Part 4: Landscape Character Assessment of Exmoor l LCT A: High Coastal Heaths Landscape Character Type A: HighCoastalHeaths Holdstone Down and Elwill Bay coast, looking towards Heddon’s Mouth from Great Hangman Summary Description This relatively small Landscape Character Type (LCT) This strikingly beautiful landscape is one of the few is located along the northern coast of Exmoor. places in England where heather moorland meets Although it is not continuous, it extends from the the sea, and therefore has a very strong sense of western edge of the National Park at Wild Pear place. The purple of the heather and yellow of the Beach to the eastern end above Minehead. It gorse gives way to the rugged coastline of high, comprises high, rocky cliffs (some of the highest in steep, rocky cliffs. This is a dramatic, open and expansive landscape with big skies, creating a sense England) capped with coastal heath and grassland. of exhilaration. There are long views along the coast It is interspersed along the coast by the High and out to sea across the Bristol Channel to South Wooded Coast, Combes and Cleaves LCT, and Low Wales. The sweeping views inland are dominated Farmed Coast and Marsh LCT, and is backed inland by patchwork fields with wooded valleys and a by the Enclosed Farmed Hills with Commons LCT backdrop of smooth moors. and the Farmed and Settled Vale LCT. Settlement is There are four Landscape Character Areas (LCAs) limited to occasional houses on Trentishoe Down, within this LCT, each representing a separate area of and there are few other buildings, although the coastal heath. This Landscape Character Type (LCT) archaeology is rich and varied. is also within six Seascape Character Areas (SCAs) identified in the Seascape Character Assessment. 78 Exmoor Landscape Character Assessment 2018 A1: HoldstoneDown, Trentishoeand Heddon’sMouth A2:ValleyofRocks A3:TheForeland A4:NorthHill Key Characteristics of the High Coastal Heaths l Underlying geology of purple, grey, l An open elevated landscape –the few green and reddish-brown Devonian scattered dwellings alongside the road sandstones and mudstones, visible in at Trentishoe Down are the only the colourful cliffs. settlement. l A distinctive landform of undulating l Stunning views from the LCT out to sea plateaux, rounded moorland hills and and inland. The LCT is visible in many high, steep and rugged coastal cliffs. views from the northern part of the National Park and forms the setting for l A largely inaccessible rocky coastline the North Devon Coast AONB. Coastal with hogs-back cliffs, small rocky bays, features (such as Hurlstone Point) are wave-cut platforms, coastal waterfalls, important landmarks, as are distinctive scree slopes and rocky outcrops. landforms such as Castle Rock. l Primary land cover of coastal heath, l A strong sense of elevation and containing a mosaic of heather moor, exposure to the elements due to the gorse, coastal grassland and scrub steep cliffs fronting the sea. The habitats. inaccessible nature of the cliffs creates a l An open landscape with few trees. sense of solitude. l Occasional stone walls or fences, but l Vivid and striking colours, particularly in generally this is an unenclosed spring and summer when the heather landscape. and gorse are in flower. l A rich historic landscape with extensive l The South West Coast Path provides archaeological sites from prehistoric, footpath access to the slopes and cliffs, Roman, and medieval periods, as well and offers far-reaching coastal views. as WW2 archaeology, and the Victorian l Cultural associations with the Romantic cricket pitch in the Valley of the Rocks. Poets. 79 Part 4: Landscape Character Assessment of Exmoor l LCT A: High Coastal Heaths Natural Landscape Features Ranging in elevation from 0-442m AOD, this are visible. The dry valley with its flat stony floor and landscape type has a strong and dramatic landform towering rocks above is thought to exhibit the comprising steep and rugged hogs-back coastal results of peri-glacial processes such as frost cliffs (with coves and combes) that give rise to inland shattering, but its origins are not fully understood. areas of gently undulating moorland plateau and Rich semi-natural heather moorland comprises the smooth, rounded hills. There are also craggy rock majority of land cover within the LCT, interspersed outcrops, particularly around the Valley of Rocks. with gorse and bracken (bracken being dominant The coastal cliffs create an impressive coastline, on the coastal slopes). Parts of the coastal cliffs have with the scalloped cliff faces revealing the varied only been recently accessed by climbers, so some colours of the landscape’s underlying geology, areas remain unrecorded. The extensive areas of ranging from red, to purple, to brown to grey. heathland designated as a Site of Special Scientific Exposures of Devonian, Carboniferous and Interest and Special Area of Conservation reflect the Quaternary rocks revealed in the cliffs can be ecological value of the landscape type and the viewed from the coast path. At the foot of the cliffs range of flowers, lichens, butterflies, insects and are wave-cut platforms, sea caves and rocky bays birds which it supports. There are larger animals with hidden, often inaccessible, beaches. There are present in the landscape, including sheep, ponies impressive scree slopes in the Combes around the and a herd of feral goats at the Valley of Rocks. Foreland. At the Valley of Rocks, some of the oldest and most fossil-rich Devonian rocks in North Devon Coastal rock formations and scree slopes, Coastal heath and grassland, Valley of Rocks North Hill with South Wales on the horizon. Designated Nature Conservation Sites SpecialAreaof Exmoor Heaths (A1,A3,A4) Biosphere Reserve North Devon Biosphere Reserve Conservation(SAC) (Transition zone) (A1) Marine Conservation Bideford to Foreland Point MCZ Site of Special West Exmoor Coast and Woods Zone (MCZ) (A1, A2, A3) Scientific Interest (A1,A2); (SSSI) Exmoor Coastal Heaths (A3,A4) Heritage Coast Exmoor Heritage Coast (A1, A2, A3, A4) County / Local Wind Hill (A3); Bratton Ball South, Local Geological Hurlestone Point (A4) Wildlife Site (C/LWS) Moor Wood, Upper Grey Combe Site (LGS) (A4) Combeshead Quarry (A4) 80 Exmoor Landscape Character Assessment 2018 Historic Landscape Features and the Built Environment Although this LCT covers a relatively small area, it Larger-scale earthworks visible within the contains many Scheduled Monuments, and landscape include the Iron-Age sites of Furzebury extensive areas are designated Principal Brake and Countisbury Castle promontory fort. Of Archaeological Landscapes. Because the Coastal the two known Roman sites within Exmoor - both Heaths have not been enclosed or farmed recently, coastal fortlets/ signal stations - one (Martinhoe many prehistoric monuments have survived within Castle) is within this LCT. their landscape context. These include numerous Medieval sites include deserted farms, field systems Bronze-Age barrows, often sited on hill summits and Burgundy Chapel on North Hill. The vast and ridges of higher land so they are visible on the majority of the LCT is unenclosed pasture, a pattern horizon. Other prehistoric features include field which has been in place since at least early systems, cairns and house platforms within the Medieval times, although there are occasional small Valley of Rocks, which are largely hidden under pockets of later enclosure (e.g. on Holdstone bracken. This is one of the best examples of a Down). Iron mining took place near the coast in the prehistoric field system on Exmoor - largely far west of the LCT. because the field walls were constructed of stone, North Hill was used extensively in World War Two which has endured, despite disturbance and (WWII) as a military training area. The ranges removal in the early nineteenth century. There is included access tracks, numerous buildings, also a possible Neolithic Tor Enclosure on Little triangular tank training circuits, target railways and a Hangman Hill. Tor Enclosures occur in other parts of renovated radar station. These features survive in the South West, but this is possibly the only varying levels of completeness within today’s example on Exmoor, and is important because of landscape, and North Hill is designated a Principal the lack of other Neolithic monuments in the area. Archaeological Landscape. Earthworks of Countisbury Castle Iron-Age promontory fort. ©Devon County Council (image by Frances Griffith) 81 Part 4: Landscape Character Assessment of Exmoor l LCT A: High Coastal Heaths This is an area of wide open landscape; the few smaller structures within the LCT they appear as houses within the LCT are scattered along the road incongruous features within an otherwise open crossing Trentishoe Down. Along with the other and remote landscape. Martinhoe Castle Roman Fortlet © Historic England Archive Former military road on North Hill Cliff-top communications mast and building on Butter Hill (A3) Designated Cultural Heritage Sites Scheduled Trentishoe Barrows (A1); Martinhoe Principal Holdstone Down and Little Monuments Castle Roman Signal Station (A1); Archaeological Hangman (A1); Valley of The Rocks Countisbury Castle Earthworks (A3); Landscapes (A2); Countisbury and Lyn Gorge Bossington Hill Cairn (A4); (A3); Selworthy WWII Complex (A4); Selworthy Beacon Cairns (A4); North Hill Medieval Farming System Purzebury Brake Iron Age (A4) Settlement (A4); Bramble Combe Deserted Medieval Farm (A4) Listed Buildings Boundary Stones (A1); Duty Point Tower (A2); Foreland Point Lighthouse (A3) 82 Exmoor Landscape Character Assessment 2018 Landscape Perceptions and Cultural Associations Perceptual qualities of the landscape descriptions including breathtaking, stunning, The physical and visual connection with the sea is dramatic, magnificent, peaceful, panoramic, open, fundamental to the character of this landscape. Its high, glorious on a fine day, expansive, exceptional, height and lack of enclosure creates a strong sense spectacular and beautiful coastline . Emotional of openness and elevation which is enhanced by responses included relaxed, happy to be here, the height of the cliffs.