6A: EAST HAMPSHIRE WOODED DOWNLAND PLATEAU There is more grazing and permanent grassland in this landscape compared with the rest of the Downs – Bradley Long distance views glimpsed through Dry Valley or Coombe at Bentworth. Wooded Dowland Plateau at woodland from Wooded Downland Colemore Common – elevated and Plateau near High Cross heavily wooded. Brick and flint school at Bentworth Bentworth parish church. There are Sunken lane at edge of Downland several substantial churches, like this Plateau east of Axford. in small villages. Hampshire County 1 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment East Hampshire Wooded Downland Plateau Hampshire County 2 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment East Hampshire Wooded Downland Plateau 1.0 Location and Boundaries 1.1 The East Hampshire Wooded Downland Plateau is an elongated area located towards the eastern edge of the Hampshire Downs, stretching from close to Alton in the north, to the top of the chalk escarpment north west of Petersfield. The boundaries of this high, gently undulating plateau are closely related to the extent of a deep clay cap over the chalk. 1.2 Component County Landscape Types Wooded Downland Plateau, Downland Mosaic Large Scale. 1.3 Composition of Borough/District LCAs: East Hampshire District Council Froxfield Clay Plateau Four Marks Clay Plateau Very closely associated with the above - combined but boundary taken at top of perimeter slopes rather than at base. 1.4 Associations with NCAs and Natural Areas: NCA 130: Hampshire Downs and JCA 125: South Downs Natural Areas: 78 Hampshire Downs 2.0 Key Characteristics • An elevated plateau landscape, mainly fairly flat but with dry chalk valleys, creating gentle undulations, capped with a deep layer of clay. • Characterised by being one of the most wooded downland areas in the County, comprising large woodland blocks to small copses and ancient hedgerows which are well connected. • A landscape dominated by pasture but also with some arable fields, including considerable areas managed for horse grazing. • Few streams, but spring-line settlements along the LCA boundary. • A landscape that appears to have had little pre medieval exploitation and human activity. • There is strong survival of early enclosure field systems and particularly fields bounded by tracks and lanes. • Abundance of 18th and 19th century farmsteads connected by a dense rights of way network including byways open to all traffic. • Historical association with clay pits and brick kilns and distribution of early brick buildings from locally sourced clay. Some evidence of dew ponds. • Settlements tend to be small, often hamlets and small villages located at the edge of the character area or in elevated locations within the area. Hampshire County 3 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment East Hampshire Wooded Downland Plateau • A landscape of contrasting views, from panoramic and far reaching to very enclosed, but always heavily wooded. 3.0 Physical Characteristics and Land use 3.1 This is an elevated chalk landscape, with extensive drift deposits of clay with flint that overlie the chalk and give rise to heavy, poor quality agricultural soils. The highest land lies in the mid to northern half of the character area, with the triangulation point at Four Marks being the third highest point in the County. Occasionally, at its junctions with the underlying chalk, there are minor but steep ‘mini scarps,’ as at Ropley, and major ones such as on the southeast boundary with the greensand. Dry valleys or coombes are common, often deepening in profile at the edges of the character area. Historically the clay was exploited for brick and tile manufacture, but commercial activity has virtually ceased. 3.2 One of the defining characteristics of this area is the extent of predominantly broadleaved, coniferous and mixed woodlands, which can often be substantial is size. There is also an abundance of small copses under 2ha and strips of woodland and treed hedgerows which are relatively well connected. Interspersed with the woodland is a mix of arable and improved grassland/pasture. Field boundaries are variable, from woodland edge and tall hedges to well trimmed low hedges and post and wire. Typically the average field size is smaller here than in other downland landscapes, with the parishes of Four Marks, Froxfield, Ropley and Medstead tending to have average field sizes of below 7ha. The northern parishes such as Herriard and Ellisfield have a range of larger field sizes although the overall pattern reflects the relatively small holding size of farms. 3.3 This character area forms the upper parts to several local hydrological basins, in the form of dry valleys such as the tributaries to the River Wey, and Candover stream. There are several spring line settlements around the periphery or just outside the boundary of the clay plateau, often where the chalk is exposed, such as at Preston Candover, and Langrish. There is a noticeable lack of streams and standing water within the character area. 4.0 Experiential/Perceptual Characteristics 4.1 This is a landscape of visual contrasts and opposites of experience, with both a sense of prospect and of refuge. The more open, elevated areas have far reaching views over the downland to the west and north, and over the Weald and South Downs ridge to the east and south. In the more densely wooded parts and within the folds of the dry valleys there is a sense of containment uncharacteristic of most other downland locations in Hampshire. 4.2 The public rights of way network is mainly dense, and well connected, especially between farmsteads. There is a strong east-west alignment of paths connecting the surrounding land with the large blocks of woodland on the clay plateau which were probably historically significant to the local economy. The underlying clay can limit the use of farm tracks by farm vehicles in wet weather. Byways open to all traffic are particularly frequent, such as in the area south of Bentworth. Commoner’s rights over the wooded commons had been extinguished by the early 19th century, so there is no open access land in the area. Accessible woodland at Monkwood, Four Marks, and Burkham, north of Bentworth are significant access resources. Hampshire County 4 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment East Hampshire Wooded Downland Plateau 4.3 The northern part of this LCA above Alton is particularly tranquil but the rest of the character area has generally moderate tranquillity. The high presence of woodland and the quality of extensive views over undeveloped landscapes heightens tranquillity overall. 5.0 Biodiversity Character 5.1 This landscape comprises a mosaic of agricultural grasslands and woodlands. Woodland varies but there is a dense concentration of replanted ancient woodlands and some ancient and semi-natural woodland. Much of the agricultural land is arable land with improved grasslands often associated with settlements. Small patches of unimproved grassland are associated with areas of improved grasslands including neutral and calcareous. There is a strip of unimproved acid grassland in the north of the area, associated with Norton’s Wood. 5.2 Woodland varies in type, with mixed, coniferous and broadleaved plantations, broadleaved woodland, wood pasture and parkland as well as some active coppice with standards. Woodland patches tend to be larger in the east than in the west. 5.3 The north of this landscape character area is covered by the Herriard Wooded Downland Plateau BOA. This BOA comprises an exceptional dense concentration of ancient semi-natural woodland SINCs on the clay cap, supporting important rare plant populations. There are over 160 SINCs in this landscape character area. Ancient and semi-natural woodland is by far the most frequent reason for their designation although there are also unimproved grassland SINCs and SINCs which support notable species. 6.0 Historic Character 6.1 Archaeology 6.1.1 The character area is agriculturally poor and this is reflected in the weak patterns of archaeology. There is very little Mesolithic evidence with only a broad scatter across the northern part. This scatter joins two richer areas of activity and may indicate an ancient route across the landscape. 6.1.2 There are no Neolithic sites recorded which suggests that this area was not subject to early agriculture, although some Neolithic artefacts indicate some level of exploitation, perhaps grazing or for timber. There are no Bronze Age settlements and very few Bronze Age finds, restricted to the very edges of this landscape, again suggesting that through this period there was little exploitation. By the Iron Age there are were a few settlements in the north located at the periphery, related to spring lines. Even in the Roman period there were few sites and certainly no villas. 6.1.3 The archaeological evidence suggests that the plateau was not greatly exploited for much of the past, and was probably a high wooded area with limited penetration. This is reflected in the historic landscape character where dispersed settlement, late enclosure and assart imply a landscape evolution covering only the last several hundred years. Hampshire County 5 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment East Hampshire Wooded Downland Plateau 6.2 Historic Landscape 6.2.1 There is a very mixed pattern of enclosure in this landscape. Overall the fieldscape evolved fairly late from a mix of woodland, some early enclosures and open fields near nucleated settlement and substantial areas of common wood pasture and woodland management. The latter is likely to have played a significant role in the medieval and post medieval local economy. 6.2.2 In the southern parishes e.g. East Tisted and Froxfield the pattern in the present landscape is characteristic of medieval and post medieval enclosures which have evolved from assarting, with sinuous shared field boundary hedges and lanes and tracks with internal wavy boundary hedges at a relatively small scale.