Midvale Ridge

Character Area 109 Midvale Ridge

Key Characteristics

● Low irregular wooded limestone ridge giving way to a series of isolated steep-sided tabular hills in the east which rise from the surrounding clay vales.

● Large geometrically spaced fields divided by regular pattern of hedgerows and trees supporting both arable and pastoral farming.

● Villages, typically built of local limestone, perched high up on spurs, hilltops and along ridges giving

extensive views across the open, gently undulating, E. AGENCY SANDERSON/COUNTRYSIDE clay vales to the north and south. Large geometrically spaced fields, divided by a regular pattern of

● hedgerows and hedgerow trees, supporting both arable and Visible archaeology dating from early Roman pastoral farming. settlement of the area found on prominent areas of higher ground. Villages are found perched high up on spurs, hilltops and ridges giving extensive views across the open, gently ● Spring-line settlements associated with blocks of ancient woodland along the ridge. undulating clay vales to the north and south. A local pattern of small fields often surrounds these villages in contrast to ● Contrast between the moderately elevated limestone the more typical and widespread occurrence of large fields. hills and ridges and the surrounding low-lying clay Villages such as Brill have many stone buildings, typically vales. of local limestone with red tiles or thatch common as roofing materials. The hilltop villages are very distinctive Landscape Character with village greens and thatched cottages typically set The Midvale Ridge is a low, irregular outcrop of limestone around the village church as a local landmark. that changes from a well-wooded ridge in Oxfordshire into These villages are connected by a network of small sunken a series of isolated steep-sided tabular hills in lanes with low trimmed hedges and hedgerow trees that Buckinghamshire which rise above the surrounding clay wind up the slopes towards the hills and ridges. Below the vales. The Ridge separates the low-lying clay areas of the limestone ridge in Oxfordshire where the clay vale meets Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Vales to the north and the rising ground, spring-line settlements associated with the Vales of the White Horse and Aylesbury to the south. blocks of ancient woodland are found. The landscape is made up of woods and arable fields Visible archaeological features dating from early Roman interspersed by numerous distinctive small villages. settlement of the area are a prominent feature on areas of Woodland cover tends to be most extensive along the higher ground. Parkland is a common feature within Corallian Limestone ridge in Oxfordshire while in contrast Oxfordshire, while windmills are distinctive landmarks the Portland Limestone hills of Buckinghamshire have few throughout the area. large woods. Here, isolated trees and small woodlands are more typical. Fields are typically defined by a regular The moderately elevated limestone hills and ridges provide pattern of hedgerows and trees that enclose regional contrast and variety to the surrounding low-lying characteristically large and geometrically spaced fields. clay vales.

53 Physical Influences Soils are predominantly heavy rendzinas and sandy brown earths with areas of plateau sands giving rise to acidic soils. The Midvale Ridge forms a low irregular ridge above the These soils are only suitable for arable use where well- clay vales that gives way to a series of isolated steep-sided dressed with lime and, in many places, are planted with tabular hills in the east, rising above numerous intermediate conifers, in particular larch. valleys and basins. Apart from the upper Thames which cuts a steep valley The ridge comprises coarse and rubbly-textured Upper between the limestone hills around Oxford, there is very Jurassic Corallian limestones and sands, overlain in places by little dissection by rivers along the ridge itself except for Kimmeridge Clay. These rocks form a distinct escarpment the springs at the base of the escarpment. Further east, rising from the clay vales with a low and irregular north- streams and springs drain the lower slopes of the limestone facing scarp (100 m - 110 m AOD) and a very gentle dip hills south-west to the Thames via the river Thame. slope that gradually falls, almost imperceptibly in places, to the Vale of the White Horse to the south. Lower Greensand Historical and Cultural Influences caps many of the higher parts of the ridge such as Boars Hill near Oxford which stands proud of the Corallian Limestone The Midvale Ridge exhibits very little archaeological at more than 150 m AOD. To the east, where the ridge evidence of the Palaeolithic or Mesolithic period. The first becomes more broken up, a discontinuous outcrop of significant settlement of the area occurred during the Portland sand and limestone overlies the clay and is in turn Bronze Age with further occupation during the Iron Age in capped locally by Purbeck limestones and younger sand beds. places such as at Faringdon Folly and Boars Hill.

Area 109 boundary Character Area 109 108 Adjacent Area Midvale Ridge Motorway 600-800' A Road 400-600' 200-400' B Road 0-200' Railway and station height above sea- level in feet County boundary

District boundary 108 Oving Quainton Hardwick 2 A41 Waddesdon A413

Oxford Aylesbury Vale Canal District Upper Brill Winchendon 108 M40 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Oakley Chilton ChearsleyR. Thame A40 Beckley 1 Stanton St John Long Haddenham Oxford District Headington Crendon Botley OXFORD A418 2 es 4 A34 1 m Wheatley 4 a 8

OXFORDSHIREh Cumnor A A329

r e iv Wootton Garsington R A4074 Sunningwell Kennington SP 7 Radley 0 South Oxfordshire Nuneham SU District A361 Abingdon Courtenay A420 Southmoor River A4095 A415 Cherwell Faringdon Vale of White A34 A419 SWINDON UA Highworth Horse District Broad A338 A4311 Blunsdon 9 Watchfield 5 108 6

4 3 M4 SWINDON

108 0 10km A4361 2

54 evidence shows that field sizes on the hills in the east were generally small-scale with larger open fields to the west. By the early 19th century, much of the area was considered good quality corn land although perhaps slightly too sandy in places. Although difficult, navigation of the Thames was enhanced in 1624 by an Act of Parliament that opened up the river from Burcote to Oxford. In 1790 the Oxford Canal was completed allowing the carriage of coal and providing an important link to the rest of the canal network. The area is closely associated with light engineering in general and agricultural machines in particular. The first MARTIN JONES/COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY JONES/COUNTRYSIDE MARTIN steam rollers and ploughs were invented locally by a John A local pattern of enclosed, smaller pasture fields often surround the villages in the Midvale Ridge. Allen of Oxford in 1868. Swindon is renowned as the centre of the railway industry, with the development of the From the 6th to the mid-9th centuries the area was fought town closely associated with the growth of the Great over by the West Saxon/Wessex and Mercia kingdoms Western Railway. with the river Thames eventually forming the boundary between the two. During this period, Oxfordshire’s oldest Buildings and Settlement recorded community was built at St Frideswide in 735 and fortifications were built in Oxford to defend the kingdom Away from the towns, the eastern part of this area is against the invading Danes. distinguished by the pattern of small villages perched on spurs above the lower-lying land with stone-built houses of local limestone, mostly roofed in plain tiles but also commonly thatched. In contrast, the villages along the western ridge are characterised by their stone walls derived either from the local rubbly Cornbrash or Corallian Limestone, with roofs generally of stone slates, The stone buildings are often of a simple and straightforward design in comparison to their limestone-built counterparts in the Cotswolds. The densely built-up city of Oxford lies on the Thames floodplain below a rural landscape of low limestone hills. Notable buildings include the Oxford Colleges, which grew from the 14th century onwards, and Waddesdon which is owned by the Rothschilds and designed by the French architect Destailleur. Lying in the west of the area, Swindon is a dominant urban feature with considerable commercial, residential and light industrial development. MIKE WILLIAMS/COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY MIKE WILLIAMS/COUNTRYSIDE Land Cover Small broadleaved woodlands of ash, field maple and small-leaved lime providing a splash of colour with dense bluebell ‘carpets’ in the spring.Woodland cover tends to be more extensive along the The mainly arable and grassland land use also includes a Corallian Limestone ridge in Oxfordshire. good woodland cover with, in particular, significant blocks Reference is made in Domesday Book to the good cover of of coniferous woodlands on the plateau gravel soils. ‘Forests’ in the area, such as Bernwood Forest, although it Characteristic tree types include oak, ash, birch and larch is unclear as to what proportion was woodland. Remnant many of which occur within ancient semi-natural ancient woodland from the Forests of Shotover and woodlands such as the oak-dominated Bagley Wood. Bernwood dominate the ridge to the east and west of Coppice with standards occurs to the west together with Oxford. Corallian Limestone was quarried at Wheatley forest woodlands such as Shotover. Some small patches of during the 12th century and also from 1400 onwards at stony limestone grassland and isolated pockets of heath and Headington. Oxford was noted for its tanning and woollen acid grassland occur on the Greensand, such as at industries from the 16th to the mid-17th century. Historic Cumnor Heath.

55 The Changing Countryside

● Agricultural intensification, in particular the expansion of arable cropping, leading to a deterioration and complete loss of hedgerows due to under-management and/or neglect. Calcareous grass- Shaping the Future heaths are of particular nature- conservation ● Restoration of field margins within arable fields and interest, containing restoration and/or replanting of hedgerows, including rare and distinctive establishment of new hedgerow trees. plant communities.

● The management of extensive grassland.

● The less intensively farmed parts are an important characteristic of the area.

● The appropriate management of the riverine landscape should be addressed. NATURE SIMON MELVILLE/ENGLISH

Selected References

Reed, M (1979), The Buckinghamshire Landscape, Hodder and Stoughton, London. Emery, F (1974), The Oxfordshire Landscape, Hodder and Stoughton, London. Richards Moorehead and Laing (1989), Buckinghamshire Trees and Forestry Strategy: Volumes 1, 2 and 3, Richards Moorehead and Laing, Clwyd. Martin, A F and Steel, R W (eds), (1954), The Oxford Region, Oxford University Press, London.

MARTIN JONES/COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY JONES/COUNTRYSIDE MARTIN Glossary Large arable fields dominate much of the area. Agricultural intensification, in particular the expansion of arable cropping, has AOD: Above Ordnance Datum led to deterioration and, in some areas, complete loss of hedgerow pattern.