North West Regional Landscape Character Framework Integration Of
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North West Regional Landscape Character Framework Integration of Historic Landscape Character Heritage Report Oxford Archaeology North August 2010 Natural England Issue No: 2010-11/1051 OA North Job No: L10212 North-West Regional Landscape Character Framework: Integration of HLC Report 1 CONTENTS CONTENTS .........................................................................................................................1 SUMMARY ..........................................................................................................................4 Project Overview................................................................................................................4 Non-Technical Summary of Methodology..........................................................................4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................6 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................7 1.1 Project Background..................................................................................................7 1.2 Stakeholders and Partners ........................................................................................8 1.3 Report Outline .........................................................................................................8 2. METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................................................9 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................9 2.2 Stage One: Regionalising Historic Landscape Character ..........................................9 2.3 Stage One Issues....................................................................................................10 2.4 Stage Two: Integration with Regional Landscape Character Areas.........................12 2.5 Stage Three: Change Scenarios ..............................................................................12 2.6 Regional Landscape Character Area Analysis ........................................................13 3. SUMMARY OF DATA PROVIDED...................................................................................15 3.1 Summary of Data Provided ....................................................................................15 3.2 Original Data .........................................................................................................15 3.3 Regionalised Historic Landscape Character by County...........................................16 3.4 Regionalised Historic Landscape Character by Type..............................................16 4. HISTORIC CHARACTER OVERVIEW.............................................................................18 4.1 Correlation of Historic and Landscape Character ...................................................18 4.2 Chronological Development of the Region.............................................................20 5. REGIONAL HISTORIC CHARACTER TYPE DESCRIPTIONS...........................................29 5.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................29 5.2 Woodland ..............................................................................................................29 5.3 Water.....................................................................................................................32 5.4 Industrial Non-Settlement ......................................................................................35 5.5 Settlement..............................................................................................................37 5.6 Built Environment..................................................................................................41 5.7 Unenclosed Land ...................................................................................................42 5.8 Designed Landscapes.............................................................................................47 5.9 Enclosed Land .......................................................................................................50 5.10 Communications....................................................................................................53 5.11 Military..................................................................................................................55 6. CORRELATION BETWEEN RHLC AND RLCT TYPES .................................................57 6.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................57 6.2 Enclosure Correlation.............................................................................................57 For the use of Natural England OA North: August 2010 2 North-West Regional Landscape Character Framework: Integration of HLC Report 6.3 Settlement Correlation ...........................................................................................57 6.4 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................58 7. RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................................59 7.1 Suggested RLCA Boundary Changes.....................................................................59 7.2 Recommendations for Further Work ......................................................................60 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................................62 ILLUSTRATIONS ...............................................................................................................73 APPENDIX 1: COMPARISON MATRIX OF RHLC TYPES ...................................................74 APPENDIX 2: CUMBRIA RLCAS.......................................................................................79 (relates specifically to Figures 1, 3 and 4) APPENDIX 3: LANCASHIRE RLCAS ...............................................................................142 (relates to Figures 1, 2 and 5) APPENDIX 4: MERSEYSIDE AND MANCHESTER RLCAS.................................................202 (relates to Figures 2, 5 and 6) APPENDIX 5: CHESHIRE RLCAS....................................................................................238 (relates to Figures 2 and 6) For the use of Natural England OA North: August 2010 North-West Regional Landscape Character Framework: Integration of HLC Report 3 ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE TEXT ALGAO Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers ALSF Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund CCG Client Commission Group DCMS Department for Culture, Media and Sport DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs EC European Community EH English Heritage EIA Environmental Impact Assessment ELC European Landscape Convention EP Environmental Policy EU European Union GIS Geographical Information System HER Historic Environment Record HLC Historic Landscape Characterisation HMS Heritage Management Services MoRPHE Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment NE Natural England NWLCF North West Landscape Character Framework OA Oxford Archaeology OS Ordnance Survey PLU Physical Landscape Unit RHLC Regional Historic Landscape Character RLCA Regional Landscape Character Area RLCT Regional Landscape Character Type SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment For the use of Natural England OA North: August 2010 4 North-West Regional Landscape Character Framework: Integration of HLC Report SUMMARY PROJECT OVERVIEW This project forms part of the Natural England North West Regional Landscape Character Framework (NWLCF), which aims to describe the variation in landscape at a regional scale and provide a consistent level of mapping for all landscapes in the region, as ‘a key step in the implementation of the European Landscape Convention’ (Porter et al 2009, 4). The Convention calls for the integration of landscape into all relevant areas of policy, including cultural, economic and social policies. The NWLCF provides the vital stepping stone between national and local perspectives and aims to ensure that the landscape is fully integrated into regional and sub-regional policy. Furthermore, through the recognition that ‘landscape’ is a complex interaction between cultural, environmental, physical and heritage characteristics, the NWLCF aims to deliver the first fully comprehensive framework for landscape management and conservation throughout the region (op cit, 6-7). The initial phase of the NWLCF defined regional landscape character types (RLCTs), which represent landscapes with similar characteristics (physical, environmental or cultural) wherever they occur in the region (op cit, 12-13). These were then used to create regional landscape character areas (RLCAs), which are parts of the landscapes with a unique identity within the region. Where possible, the boundaries of these RLCAs correlate with existing National Character Areas, or are subdivisions of them (http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ ourwork/landscape/englands/character/areas/). A baseline dataset on the biodiversity, cultural heritage and geodiversity of each RLCT was created in Phase 1, which was completed in 2009. Phase 2, of which this project is one part, aims to provide more detail on the heritage, biodiversity and geodiversity of the RLCAs. It also aims to identify the