STANSTEAD TO PARKLANDS summary assessment evaluation guidelines area81

Buntingford

County map showing location of LANDSCAPE CHARACTER AREA ©Crown copyright .All rights reserved. Puckeridge County Council /Standon Bishops

100019606 2004 Watton Stortford -at- Stone

Ware

Hertford

area 81

LOCATION DISTINCTIVE FEATURES A broad band on the north bank of the Stort between • country houses in the west and the south-western edge • southerly aspect of Sawbridgeworth, divided into four sub-areas of • relic cultural pattern reflects topographic change and parklands. different landcover, e.g. Mead - Hunsdon Mill - Hunsdonbury LANDSCAPE CHARACTER • dovecote water tower at Briggens Parkland and arable farmland on gently undulating south- • historic moats at Eastwick facing slope interrupted by valleys of the Stort's tributaries. • transition to adjoining area, with small parklands on Cultural pattern overrides topographical change. An area of boundary ancient settlements, dominated by the many parklands on the south-facing slopes above the Stort valley.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS • parkland: Stanstead Bury, Bonnington, Hunsdonbury and Briggens Park; Eastwick (relic); Park and former deer park around Sayes Park Farm; Pishiobury • large-scale arable farmland with little woodland out of the valleys • views of across river valley with taller buildings nestling in trees • change from floodplain to rounded slopes is apparent throughout • constant noise from cars and aircraft

Cottages at Eastwick • (P. Shears)

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PHYSICAL INFLUENCES Geology and soils. Slowly permeable calcareous clayey soils over chalky till (Hanslope series) on the higher ground, with better drained loamy soils towards the river (Melford series). Topography. South-facing undulating valley slope with minor tributaries of the Stort. Degree of slope. 1 in 10 to 1 in 65. Altitude range. 40m to 70m. Hydrology. Hunsdon Brook, Fiddlers Brook and other un- named tributaries of the Stort flow southwards into the main river at gradients of 1 in 125. Land cover and land use. This area consists of wooded farmland and parkland with well-integrated landholdings, a mix of parkland, open arable farmland, woodland and water meadow (sub-area A). The primary land use is arable cultivation (sub-areas A, B and C) but there is also significant parkland (all sub-areas except Eastwick), some of which is now being developed with secondary settlements around the original mansion (sub-area C). Associated features: dovecote, water tower, moats, estate fencing. Some fly-tipping. Vegetation and wildlife. The south-western part of sub area A has little woodland, while the north-eastern part contains several important, isolated blocks of old woodland, with elm, ash, hawthorn, willow and hornbeam. Around the parklands in this area there are extensive deciduous plantations, some grassland and ornamental lakes which are valuable locally for birds. • The parkland at Bonningtons is scarcely visible, most having gone to arable production; the large lake is completely screened by vegetation from the B180. • Eastwick is notable as being devoid of ecological value, except for the neutral/calcareous rough grassland associated with the old moats. • has some notable veteran trees and a lake, but has lost much of its grassland to the plough. • Sayes Park is mainly open arable, but has some important old woodland. Field boundaries are either medium hedgerows or rows of individual trees, such as a young lime avenue. Usual hedgerow species are blackthorn/hawthorn, hazel, willow and field maple, with wild clematis. There are many individual relic oak standards and some ash. • Pishiobury has important riverside alder/willow woodlands, some good neutral pasture on its undulating slopes and a spring-fed lake on the line of an old meander.

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HISTORIC AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES Variety of Slopes, adorned with Statues' (N. Salmon, The historic pattern of this area is very prominent, with the History of Hertfordshire). 'The turfed ramps and terraces field pattern reflecting its planned, estate character. forming these "Slopes" are familiar elements in • Sub-area A contains the parklands and associated Bridgeman's designs ….' (Charles Bridgeman and the farmlands of Bonnington, Hunsdonbury, Briggens and English Landscape Garden, by Peter Willis, London Stansteadbury. (1977)). , adjacent to Hunsdonbury park • Sub-area B consists of the farmland and village of and well south of the village, is of great historic Eastwick. To the north of the village are two Scheduled significance, being a remnant of a great mansion Ancient Monuments, moated sites with associated belonging to Henry VIII, where the Princesses Mary and earthworks which are the relics of a manor belonging to Elizabeth spent a great deal of their childhood. It had an Edward III, which burned down in the 1840s. Although established deer park in 1296. partly used as a local fly-tipping site, the low-key site is At Bonningtons there is c.86ha of informal parkland jointly managed by English Heritage and the Countryside dating from pre-1760, much of which appears to be in Agency. arable cultivation. • Within Gilston Park (sub-area C) there is another SAM, a • Sub-area B: moated site with associated deer-pen enclosure and park Eastwick church, with a 13th-century chancel arch, pale, south of the existing house and indicating the stands outside the ancient hamlet on the edge of the location of the former deer park. This may have extended Stort floodplain. There is now no parkland here. Many of into or been adjacent to a deer park (pre-1676) on the the cottages in the village are mid-Victorian, built by the land now occupied by Sayes Park Farm, and was possibly Hodgson family who held both Eastwick and Gilston linked to either The or Park, Park. both of which lie on the boundary of the adjoining area. • Sub-area C: • Sub-area D consists of the designed parkland of Gilston Park was enclosed in the 17th century and its Pishiobury, south of Sawbridgeworth, somewhat isolated present house, replacing one demolished in 1851, is a from the other parklands. 'large asymmetrical mansion of random rubble in the Field pattern. The regular fields are generally small to Early Tudor style with Gothic details' (Pevsner). The estate medium size, with some larger arable fields. is now (2000) being refurbished and large new houses Transport pattern. The transport pattern in this area is of are being built within the parkland. The half-coppiced narrow, winding, sunken lanes running north-south from lime avenue, neat hedges and estate fencing lend an the river valley. Most lanes are hedged on one side only, estate influence to the surrounding arable farmland. The and are frequently ditched. Verges area usually absent. The church of cut and uncut flint with red brick tower stands A414 forms part of the southern boundary of the area and isolated from the park and village. divides Briggens from the other parklands in this area. • Sub-area D: Settlements and built form. Settlements are of varying Pishiobury is described as 'mildly medievalizing' in sizes within this area, most of them at least Victorian in Pevsner. It is a red brick late Tudor mansion, remodelled age, several older. Stanstead Abbotts has a partly 15th- or rebuilt by James Wyatt in 1782 with castellations. It century church and several 17th and 18th-century houses, had a deer park in 1343. The stables and barn are still including Stanstead Hall, the Red Lion Inn and The Old essentially c.1600, while the lake (part of the river Stort) Clock School, plus Victorian buildings such as the Mill. The and planting are due to Capability Brown. streetscape has white weatherboard and black bargeboards on white rendered houses. OTHER SOURCES OF AREA-SPECIFIC • Sub-area A: INFORMATION Stanstead Bury dates from the late 15th century and has, Pevsner, N., rev. Cherry, B., Hertfordshire, Penguin (2000). according to Pevsner, 'an eminently picturesque exterior, Hertfordshire Gardens by Anthony Wigens, Hatfield, 1970. the result of several centuries' alterations. The shapes and English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. textures and colours of the approach side (W) must HCC list of historic parks and gardens. delight the eye of any painter'. It has a garden and park of some 25 hectares. Briggens was built in 1719 for a director of the South Sea Company. The grounds were worked on by Charles Bridgeman in 1720 and had a deer park from at least the 16th until the late 19th century. The house has been considerably altered over time and is now an hotel, with a young lime avenue and a golf course laid out among the mature parkland trees. Salmon described Briggens in 1728 as standing 'upon a beautiful hill overlooking the Meadows, the river Stort, and part of ', and its features included 'a graceful Plantation of Trees, with

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VISUAL AND SENSORY PERCEPTION ACCESSIBILITY Views within the area are extensive across the floodplain to The Harcamlow Way extends along various routes in this the industrial edge of Harlow. The southern edge of the area through the river valley, but is not extensive on the area is also widely visible from the A414, which forms part slopes. There is little access to the parklands. of its boundary. It is a fairly tranquil area away from the roads but has lost unity because of the different land uses COMMUNITY VIEWS to which the parklands have been put. Near-constant noise Some aspects of this area are valued for their distinctiveness from planes in and out of Stansted also reduces tranquillity (D). generally. Rarity and distinctiveness. This area is most unusual in LANDSCAPE RELATED DESIGNATIONS having so many associated parklands. Not all are in good SAM at Eastwick moats and in Gilston Park. condition and the landscape flow is broken by mineral Landscape Development Area includes Briggens, Pishiobury workings between Gilston and Pishiobury. and extreme southern edge of area. Pishiobury and Stansteadbury are Grade II listed by English VISUAL IMPACT Heritage. Gilston Park and Briggens are referred to in HCC From the valley slopes there are views across the Stort documentation on historic parks and gardens. valley to the northern edge of Harlow, its tall chimneys and industrial buildings in some contrast to the wetlands within the shallow valley.

CONDITION STRENGTH OF CHARACTER Land cover change: localised Impact of landform: apparent Age structure of tree cover: mature Impact of land cover: apparent Extent of semi-natural habitat survival: fragmented Impact of historic pattern: continuous Management of semi-natural habitat: not obvious Visibility from outside: widely visible Survival of cultural pattern: interrupted Sense of enclosure: open Impact of built development: low Visual unity: coherent Impact of land-use change: low Distinctiveness/rarity: unusual

Strengthen Conserve Safeguard and and and reinforce strengthen manage

Improve Improve Conserve and and and reinforce conserve restore MODERATE

CONDITION Restore Improve condition Reconstruct and to maintain POORrestore GOOD character

WEAK MODERATE STRONG

STRENGTH OF CHARACTER

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STRATEGY AND GUIDELINES FOR MANAGING CHANGE: IMPROVE AND CONSERVE • encourage landowners to safeguard existing hedges, increase hedged field boundaries, create permanent grass strips around field margins and prevent spray drift, using financial incentives as available • encourage the authorities responsible for the Eastwick moats to review their management of the site to achieve a more informative balance between nature conservation and historic objectives • disseminate information about the historic landscape and ecological value of veteran and parkland trees • discourage ploughing up of parkland grasslands • encourage a reversion from arable to pasture where practicable, and the management of new and existing grasslands to maximise their biodiversity potential • encourage management of woodland to ensure age diversity, favour locally indigenous species and maintain species-rich ground flora • encourage the planting of new woodland around existing woodlands where this will contribute to ecological diversity and will not damage the local landscape character or historic features such as banks and ditches • encourage the replanting of hedges along historic field boundaries, using locally indigenous species • ensure that new features and planting within historic parklands, especially in connection with development within them, respects their historic integrity by reflecting the dominant period of the house and parkland and using similar species to those planted originally in order to reinforce its character • ensure that proposed development is only permitted where it will enhance local landscape character

Briggens Park with • mature trees and ha-ha (P. Shears)

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