MUNDEN VALLEY summary assessment evaluation guidelines 72*area

area 72

Buntingford

County Map showing location of LANDSCAPE CHARACTER AREA

©Crown copyright .All rights reserved. Puckeridge

Hertfordshire County Council /Standon Bishops Stortford 100019606 2004 Watton -at- Stone

Ware

Hertford

LOCATION KEY CHARACTERISTICS Valley formation stretching northwards from the northern • valley landform edge of and Woodhall Parks, eastwards to include • arable cultivation with pasture around settlements and westwards around the northern edge of • small scattered woodlands Benington. • remote and peaceful

LANDSCAPE CHARACTER DISTINCTIVE FEATURES This area is a group of small, remote pastoral and arable • settlement valleys carrying tributaries to the river Beane, dominated by • hedgebanks important relic woodlands. The Old Bourne is a small • 'common' names along Dane End tributary watercourse with wetland flora but no trees, lying within a • roads following watercourses along valley bottoms wide, shallow valley, while the Dane End Tributary, often no more than a ditch, has its course marked by non-wetland trees within a long, narrow valley with moderately steep sides and a gentle gradient. It is a long-settled area, with grouped hamlets.

Bluebells in Comb's Wood • near Whempstead (J. Crew)

* see foreword East Herts District Landscape Character Assessment pg 110 MUNDEN VALLEY summary assessment evaluation guidelines area 72*

PHYSICAL INFLUENCES HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES Geology and soils. Deep fine loam and clay soils with This is an area that has been settled since at least the early slowly permeable subsoils over chalky till. The chalk is very Bronze Age but has lost many small settlements. Parts of near the surface in some places and the local vegetation the parish boundary are at least 1400 years old and reflects this. probably formed the boundary between two Anglo-Saxon Degree of slope. 1 in 20 in the Old Bourne valley; 1 in 15 kingdoms. Records suggest that there was a deer park at in the Dane End Tributary valley; 1 in 30 at the southern Smart's Hill until the 18th century, and there is a very end, above Sacombe village. The Old Bourne tributary falls prominent bank indicative of this. The earliest records of by 1 in 200 between its upper reaches near Moor Green deer parks in this area are 1283 (Great Munden) and 1299 and Sacombe. (). In the 19th century the rose gardens at Altitude range. 60 m to 110m Dane End Park were renowned and visited. Hydrology. The headwaters of the river Beane have been Field pattern. The large common arable fields, which are surveyed recently by the Environment Agency. They are of characteristic of NE Herts, probably originated in the late poor quality, heavily influenced by land use, groundwater Saxon period and most survived well into the 19th century, levels and pollution sources, but are still important as chalk despite piecemeal enclosure. The sloping ground on the streams, which are considered to be internationally valley sides drains more freely and is therefore easier to important because of their ecological communities. The dry plough than the heavy clay on the neighbouring plateaux. valleys are bournes, with winter flows from subterranean The former meadows along the watercourses have been sources. ploughed up since the mid 19th century. Land cover and land use. Most of this area is in arable Transport pattern. In their upper reaches the road system cultivation, with pockets of pasture around settlements and follows the watercourses along the valley slope, while farms and sheep pasture notable locally. In many places between Dane End and Sacombe the road and the arable cultivation now extends right to the water's edge, watercourse criss-cross, with the stream an open ditch which reduces the impact of the watercourses within the which used to flood regularly. The A602 forms part of the landscape. Pasture is, unusually, more frequent on the southern boundary of this area, but is not typical of its plateau than in the valleys. There is a golf course south east character. of Dane End on former arable farmland. Settlements and built form. Little Munden (Dane End) Vegetation and wildlife. This is an area of small, discrete consists of five hamlets: Dane End, Green End, Haultwick, woodlands, composed of fragmented ancient woodland, White Hill and Potters Green, set in rolling farmland, with mainly hornbeam coppice, and mixed plantations. Hazel is narrow lanes, and is known locally as 'Little Devon'. Dane the most common species, with oak, ash, hornbeam and End is set in the valley (dene=end of valley), its satellite some lime. Willow can be found along the ditches. Hedges hamlets on the hills above. are generally infrequent, having been lost to arable • Dane End is by a long way the largest settlement in this intensification. Where present they are usually hawthorn, area. From 30 dwellings in 1903 it increased to 253 in sometimes with hazel and dogwood. Hedgerow oaks are 1977, as land accrued by the Chauncy family as part of infrequent. Many of the former commons are now under the Dane End estate was sold off for housing arable cultivation, although their place names are still development, and is now a commuter village. These marked on the OS map. There is some grassland around modern houses have rather swamped the older village Dane End, with isolated patches of chalk grassland and a centre, with its weatherboarded and thatched cottages. few small chalk pits. • Little Munden church dates in part from the 11th century; the settlement itself has never been more than a collection of cottages around Lordship's Farm. • Sacombe village contains several estate cottages in yellow brick, dating from the early 20th century. Great Munden and Nasty are located at the head of Dane End Tributary

OTHER SOURCES OF AREA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION Rowe, A., The Protected Valley, Hamels Publishing (1999). Environment Agency LEAP for the Upper Lee (1999).

pg 111 East Herts District Landscape Character Assessment * see foreword MUNDEN VALLEY summary assessment evaluation guidelines area 72*

VISUAL AND SENSORY PERCEPTION ACCESSIBILITY This is a very coherent and unified landscape, based on its Good track along The Old Bourne, elsewhere a bit sporadic landform of small valleys an relative remoteness and tranquility. There are extensive views within and beyond COMMUNITY VIEWS the area, especially to the east and west, with only small Insufficient data (estimated D) blocks of woodland to filter views and few hedges. It is thus also an open landscape, of medium scale. LANDSCAPE RELATED DESIGNATIONS Rarity and distinctiveness. This is not an unusual Landscape Conservation Area landscape but should be valued for its historic integrity and blend of form and function.

VISUAL IMPACT The built development in this area is generally in keeping, although Dane End is out of scale with its neighbouring settlements.

CONDITION STRENGTH OF CHARACTER Land cover change: localised Impact of landform: prominent Age structure of tree cover: mature Impact of land cover: apparent Extent of semi-natural habitat survival: fragmented Impact of historic pattern: interrupted Management of semi-natural habitat: not obvious Visibility from outside: locally visible Survival of cultural pattern: interrupted Sense of enclosure: open Impact of built development: high Visual unity: unified Impact of land-use change: low Distinctiveness/rarity: unusual

Strengthen Conserve Safeguard and and and reinforce strengthen manage

Improve Improve Conserve and and and reinforce conserve restore MODERATE

CONDITION Restore Improve condition Reconstruct and to maintain POORrestore GOOD character

WEAK MODERATE STRONG STRENGTH OF CHARACTER

* see foreword East Herts District Landscape Character Assessment pg 112 MUNDEN VALLEY summary assessment evaluation guidelines area 72*

STRATEGY AND GUIDELINES FOR MANAGING CHANGE: IMPROVE AND CONSERVE • increase landowners' awareness of the biodiversity value of streamside vegetation. Encourage them to plant buffer strips adjacent to watercourses to prevent pollution and create wetland vegetation. • encourage landowners to replant hedges along former field boundaries, where appropriate, ensuring that no damage is caused to historic features such as ditches and banks. • when considering applications for new housing, be aware of the current imbalance in settlement sizes in this area. • encourage a reversion of arable to pasture and a continuation of mixed farming • promote the establishment of buffer zones between intensive arable production and semi-natural habitats, including woodlands and watercourses, to prevent run- off from herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers • encourage the planting of woodlands and hedges to create links between semi-natural habitats. Ensure that such features follow historic boundary lines and do not inadvertently destroy historic features • encourage the establishment of wetland species along watercourses, such as willow and black poplar • maintain ponds by ensuring that unavoidable losses are replaced by new ponds of at least equivalent value for wildlife • ensure that proposed improvements to the landscape within Landscape Conservation Areas will reinforce and contribute to the distinctiveness of the local landscape character. • promote the appropriate management of woodland to ensure a balanced age structure and the development of a species-rich ground flora. New woodlands should use only locally indigenous species, with stock of local provenance if possible

• View north-east up Old Bourne Valley (P. Shears)

pg 113 East Herts District Landscape Character Assessment * see foreword