4C: BEAULIEU OPEN HEATH

Open heath at Wormstall Hill, expansive open landscape – with occasional furze / gorse and varying amounts of heather.

Open heath meets heath associatedAngling at Hatchett pond created by Controlled burning is an important small holdings and dwellings atdamming clay diggings – © Jim part of the heather management © Broomhill. Champion Geograph Jim Champion Geograph

Bronze Age barrows are oftenCampsite at Roundhill – surrounding Commoners cattle have right of way covered with gorse making theminclosures help limit the visibility of on the highway – Turgcutters Arms more prominent in this openthe campsite © Jim Champion East © Jim Champion landscape; Laurence’s Barrow © Jim Geograph Geograph. Champion Geograph

Hampshire County 1 Status: Final May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Beaulieu Open Heath

Hampshire County 2 Status: Final May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Beaulieu Open Heath

1.0 Location and Boundaries 1.1 The extent of poor sandy soils and landcover of continuous tracts of heather and gorse broken only by woodland or pines growing singly or in clumps or along the upper part of the Beaulieu stream corridor defines this character area. The boundary extends to include the small holdings and dwellings on the edge of the heath outside the perambulation of the on the south and east sides.

1.2 Component County Landscape Types Open heath

1.3 Composition of Borough/District LCAs: Council (includes Hampshire part of the New Forest National Park) Beaulieu Heath

The boundary is aligned closely with the District level assessment apart from this area includes the plantations at Newlands and Beckheath as they are considered to be visually part of the same landscape.

1.4 Associations with NCAs and Natural Areas: NCA 131: New Forest NA 77 New Forest

2.0 Key Characteristics • Gently undulating plateau of predominantly open heath, bog and occasional woodland with small holdings on the southern and eastern edges. • Short small streams e.g. the Crockford and open bodies of water most notably Hatchett pond and boggy hollows and wet flushes. • Large expanse of open lowland heath grazed by ponies with small isolated clumps pine trees and furze. • Large area of open access land which feels natural and peaceful. • Occasional distant views to the Isle of Wight and Fawley complex. • Dominated by lowland heath which is recognised by designation as internationally important habitat. • Bronze Age burial mounds are visible archaeology features. • Open forest landscape which has been stable in appearance and subject to little change, during Forest Law to the current day. • Settlement form of linear low density detached small holdings and modest sized properties which face onto the heath confined to the south and east sides.

3.0 Physical Characteristics and Land Use

Hampshire County 3 Status: Final May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Beaulieu Open Heath

3.1 An elevated gently domed landscape sandwiched between the and Beaulieu valleys. Geologically the area is underlain by the Barton Group of predominantly sand formations including Headon Beds, Becton, Charma and Barton Clay. This sandy geology is overlain extensively by plateau gravels. These shelly clay areas impede drainage and produce conditions for small ponds and bog areas. The marine deposits laid down in the Tertiary period include a sequence of clays of international importance, including the Barton formation – it is rich in molluscun and associated fossil faunas56. The extent of this character area is mirrored by the distribution of the ‘Bolderwood’ soil a naturally vary acid coarse loam over clayey soils with a bleached subsurface horizon – subject to seasonal waterlogging. There are humose or peaty surfaces typically with some flints which are agriculturally very poor.

3.2 The predominant landcover is open heath, mire and bog. The land is managed through the historical continuation of common grazing at low intensity. Specific controlled heather management burning takes place periodically. There is a small inclosure of ancient woodland and ornamental woodland at Norley. There is very little built development and that which does occur is on the south and eastern edges as detached houses of various form and ages.

3.3 There are frequent small short streams and boggy shallow valleys and ponds. The Crockford stream in the flows into the Sawley river. There are some areas where the drainage has been improved by herring bone drainage such as bottom or areas formalised into ponds such as at Hatchet pond. The dark acidic waters of these streams are and enduring feature of this landscape.

4.0 Experiential/Perceptual Characteristics 4.1 Large scale expansive views across predominantly open heath, ending in wooded horizons and piecemeal small holding development to the south and east give rise to a visually contained landscape. The predominantly open and expansive character is broken up by gentle undulations and hollows or ‘bottoms’ and low ridges. Although elevated, there are few visual links with the Solent and Isle of Wight.

4.2 This landscape is full of access opportunities being open access land – with a network of informal tracks leading from numerous parking facilities. There are a few rights of way outside the area of open heath while bridleways and footpaths in adjoining character areas terminate on the open heath boundary.

4.3 There is an overwhelming sense of tranquillity due to a high degree of perceived naturalness and lack of fields and intensive agriculture. The lack of development and fast road traffic makes the area particularly quiet. Summer visitor traffic can lower the feeling of tranquillity.

5.0 Biodiversity Character 5.1 The majority of this landscape character area is covered by internationally important habitats forming part of the wider New Forest RAMSAR and SAC. Habitat types include: Wet and dry heaths, valley mires including alkaline fens, transition mires, quaking bogs, and Rhynchosporion habitat. There is also wet and dry acid grassland, wood pasture, beech woodland, oak woodland, riverine woodland (alluvial forest) and bog woodland, rivers, streams, oligotrophic and temporary ponds and Inclosure woodland managed for silviculture. The New Forest SSSI extends across the same geographical areas as the SAC and covers the largest area of unsown vegetation in lowland and includes the representation on a large scale of habitat formations formerly common but now fragmented and rare in lowland western Hampshire County 4 Status: Final May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Beaulieu Open Heath

Europe. Nowhere else do these habitats occur in combination and on so large a scale.

5.2 This landscape also contains the Norley Copse and Meadow SSSI which comprises a small unimproved highly species-rich grazing meadow and the adjacent woodland known as Norley Copse. The SSSI also includes the Crockford stream, a clear unpolluted water course which links the two major habitat features. The meadow exhibits a mixture of lime-loving species together with neutral or acid-loving species in the more leached areas. Dyer’s greenweed is abundant in parts of the meadow, and other notable species include the heath dog-violet, sneezewort, yellow loosestrife, narrow-leaved lungwort, spotted and marsh orchids, and the pale sedge Carex pallescens. The flora totals some 140 species of higher plants. The meadow is particularly rich in invertebrates with, amongst other things, eight species of dragonfly, large numbers of green hairstreak butterflies, a rare picture-winged fly and a very local crab spider. The copse is predominantly oak woodland with hazel coppice. The flora is significantly richer than most woods in the wider New Forest area because of the comparatively base-rich soils and the absence of grazing by commoners’ animals, to which the Forest woodlands are subject.

5.3 Within the designated areas and also beyond, the heathland habitat is predominantly dry heath, sometimes existing in mosaic with acid grassland. There is also a significant resource of wet heath and these three types of heathland tend to exist together, in a mosaic with strips and patches of unimproved acidic grassland and dense scrub. Bracken is much more limited here than elsewhere where heathland is a dominant habitat. Woodland is varied in type with patches of broadleaved woodland existing on the peripheries of the heath with coniferous plantation and mixed woodlands. The woodland tends to separate the heath from the wider landscape. There are occasional patches of amenity grassland and gardens which provide further habitat diversity and opportunity.

5.4 This landscape character area is covered by the New Forest BOA which indicates high opportunity for restoring and linking heathland, grassland and woodland habitats and linking to the coastal habitats.

5.5 There are a few SINCs in this landscape character area, most are designated for their ancient and semi-natural woodland resource.

6.0 Historic Character 6.1 Archaeology 6.1.1 Although there are no Mesolithic finds within the character area, it falls within a general area of the New Forest that is being exploited by hunter gathering in this period and would also have been utilised. This is also true in the Neolithic despite no direct evidence, and it is likely that this area was exploited for hunting and grazing.

6.1.2 In the Bronze Age a considerable number of burial mounds reveal that this landscape was used and valued, but the absence of settlement sites presumably reflects its continued extensive not intensive use. Boiling mounds have also been found here and possibly a Bronze Age enclosure on the heath, which may be stock enclosure of some sort. Unusually there is a small settlement enclosure on the heath during the Iron Age and there are no Roman sites in the area.

6.1.3. The New Forest was declared a Royal hunting reserve by William 1. Forest Law meant that erecting fences to keep out deer was not permitted. Thus is both the

Hampshire County 5 Status: Final May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Beaulieu Open Heath

Saxon and Medieval period this area remained as heath and there was no settlement. Overall it seems most likely that the area has only ever been extensively exploited and has never been settled.

6.2 Historic Landscape 6.2.1 The patterns in this landscape seen today reflect the continuity of open heath and changes which took place in the medieval and post medieval periods. Formal cultivation was not possible - but inhabitants had commoner’s grazing rights which consisted of wood pasture and grazing on the open heaths. Small fields, for winter hay were associated with a very few smallholdings in this area such as at Home Farm nr Ashurst, Ipley manor, Culverley Farm and . These tended to be areas of purlieus commonly of at least post medieval origin, the latter may have extended over what is now Holbury.

6.2.2 From the 15th century the management of the Forest’s coppices turned away from the subsistent coppice with standard management to the growth of timber principally for ship construction. Acts of enclosure were passed from the end of the 17th century to take open forest land into this use. In this character area the areas tended to be small. There appears to have been little inclosure at time of the OSD mapping in the early 19th century and the first edition mapping in the early part of the second half of the 19th century shows Norley as being enclosed. However the early 20th century intensification of the inclosure process which affected other New Forest heath landscapes did not spread this far south.

6.2.3 A WW2 airfield at Ladycross Walk is now disused but the historic track network in this area has been lost because of this development. Overall although there are no extensive and overt modern landscape uses in this character area, there are frequent informal, treed car parking areas set short distances from roads.

6.3 Built Environment 6.3.1 The road network is sparse but most of the roads are characteristically very straight, with no fencing, pavements or raised kerbs and very few signs mounted on poles. The lane network is less direct in the lowland mosaic heath associated landscape on the edge of the character area.

6.3.2 The pattern of development is confined to a distinctive linear pattern of residential properties and former houses associated with small holdings. All houses face onto the heath and there is a variety of ages indicating infill at various times. There are small Forest edge hamlets such as and East end on the south edge of the character area of medieval origin which still retain their traditional low density of detached and individual character houses. Despite this development traditional forms are still apparent including whitewashed walled thatched cottages with small windows and traditional red brick.

6.3.3 There are few farmsteads and most have retained their small scale nature and survive as small holdings. Norley farm is a good example where it is set in a system of ancient enclosure purlieus.

Hampshire County 6 Status: Final May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Beaulieu Open Heath

EVALUATION

7.0 Forces for Change 1. Changes in plantation forest land management and commoner’s grazing patterns. 2. Probable increase in demand for access and recreation. 3. Potential new vertical structures especially in the adjoining character area to the east. 4. Climate change especially unpredictable weather fluctuations and increased likely hood of storms. 5. Incremental but cumulative effect of settlement infill, edge and backland development – particularly on the Forest edge.

KEY QUALITIES AND EFFECTS OF FORCES 7.1 An extremely unusual example in lowland Britain of a surviving extensive tract of ancient, predominantly unenclosed working Forest landscape with a significant concentration of visible Bronze Age burial mounds and indications of past settlement; adding to the tangible sense of considerable time depth of low intensity management. FORCES FOR CONSEQUENCES CHANGE: 1.2 Threats: Viability of commoning culture and traditional grazing land management on the open heath. Loss of commoning culture and traditional skills. Forcing out of commoners and sale to those not interested in taking on the role of commoning resulting in loss of back up grazing land adjoining the open Forest.

Opportunities: Need to guarantee adequate resourcing for Verderers and Agisters and continuation or similar of The Verderer’s countryside stewardship scheme after 2013. The majority of the character area was under Countryside Stewardship in 2007. Commoners in the New Forest have more Environmental Stewardship tiers available to them than in other areas – opportunities should be sought to recognise and conserve this unique open forest historic landscape for example by looking into assisting commoners in acquiring forest-edge smallholdings, in order to maintain common grazing practises and the resulting traditional landscape. Raise awareness and uniqueness of the commoning way of life and involve local groups and parishes in valuing this aspect in local level assessment and parish planning. Support initiatives like Forest Friendly Farming which has a wide variety of projects among which support traditional ways of life and land management.

7.2 Large expanse of open lowland heath forming part of a larger mosaic of heath related habitats, of international importance. FORCES FOR CONSEQUENCES CHANGE: All Threats: Not achieving the right intensity of grazing management to retain the open heath- particularly not overgrazing this habitat. Need to guarantee adequate resourcing for Verderers and Agisters and continuation or similar of The Verderer’s countryside stewardship scheme after 2013. Climate change, weather extremes particularly affecting ephemeral ponds, stream water levels, isolated small woodland and water table heights for various heathland sites island sites being more vulnerable than larger connected sites.

Hampshire County 7 Status: Final May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Beaulieu Open Heath

Opportunities: There are priorities for habitat restoration and management including habitat linking for lowland heath, acid grassland, purple moor grass and rush pastures, wet woodland. Continuation of stream management water levels (now EU Life project is finished) especially holding water levels up, and channel profile management for the Crockford stream and associated damp habitats. Large scale heathland habitat restoration through externally funded projects. Build on partnership/multi agency approach to on the ground heathland habitat management projects as there are so many interested parties in this landscape. Influence River Catchment Flood plans for the Beaulieu river. Support BOA target habitats for conservation, habitat linking, creation and reversion opportunities for lowland heath, lowland dry acid grassland, purple moor grass and rush pastures, lowland meadow and to a lesser extent in this character area, lowland mixed deciduous woodland and wet woodland.

7.3 This is a tranquil landscape with a high degree of wildness, natural beauty and cultural interest, characterised by a remote and exposed feel, with long views to the Isle of Wight and wooded horizons and expansive skies with a large expanse of open access land. FORCES FOR CONSEQUENCES CHANGE: 1.2.3 Threats: Recreation facilities including car parks, picnic spots, campsites and visitor facilities can reduce the sense of remoteness and tranquillity. There is a heavy reliance on access by car to visit the New Forest affecting tranquillity. Imbalance between recreational pressures and damage to fragile habitats and reducing sense of wildness. Potential additional visual intrusion from vertical structures along Southampton Water. Night time light pollution/spill from the Waterside parishes is of particular concern because of the openness of this landscape and its proximity to light emitting sources e.g. Fawley. There is a shortage of accessible landscape outside the New Forest and close to settlement which transfers pressure onto the open access land of character areas like this one within the National Park.

Opportunities: The island woodland and plantations sites are often used as the setting to the car parking facilities and ensuring the long term screening these provide needs to be safeguarded and their capacity to accommodate more visitor cars could be assessed. Local level testing with interest groups of the CPRE 2006 tranquillity mapping could add to understanding as to what element specifically contribute or detract from tranquillity as high tranquillity is so fundamental to this landscape. Reversion of conifer plantation to broadleaves and pasture wood such as Norley wood will potentially increase perception of wildness. Ensuring access to more area of landscape close to settlement, outside the National Park could alleviate some of the recreational pressures on this landscape.

Hampshire County 8 Status: Final May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Beaulieu Open Heath

7.4 A predominantly undeveloped landscape with the linear common edge settlement of Boldre and in the sooth small settlements with occasional isolated farmsteads and few roads. FORCES FOR CONSEQUENCES CHANGE: 3 Threats: Pressure to fence roads against grazing animals increasing the visual impact of the roads, potentially making speeding more likely and restricting open access and grazing animal movements. Recognise the that in particular that further changes to the linear settlement of in terms of further infill and backland development would have a detrimental effect on the landscape as it cuts across much of this landscape. Susceptibility of farmsteads to conversion to residential seems to have affected a few of the farms in the character area especially considering their very desirable location, pressure is going to continue. Potential of visual intrusion of settlements expansion adjoining the character area should be thoroughly considered and also in the context of future land management e.g. the effect of felling in adjoining woodland areas.

Opportunities: Raise awareness of different settlement morphologies in local level assessments – and promote understanding of where changes could radically alter settlement impact on the open Forest and traditional built form. Promoting local produce/farm shop and other value added initiatives to aid farm survival. The successful ethos to highway design in the Forest which encourages low visual impact, low traffic speed and minimal clutter should be upheld and seen in context with the pressure to provide access and enjoyment opportunities.

Hampshire County 9 Status: Final May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment Beaulieu Open Heath