Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Landscape Character Study
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CORNWALL AND ISLES OF SCILLY LANDSCAPE CHARACTER STUDY Landscape Character Area Description LCA - Trevose Head and Coastal Plateau LCA No CA19 JCA Constituent LDUs Total 10: 3, 46, 47, 52, 53, 54, 73, 113, 114, 180 © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Cornwall County Council 100019590, 2008. Location Northern coast west of Padstow. Designations All LDUs are either fully or partly within the AONB; Heritage Coast around Trevose Head; no WHS; LDUs 3, 46, 53, 54, 73, 113,180 have SSSIs; 7 LDUs have SMs; there is one CGS. Description The area is an open and windswept, gently undulating slate and siltstone coastal plateau with large scale cliffs and some areas of harder greenstone that give rise to the headlands of Trevose Head, Park Head and Stepper Point which offer panoramic views inland and along the coast. Between the headlands, softer slates give rise to shallow stream valleys behind sandy bays such as Harlyn, Trevone and the dunes at Constantine. Above the cliffs and behind the bays, heath and rough grassland fringe the coastline, whilst on the plateau; land cover is mainly improved pasture with extensive arable crop fields. The field pattern is predominantly a medium scale medieval one which appears larger in scale due to the rolling topography. At the coast, fields are larger and more regular, giving away the more recent enclosure of the coastal rough ground. Field boundaries are low Cornish hedges, often with visible stone faces, where the distinctive herringbone pattern of hedges in this area can be seen. This area is relatively treeless, except in a few sheltered folds of land and linear in valley bottoms, particularly to the south. Towards the coast, Tamarisk grows atop the hedges in abundance. The rural settlement pattern is of small farms with the present nucleated settlements developing almost universally during the twentieth century. The main villages are small and along the coast. Slate is commonly used as a material. Tourism and recreation are significant features of this landscape, the coastal rough ground interrupted with frequent coastal caravan sites, some extending to the very edges of the cliffs and a large golf course between Harlyn and Constantine bays. Caravan sites and holiday parks also occur inland and around settlements such as at St Merryn which has been extensively developed for holiday accommodation. Key Landscape Characteristics Gently rolling, low lying, exposed coastal plateau. Coastline of cliffs with heads and some stacks, including Bedruthan Steps and Trevose Head. Strong medieval field pattern of medium sized fields with Cornish hedges, slate walls and hedgerows Wednesday 11 June 2008 LCA No.CA19 Page 1 of 5 CORNWALL AND ISLES OF SCILLY LANDSCAPE CHARACTER STUDY Landscape Character Area Description with few trees except in valleys. Coastal Sand Dunes at Constantine Bay. Limited riparian woodland cover in valley bottoms. Rural settlement pattern of small farms and farm hamlets with a number of twentieth-century nucleated settlements focused on tourism. Geology and soils The geology consists of east-west trending bands from south to north of Middle and Undifferentiated Devonian slates, greywackes and siltstones; Upper and Middle Devonian slates with some pillow lava; Dolerite, Basalt and 'Greenstone'; and Upper Devonian slates. The Greenstone is hard rock and is evident in the headlands. The softer slates form the bays. The soils are shallow hard rock soils with the exceptions of the raw sandy soils of the dunes and shallow calcareous soils on the peninsular at Trevose Head. Topography and drainage The area is a low lying, gently undulating plateau, around 60m AOD, with shallow and incised valleys, generally lower than the northern headlands at Trevose Head and Stepper Point which both reach 74m AOD. The land rises gradually towards Bears Down, (LCA18), in the south. The area drains north and northwest with short streams rising within the character area emptying into sandy bays at the coast. The coastal headlands of this landscape form very characteristic features, e.g. Park Head, Trevose Head and Stepper Point. Their higher altitude is due to their geology, greenstone and pillow lava intrusions, which are more resistant to erosion than the slates and shales. From these headlands, there are magnificent views, both inland and along the coast. Where the slates and shales meet the coast, erosion is more rapid and has resulted in the formation of sheltered bays and coves between the headlands, e.g. Harlyn Bay and Trevone Bay. The low lying land behind Constantine Bay has allowed an extensive dune system to develop. A well-known and spectacular section of rocky coastal landscape occurs at Bedruthan Steps, with many stacks dotted along the cliff line. Biodiversity Like much of the north coast the area is mainly improved grassland with substantial areas of arable land. The open landscape has a network of Cornish hedges, with many built of slate in a herringbone pattern, providing good habitats for reptiles and invertebrates. Other hedges adjacent to arable fields can be heavily flailed and have few hedge trees. With much of the area intensively farmed there are limited areas of semi-natural habitats. The most extensive areas are along the narrow coastal strip including an area of Coastal Sand Dunes at Constantine Bay, much of which is used as a golf course. Small fragments of Fens, both inland and on the coast are within wetlands in the small valleys that drain the area, or St Breock Downs (LCA 18) to the south. Several of these small valleys have narrow strips of woodland or wetland, with some unimproved grassland along steeper slopes, forming long narrow ecological corridors to the coast. The coastal strip has some coastal Lowland Heath, with the largest areas at Bedruthan and north of Park Head,, a small area of Reedbeds in the coastal valley at Harlyn, and a very small area of aLowland Calcareous Grassland at Treyarnon. In common with LCA 34 (Camel Estuary), this area has a more alkaline- loving flora than in much of Cornwall. Land Cover The dominant landcover is impoved grassland with substantial arable land. There are very few trees except Wednesday 11 June 2008 LCA No.CA19 Page 2 of 5 CORNWALL AND ISLES OF SCILLY LANDSCAPE CHARACTER STUDY Landscape Character Area Description in sheltered folds in the land and in the narrow stream valleys with the hedges mostly low and turf covered. At the coast are sand dunes and small areas of heath, rough ground and scrub. Land Use The majority of enclosure is medieval with some post medieval predominantly under ley pasture and arable. Leisure and tourism facilities such as golf courses, holiday villages and caravan sites are located both on the coast and inland. A transmitter station with a series of masts on the old airfield at St.Eval makes a significant impact. Other old airfields near St Merryn have been taken over for holiday villages. Field and woodland pattern Field boundary pattern formed by the medium scale fields of medieval origin that appear larger due to the gentle topography and the lack of tree cover, can be seen over a wide area and, as a result, gives consistency to the landscape. The Cornish hedges often display exposed rock which in places is the characteristic herringbone pattern of alternating diagonally laid courses of slates. Similarly, stone walls are predominantly slate except where lanes cut into the solid bedrock exposing a varied and colourful display of slate in situ. Many of the walls contain a varied flora, and along the coast Tamarisk is characteristic. At the coast, there is a visual difference both in scale of enclosure and texture of the landscape. At most places along the coast, there exists a narrow strip of coastal rough ground, the extent of which has been greatly reduced over the last century by recent enclosure into large rectilinear fields which separate the inland medieval pattern from the sea. This large enclosure pattern and narrow strip of coastal rough ground is most visually prominent on the coastal headlands of this character area. These larger fields are extensively arable. Other areas of recently enclosed land can be found on the southern edge of the LCA, adjoining Bear’s Downs and in smaller and less visually important parcels around the villages of St Merryn, Trevone and Treyarnon. Woodland is very limited, broadleaved and tends to be towards the southern end of the area along stream valleys. Settlement pattern Settlement is in dispersed swith a scatter of small farm hamlets across the countryside. The farming settlements in this area are dominated by places of early medieval origin associated with anciently enclosed land and indicated by the `tre' names. Evidence of their former status as hamlets is clear from the occurrence of grouped dwellings, the number of enclosures and the open `town places'. Some buildings directly abut the highway. There is a close link between local geology and housing materials. Many buildings are built of slate whether cottages, Victorian houses or farm houses. Nucleated settlements are almost entirely twentieth century in date and are mainly situated along the coast and are now closely associated with the tourist industry. Most have developed around a medieval churchtown or farm hamlet; for example, St Merryn and St Ervan, Trevone, Harlyn and Rumford. Others such as Constantine Bay developed from tourism and St Eval grew in the twentieth century with the adjacent military facility. Most settlements are not visually prominent in the landscape, located in shallow depressions of landform. Transport pattern The area is skirted by the A389 serving Padstow to the west. The B3276 and B3274 serve the coast and inland respectively with a fairly even network of lanes between. These are bounded by Cornish hedges or stone walls predominantly of slate except where lanes cut into the solid bedrock.