Wroxall Stream Final Report
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Rivers Report Eastern Yar Catchment Area Wroxall Stream sub-catchment December 2012 Maps and data produced through ArcView GIS analysis and under Contractor Licence from the Isle of Wight Council (© Crown copyright and database rights 2012 Ordnance Survey licence number 1000 19229) Contents Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 2 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Key management issues .......................................................................................................................... 4 Eastern Yar Catchment Area ................................................................................................................... 5 Wroxall Stream sub-catchment .............................................................................................................. 6 The watercourse ..................................................................................................................................... 8 The wider landscape – an overview ........................................................................................................ 9 Landscape change ................................................................................................................................. 10 Detailed analysis of HLC data ................................................................................................................ 14 Field Patterns .................................................................................................................................... 15 Amalgamated fields ...................................................................................................................... 16 Assarts ........................................................................................................................................... 16 Enclosure ....................................................................................................................................... 17 Prairie fields .................................................................................................................................. 18 Re-organised fields ........................................................................................................................ 18 Sub-divided fields .......................................................................................................................... 19 Horticulture ....................................................................................................................................... 19 Open Land ......................................................................................................................................... 20 Parkland and Designed Landscapes .................................................................................................. 20 Valley Floor ....................................................................................................................................... 21 Woodland .......................................................................................................................................... 22 Development..................................................................................................................................... 23 Tables of data ........................................................................................................................................ 24 Summary The Wroxall Stream sub-catchment area is 1718.7 hectares in size and is one of six sub-ctachment areas within the larger Eastern Yar Catchment. It extends from Bathingbourne in the north to Ventnor Downs, Rew Down and Week Down in the south; from the ridge of Stenbury and Appuldurcombe Down, and the eastern edge of Godshill, including Moor Farm in the west to Apse Heath, Batchelor’s Farm, Whiteley Bank and Shanklin Down in the east. The area includes the large village of Wroxall, the suburb of Ventnor known as Upper Ventnor or Lowtherville, the large hamlets of Sandford and Whiteley Bank and a number of smaller scattered hamlets and isolated farmsteads. Part of the old Shanklin to Ventnor railway line passes through the area providing a permissive path for cycling and horseriding. The modern parishes of Wroxall, Ventnor, Godshill, Arreton and Newchurch all have land within the area. The underlying geology of the area consists of Ferruginous Sandstone in the north of the area leading to more fertile arable and horticultural land uses, through to wetter more pastoral landscapes on Sandrock, Gault Clays, Carstone and Upper Greensand further south as the topography rises up to the open grazing land or larger enclosed fields of the Chalk of the downs in the south. The Isle of Wight Historic Landscape Characterisation provides information on the character of today’s landscape based on historic land use and changes to field patterns and enclosure and provides information on how the area has changed through history. The historic estates of Wroxall Manor, Bathingbourne Manor, Arreton Manor and to some extent Shanklin Manor have had a lasting impact on the landscape of the area. Appuldurcombe firstly as a medieval priory and then as first a Tudor Manor and then an English Baroque Mansion and as the seat of the Worsley and Yarborough families with its landscaped parkland and gardens also played a major role on the landscape of the area. In this sub-catchment area the greatest time depth is found in the small areas of ancient woodland usually located on the steepest slopes of the downland and the small meadows, pastures and wetlands close to the watercourse. The downland at Ventnor Downs is also fairly unchanged other than the 20th century military and communications masts strategically placed at this the highest downland on the Isle of Wight (240 metres above ordnance datum). Some areas of valley floor enclosure date from the medieval period. Some parts of the area show evidence of change in the 17th and 18th centuries (through enclosure or re-organisation of field boundaries). Elsewhere change in the landscape is evident through the loss of field boundaries through amalgamation and re-organisation of fields particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries, enclosure of former pasture/meadow, waste/common/green, heathland and parkland (from the medieval period through to as late as the 20th century) to create areas for grazing or in some cases cultivation. 19th and 20th century housing and the growth of the town of Ventnor (Upper Ventnor) and Wroxall also led to loss of earlier field patterns. However, many of the public rights of way and much of the road network is an historic record of access and often marks the boundaries of individual estates or administration units (medieval parishes with parts of Arreton, Godshill and Newchurch boundaries within the area). Today the area has three distinct spatial characteristics, the downland and steep downland slopes in the south of the sub-catchment (consistent land within the South Wight Downland Historic Environment Action Plan (HEAP) Area), the pastoral landscape of the area north of the chalk up to the line of the main Godshill to Shanklin Road (consistent with the area of land within the South Wight Downland Edge HEAP Area) and the area north of this with its larger fields and greater arable land use (consistent with the area of land within the Arreton Valley HEAP Area). Key management issues Historic features – there is a need to protect and conserve important historic features in woodland, farmland and associatted with the watercourse . This includes the remaining evidence of the former parish boundary between the medieval parishes of Godshill, Arreton and Newchurch. Woodland management – appropriate management of existing woodland for the benefit of landscape, historic environment and biodiversity will help to deal with neglect. Urban pressures – there is a need seek to include historic environment and landscape objectives in all new proposals for development on the urban fringe and to identify ways to manage and to ease negative impacts of amenity and leisure use of land on the edge of urban areas, through landscaping clearance of clutter and redundant structures. Pasture/meadow and osier management – extensive versus intensive pasture management practices are needed to minimise diffuse pollution of the watercourses and retain a traditional approach to land management and biodiversity value of pastures, meadows and osiers. Arable land managment – approprioate approaches to land management and farming practices need to continue or be introduced particularly in the north of the sub-catchment where intensive horticultural and arable land use takes place. In this area the watercourse has been somewhat marginalised and is often a narrow channel with perhaps a thin flanking woodland or in some places a small meadow or pasture. Ways to ensure positive management and protection of these often historic landscape/land use features in Environmental Stewardship should be secured. Public rights of way and the highway network – often acting as an historic record of access to the landscape and its use, these routes would benefit from continuing protection and conservation. Interpretation and increased awareness of their historic nature and linkage with