas of open access occur on patches of downland e.g. Danebury Down and Kimpton Down. There is also an area of restricted access as a result of MOD training on the edge of Boscombe Down East. 4.3 The emptiness of much of this landscape gives it a strong sense of remoteness and isolation. The CPRE tranquillity assessment indicates that the southern half of this character area is of medium to high tranquillity, and this reduces towards Andover. Elements which detract from tranquillity include pylons and major trunk roads which converge on Andover. Views towards urban development or the spread of urban development along radial roads has also caused an urbanising influence on downland. Night blight from Andover can be experienced over a wide area. 5.0 Biodiversity Character 5.1 This is an agricultural landscape, comprising mainly arable land with some patches of unimproved and semi-improved calcareous grasslands, which tend to be small and often isolated. Large patches of improved grassland are located on steeper slopes, such as Brougthon Down and Porton Down. It includes internationally designated habitats: Porton Down SPA (also designated as a SAC and a SSSI) is situated on the Hampshire-Wiltshire border in the Test Valley and Salisbury districts. It consists of an extensive area of chalk grassland with scrub and woodland, and is one of the largest uninterrupted tracts of semi-natural chalk grassland in the UK. It is important for downland breeding birds and supports important numbers of Stone Curlew. 5.2 Woodland is scattered in small copses and strips throughout this character area and represents a variety of types including broadleaved woodland, mixed, coniferous and broadleaved plantations, active coppice with standards and parkland. Ancient and semi-natural woodland exists throughout but is more prevalent in the east than the west. There is a large area of ancient and semi-natural woodland in the southeast, associated with Harewood Forest and consisting of broadleaved woodland, mixed woodland, active coppice with standards and some broadleaved plantation. On the northern boundary of the character area there is a significant area of mixed and broadleaved plantation which is ancient and semi-natural woodland, associated with Ridges Copse. Hampshire County 5 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Andover Open Downs 5.3 This landscape character area has several BOAs within it. Broughton Down BOA crosses the boundary in the south west of the area and includes important examples of almost the complete range of chalk habitats, with the exception of Juniper scrub. Porton Down BOA in the west of the area extends into Wiltshire and comprises an extensive area of grassland, scrub and woodland and constitutes one of the largest, uninterrupted tracts of semi-natural chalk grassland in Britain. Tidworth BOA contains several small unimproved chalk grassland and scrub SINCs, woodland tends to be species rich with oak, ash and field maple canopy and hazel understorey.