2D: Romsey to Eastleigh Wooded Lowland Mosaic
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2D: ROMSEY TO EASTLEIGH WOODED LOWLAND MOSAIC Small to medium sized fields with ditches and mature oaks and wooded boundaries on sandy / gravely soils typify much of the character area. Near N Baddesley. Regular enclosure over formerAmpfield Wood from Downland to Field trees can be of ancient origin common late 18th early 18th C with the North of Hursley here, surviving in more recent formal pre 1810 assart wood nr Botley Rd. enclosure fields–south of Hursley. Emer Bog – Nationally important wet Linear development along Castle lane Valley Park west of Chandlers Ford acid heath habitat within shallow19th century small holding built between pockets of ancient valley, remnant common associateddevelopment over former common. woodland. with the Lowland Mosaic Heath Associated landscape. Hampshire County 1 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Romsey to Eastleigh Wooded Lowland Mosaic Hampshire County 2 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Romsey to Eastleigh Wooded Lowland Mosaic 1.0 Location and Boundaries 1.1 Bounded to the east and west by the Test and Itchen river valleys, this landscape is well wooded and situated on sandy and clayey soils. It represents the former extent of the Forest of Bere Astley – which had a different landscape evolution to the Forest of Bere West and East by the fact of its early disafforestation in the 14th century. This character area extends as far north as the chalk and south to the unitary boundary with Southampton. 1.2 Component County Landscape Types Lowland Mosaic Heath Associated, Lowland Mosaic Medium Scale Woodland Associated, Lowland Mosaic Open. 1.3 Composition of Borough/District LCAs: Test Valley BC Eastleigh BC Winchester CC North Baddesley to North Stoneham Park Cranbury Woodlands Chilworth Woodland Urban Mosaic Baddesley Mixed Farmland and Woodland The character areas falls mostly in Test Valley Borough, There are some similarities with this assessment especially the extent of the heath associated landscape type. This Borough assessment does not define a Test valley character areas only ‘river valley floor’ character areas so the western boundary differs. 1.4 Associations with NCAs and Natural Areas: NCA 128: South Hampshire Lowlands NA 75 South Coast Plain and Hampshire Lowlands 1.5 Townscape assessment areas: Eastleigh, Chandler’s Ford and Hiltingbury (west part), Romsey (east part) 2.0 Key Characteristics • A sense of elevation above the adjoining coastal and valley landscapes of the Test and Itchen, and moderately undulating topography with a variety of clay and sandy gravel geology. • Watershed of the Test and Itchen with chalk fed tributaries and boggy heath and mire, in shallow valleys. • Predominantly improved grassland, but also significant amount of semi- natural ancient woodland and conifer replanted woodland with Hampshire County 3 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Romsey to Eastleigh Wooded Lowland Mosaic internationally-designated damp and boggy acid heath habitat in central area creating a rich biodiversity. • A predominantly wooded assart landscape of mid medieval origin fragmented and significantly altered by 18th and 19th century enclosures, conifer plantation and extensive expansion northwards of Southampton in the latter half of the 20th century. • Huge loss of heathy commons and irregular medieval fields to enclosure and development of Romsey, Baddesely and Chandler’s Ford in the last 150years. • Until the 19th century, a landscape with a dispersed settlement pattern relatively little changed since the 14th century. 3.0 Physical Characteristics and Land Use 3.1 Situated between the Itchen and Test river valleys, this landscape has a relatively elevated feel. The boundary with the Test Valley is about 25 -40m AOD whereas with the Itchen it is 25-30m. The area of Lowland Mosaic Medium Scale Woodland Associated is more undulating and has slightly higher hills of average 60-70m and occasionally over 100m AOD. The Lowland Mosiac Heath Associated landscapes to the south form a series of gently undulating small plateaux 45-60mAOD. 3.2 The geology of the area is varied with clays, sand and gravels. A central band of sandy Wittering Beds/ Earnley formation runs east-west. To the north and south is London Clay overlain by sands of the Nursling and Whitecliff members. This geology gives rise to sand with clay soils. The sandiness is a key determinant in identifying the area of Lowland Mosaic Heath Associated type. The sands and clays of the Lutetian stages (including the Earnley formation) is characterised by marine fossils of molluscs and teeth of cartilaginous fish. The soils are of poor agricultural quality but improve towards the boundary with the Test Valley character area. 3.3 There is a patchwork of different land uses. Competing with the traditional pattern of heathy commons with bogs and wet meadow, woodland, pasture and arable are more modern urban fringe pressures, including golf courses, nurseries, horse paddocks and liveries. Improved pasture for dairying and woodland dominate but these uses are increasingly fragmented by modernland uses. Fields are typically small and irregular in shape and pattern but more regular on the edge of former commons. Fields are generally larger in the north where the landscape type changes. 3.4 The character area is dissected north-south by the watershed for the Itchen and Test river catchments. There are 2 significant tributaries; Monk’s Brook which flows through Chandler’s Ford to the Itchen and the Tadburn stream which rises near Ampfield and flows to the Test through Romsey. The relationship of the clay with the adjacent chalk has resulted in a series of springs along this boundary. There are good examples of bogs and mires which form from impeded drainage where clays are present and the topography is conducive. Examples include Emer Bog and Flexford. 4.0 Experiential/Perceptual Characteristics 4.1 In general, this is a landscape of short views across fields to layered wooded horizons and woodland edges. There is sense of elevation over adjoining valley Hampshire County 4 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Romsey to Eastleigh Wooded Lowland Mosaic character areas and longer distant views when on locally prominent areas such as Baddesley Common, and above the Test Valley. 4.2 The definitive rights of way network typically consists of short lengths of paths linked to the often busy rural road network50. Connections from modern suburb development into the surrounding countryside is limited but better in some locations (e.g. Chilworth) than others. Doorstep greenspace is quite well provided in the form of remnant areas of open and wooded common, e.g. Baddesley common, Valley Park Woodlands at Zion Hill Copse and Flexford. 4.3 There is a pervading sense of rural urban fringe in the Lowland Mosaic Common and Heath Associated landscape, with non-traditional rural land uses such as golf courses and horse paddocks. Piecemeal development along roads is also frequent. The Belbins area has had a history of landfill-related activity. Heathland and isolated copses on remaining areas of common provide more natural landscapes in close proximity to development. The Lowland Mosaic Medium Scale landscape has had less recent change and retains a more rural character, buffered from development with the presence of woodland. 5.0 Biodiversity Character 5.1 This landscape character area has varied land cover outside the main settlements. Improved grassland dominates, with some patches of associated arable land. Woodland is frequent and is mainly broadleaved, but with some plantations of all types. In the north of the area Ampfield Woods is a large wooded area comprising broadleaved woodland, mixed, coniferous and mixed plantations as well as parkland, and has some notable small leaved limes. Some of the wood comprises replanted ancient woodland. There is a smaller, but still quite large, woodland in the east with a large parkland component, broadleaved woodland and small patches of calcareous grassland. In the south of the area there is further significant woodland, running from Lords Wood to Hut Wood. There are some infrequent patches of dry heath/ acid grassland mosaic through the landscape character area, sometimes associated with acid grasslands. There are also patches of bracken, usually found near woodlands. 5.2 The character area includes Emer Bog SAC which is a largely open site, dominated by bottle sedge and marsh cinquefoil, with frequent common cottongrass, and occasional pools with bogbean. White sedge and bog-mosses are common at the edge of the bog, with rushes and patches of common reed. The basin is surrounded by mature willow woodland and open heathland. This site is also designated a SSSI (Baddesley Common) valued for its extensive valley bog, heathland, associated damp acidic grassland and developing woodland over Bracklesham Beds in the Hampshire Basin. 5.3 Other SSSIs include Trodds Copse SSSI and Ratlake Meadows. The former comprises ancient semi-natural woodland, unimproved meadows and flushes drained by tributaries of the Monks Brook, a branch of the River Itchen. The diverse geology and varied drainage conditions give rise to a wide range of habitats. At least ten woodland types can be identified, of which four are considered nationally rare. The diversity of woodland types is matched by an extremely rich ground flora. The antiquity of the woodlands is reflected in the very high number of ancient woodland indictor species recorded within the site. Over fifty such species occur, including a Hampshire County 5 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Romsey to Eastleigh Wooded Lowland Mosaic number of rare or local plants such as tutsan, making it one of the botanically richest woods in Hampshire. 5.4 The central part of this landscape character area is covered by the Ampfield – Baddesley – Chilworth – Lordswood BOA. This BOA covers an important complex of ancient and semi-natural woodland, relict heathland and species-rich neutral grassland overlying tertiaries. 5.5 There are over 130 SINCs within this landscape character area.