Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands
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Character Area Bedfordshire and 88 Cambridgeshire Claylands Key Characteristics level fenlands, and to the south where they meet the chalklands which run between Dunstable and Cambridge. ● Gently undulating topography and plateau areas, To the south west there is a more gradual transition towards divided by broad shallow valleys. the Upper Thames Clay Vales and Midvale Ridge. To the north lies the Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge, while the valley ● Predominantly an open and intensive arable of the river Nene marks the junction with the adjacent landscape. Fields bounded by either open ditches or Northamptonshire and Leicestershire Vales. Within, but sparse closely trimmed hedges both containing distinct from, the Claylands character area the Bedfordshire variable number and quality of hedgerow trees. Greensand Ridge to the south provides a contrasting narrow ● River corridors of Great Ouse and Ivel compose island of acidic soils with associated woodland and parkland. cohesive sub-areas characterised by flood plain grassland, riverine willows and larger hedges. ● Woodland cover variable. Clusters of ancient deciduous woods on higher plateau area to north- west between Salcey and Grafham Water. Smaller plantations and secondary woodland within river valleys. ● Settlement pattern clusters around major road and rail corridors (A1 and M1) many with raw built edges. Smaller, dispersed settlements elsewhere. Village edge grasslands an important feature. ● Generally a diversity of building materials, including brick, thatch and stone. Limestone villages on the upper Great Ouse. ● Man-made reservoir at Grafham Water. Restored gravel working lakes adjacent to river Ouse, and JOHN TYLER/COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY JOHN TYLER/COUNTRYSIDE water-bodies in Marston Vale resulting from clay Predominantly an open and intensive arable landscape, with large extraction. fields often bounded by open ditches with few hedgerow trees, as seen here at Offord Hill, Cambridgeshire. ● Brickfields of Marston Vale and Peterborough form a major industrial landscape. Mixed extraction, The area comprises a broad sweep of lowland plateau, dereliction and landfill. dissected by a number of shallow valleys, including the rivers Great Ouse and Ivel. It is typically an empty gently ● Medieval earthworks including deserted villages the undulating lowland landscape with expansive views of large- major feature of visible archaeology. scale arable farmland, contained either by sparse trimmed hedgerows, open ditches or streamside vegetation. Further Landscape Character east, field size typically increases. There are scattered These claylands comprise most of central and northern ancient woodlands which tend to be clustered most Bedfordshire and western Cambridgeshire. There is a noticeably in a band to the north of the area; elsewhere the distinct boundary to the east, where they run down to the woods are more isolated, yet form important visual and wildlife features. 134 A16 75 A1073 A15 CITY OF Character Area 88 92 A47 PETERBOROUGH UA PETERBOROUGH TF Bedfordshire and A47 0 River NeneA605 TL A1 Cambridgeshire Claylands A605 A15 Yaxley Area 88 boundary Stilton 9 Adjacent Area 107 89 46 Ramsey Motorway Sawtry A1 Great A141 Gidding A Road Warboys 8 CAMBRIDGESHIRE A14 Brington Huntingdonshire Somersham B Road Alconbury Little District Bluntisham Stukeley HUNTINGDON St Ives Railway and station A14 A1123 Covington Needingworth Brampton Grafham Godmanchester South County boundary Water Cambridgeshire 7 Fenstanton A10 Kimbolton Buckden A14 District River Cottenham District boundary Kym River Longstanton Great Ouse Great A1 Histon Staughton Great Paxton Bar Hill Riseley Little Paxton Papworth Bedford Everard A1303 400-600' 91 A6 St Neots A428 Sharnbrook District A1198 Cambridge 6 A428 District A14 200-400' Odell Croxton Comberton NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Harrold Felmersham Little Barford 0-200' Great CAMBRIDGE River BEDFORDSHIRE Gransden A1307 Great height above sea- OuseBromham Olney BEDFORD A421 level in feet Tur vey Willington A603 A1301 Stoke Sandy A10 M11 Potton 5 Goldington A603 Ermine Street A5 A422 Kempston South Hanslope Sherington A508 River Tove Harrowden Northamptonshire Wootton Biggleswade 5 District Newport Wilstead90 Dunton 4 Potterspury A6 A600 A43 Pagnell A421 A1 MILTON M1 Cranfield Deanshanger A422 4 KEYNES Shefford Clifton 87 MILTON Akeley A422 Brackley River Foxcote Res. KEYNES UA A507 3 Great Ouse Thornborough Mid Silsoe A507A1(M) A4012 Bedfordshire A421 District Finmere Buckingham Newton Barton-le-Clay Longville A5 Harlington 3 A43 Aylesbury Toddington 107 Vale Winslow A5120 South 110 2 District Leighton Bedfordshire O XFORDSHIRE A4421 Stewkley Buzzard District Cherwell 7 Stanbridge 108 Grand Union Canal 1 District 6 Wing A4012 8 2 Wingrave A4146 0 10km A418 Marsworth A41 SP 0 TL 9 Dacorum District 135 River Great Ouse at Offord Cluny, Cambridgeshire. The shallow valleys of the Ouse and the Ivel provide distinctive local character within the claylands including flood plain grasslands, riverine willows and larger hedgerows, as well as an important recreational resource. JOHN TYLER/COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY JOHN TYLER/COUNTRYSIDE There are a number of distinctive sub-areas of varying scale. Huntingdon and St Ives, before meeting the fens at Earith. Firstly, between Bedford and the M1 is the Marston Vale, Grafham Water, one of the largest man-made reservoirs in a broad valley dominated by the effect of clay extraction England, is an important base for water-based recreation and the brick industry. Here, chimney stacks punctuate the and nature conservation. The lake is imposed on the local skyline and the strong smell of burnt clay frequently landscape, dominating the immediate locality but separated permeates the atmosphere. Enormous pits exist throughout from the surrounding arable landscape by gentle hills and the Vale, a few of which are currently being worked. Other woods. A final sub-area is the corridor of the river Tove pits are either derelict, have been restored to water uses, and Grand Union Canal to the west. Here mills, locks, or are utilized as major landfill sites. The latter create weirs and riverine pollards create a distinctive environment. prominent domed landforms in the level Vale. The extent The canal then runs southwards through Milton Keynes of these industrial areas is often concealed from the public alongside the river Ouzel passing through a series of linear roads but is more visible from the elevated railways and parks and amenity lakes. Greensand Ridge. Belts of mature poplars often emphasise the presence of these intrusive features. Physical Influences Secondly, a similar landscape exists south of Peterborough. The soils in the area are dominated by a variety of Thirdly, the valleys of the rivers Great Ouse and Ivel pass moderately permeable, calcareous, clayey soils. To the through the centre of the plateau lands. West of Bedford north these overlie a chalky boulder clay (glacial till), the Great Ouse meanders down from Buckinghamshire, whereas to the south they overlie Jurassic and Cretaceous firstly around the northern edge of Milton Keynes and then clays. The elevated clayland plateau to the west is dissected through a picturesque and enclosed landscape of water by the upper reaches of the Great Ouse which have better- meadows and attractive limestone villages towards Bedford. drained soils due to the underlying local Jurassic limestone. North of the confluence with the Ivel at Tempsford, the To the east of Bedford and north of Shefford, the broader valley broadens to create long distance views and big skies. river valleys of the river Ivel and its tributaries have well- Here, the fertile alluvial soil and river gravels combine to drained soils over alluvium and river terrace gravels. create a mosaic of market gardening, mixed with past and present mineral extraction of sand and gravels particularly The special properties for brick making of the Jurassic north of Sandy. River pollards and meadows line the flood Oxford Clay have marked it out as a target for extensive plain and river, most notably between St Neots, extraction in the Peterborough and Marston Vale areas. 136 Historical and Cultural Influences John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress while imprisoned in Bedford jail. Fictitious locations in the novel drew The heavy soils of the claylands and dense woodland inspiration from sites known to the itinerant preacher, for deterred prehistoric farmers and Roman settlers who first example the poorly drained Marston Vale is considered to congregated along the lighter soils in the valleys of the be the ‘Slough of Despond’. Oliver Cromwell, a rivers Great Ouse and Ivel. Archaeological evidence is contemporary of Bunyan, was born in Huntingdon in abundant in these valleys, including the use by Viking ships 1599. The small market town of Olney now famous for of the Great Ouse as far upstream as Willington east of its Shrove Tuesday pancake race has an attractive broad Bedford, where there is evidence of a harbour and docks. High Street. It was home in the 18th century to the The first Roman and medieval settlements were at the river reformed slave trader Rev. John Newton and the poet crossings of the Ouse, including Huntingdon and William Cowper whose association led to the writing of Godmanchester, St Ives and St Neots. the Olney Hymns. With the improved ploughs of the Middle Ages, the The 20th century has brought a number of changes, population pressure grew on the higher heavier claylands noticeably in the brickfields of Peterborough and Marston and