MIMRAM VALLEY PARKLANDS summary assessment evaluation guidelines area43

Buntingford

County map showing location of LANDSCAPE CHARACTER AREA Stevenage ©Crown copyright .All rights reserved. Puckeridge County Council /Standon Bishops

100019606 2004 Watton Stortford -at- Stone

Ware Sawbridgeworth area 43

LOCATION KEY CHARACTERISTICS Variable band on south-facing slope of Mimram valley • narrow ribbon of floodplain pasture and woodland between Water and the western edge of the • isolated farms and mills along length and at foot of slope estate, west of Hertford. It is bounded to the • dense boundary parkland generally precludes any views in south by the A414 and B1000 and includes part of the • limited diversification to commercial activity in river valley course of the . outside parklands • pasture in river valley with some arable. Arable on gentle LANDSCAPE CHARACTER valley slopes A consistent parkland character overlies any change in • abrupt transition to urban edge topography throughout this sinuous ribbon of floodplain pasture and woodland. Twentieth-century development DISTINCTIVE FEATURES and the busy transport network mask this character in some • parkland boundary planting places. • river Mimram • fish ponds and associated evergreen vegetation at Bury • veteran sweet chestnut at Tewin Water • at western end • pollarded hornbeam on hillside at

Tewin Meadows bridge • (HCC Landscape Unit)

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PHYSICAL INFLUENCES • Tewin Water was the home of the Beit family (diamond Geology and soils. Deep, well-drained fine loamy and magnates, philanthropists and associated with Cecil sandy soils, locally flinty, over glaciofluvial drift (Ludford Rhodes) during the 19th and early 20th century. It is now series). a school within the remains of a late 18th-century Topography. River floodplain and gentle south-facing landscape park of some 30ha, now affected by valley slopes. institutional development.. There was a deer park here in Degree of slope. 1 in 40 (max). 1766. Repton was consulted on the grounds and Altitude range. 44m to 76m. produced a Red Book in 1799. His plan related to his Hydrology. The Mimram is a relatively fast-flowing, gravel general scheme for landscaping the Mimram valley and bedded with a wide range of species and the Panshanger landscape. The river was dammed below extensive marginal growth. It is one of the most natural the house to create a lake and woodland was planted rivers in the county, being least affected by abstraction and along the northern shore. discharges, and is regarded by English Nature as the best • Marden Hill: significant gardens show on all maps from chalk stream in East Anglia/Midlands. Fed by chalk springs, 1766 onwards. it flows mainly through parkland and agricultural land. Its Field pattern. Field boundaries are either estate fencing or middle reaches flow through several important wetland overgrown hedgerows, usually of oak or ash. Boundaries habitat complexes and the river is designated 'salmonid', are more often oak or ash copses or plantation, to screen indicating its suitability for trout and grayling. views in, frequently mature or over-mature. Field sizes vary Land cover and land use. This area consists of parkland, from small (pasture) to medium (arable). with a mix of pasture and wetland vegetation in the Transport pattern. The boundaries of the parklands are floodplain and arable and broadleaf woodland on the valley defined by the road network, with the B1000 marking the slopes. The primary land use is arable wooded farmland, southern boundary of the area against the outskirts of while the secondary land uses include commercial ventures Garden City. Digswell Viaduct, at the western end and pasture (cattle in parkland). There is evidence of of this area, marks the advent of the railway in the 19th significant farm diversification in ventures within this area, century and is 'sometimes called one of the seven wonders such as a change from farming to a hotel/conference centre of Hertfordshire' (Hertfordshire Countryside, Vol. 19, No.77, and from watercress to fish farming. p.229). Vegetation and wildlife. The woodland cover is very Settlements and built form. There are no settlements extensive, especially around the perimeter of the individual within this area, which is characterised by country houses parklands, and the hornbeam at Marden Hill includes and isolated farms. Eighteenth-century red brick former parkland pollards. Within the floodplain the dominant stables can be found at Marden Hill Farm, together with a species is willow with alder; elsewhere the main mature 16th-century weatherboarded barn and octagonal brick species are hornbeam, oak and sweet chestnut. There are stockhouse. At Tewin Water Farm there is a brick lodge of several notable veteran sweet chestnut at Tewin Water. In oval plan, with a rustic portico of four tree-trunk columns. addition there are many mixed and variable young • Marden Hill was built in 1790-94 as a plain block of plantings, including conifers, generally associated with yellow brick. In 1819 Sir John Soane added a four- mineral extraction screening but in some instances likely to column porch. be relic game coverts. A series of alluvial meadows and • Tewin Water is described in Pevsner as 'a new and marshes bordering the Mimram at Tewinbury is designated handsome house' in 1819, having been rebuilt in 1798 in SSSI. It consists of mixed glyceria and reed swamp with neo-Greek style with a west front of seven bays associated carr developed in old cressbed lagoons; alder • The Digswell Viaduct was constructed of bricks that were carr with rich ground flora; and neutral grassland (at fired on site. It is 1,560 feet long and nearly 100 feet Archers Green) with associated conservation species of high. green-winged orchid, snakeshead fritillary and corncrake. This is one of the most important species-rich river valley OTHER SOURCES OF AREA-SPECIFIC complexes in Hertfordshire. Rare invertebrates, otters and INFORMATION many bird species can be found in this area. Pevsner, N., rev. Cherrry, B., Hertfordshire, Penguin (2000). English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens. HISTORIC AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES Biodiversity Action Plan for Hertfordshire, pp. 54/55. The historic pattern of this area is still apparent and English Nature SSSI notification. widespread. It should be noted that the history of this area has been one of destruction and renewal since at least the mid-18th century, when the Earls Cowper bought up the notable houses around Tewin and demolished them, before building Panshanger. The modern road pattern tends to follow the historic park boundaries to north and south and there are no accessible internal roads or tracks within the parklands.

pg 39 East Herts District Landscape Character Assessment MIMRAM VALLEY PARKLANDS summary assessment evaluation guidelines area 43

VISUAL AND SENSORY PERCEPTION ACCESSIBILITY From outside, this area is largely concealed by boundary Noted recreational land uses: fishing (signs for). woodlands, with very limited views from the A414. Views Waymarked routes and footpaths are localised rather than within the area are very limited, due to lack of access, and widespread and there is no access to the private parklands. are generally framed by wetland vegetation. The scale of the landscape elements is small to medium and it has a very COMMUNITY VIEWS contained, coherent character. It is not tranquil, with This is a distinctive and valued valley landscape(C). constant distant noise from road traffic. 'The whole of the beautiful valley from Welwin (sic) to Rarity and distinctiveness. Unusual area for its scale and Hertford, including Digswell, Tewin Water, Panshanger and the unity and completeness of the focus of the parkland on Cole Green, belonging to the same noble family...while the river. This stretch of the Mimram has been highly each possesses its independent privacy and seclusion, their regarded for its scenic beauty since at least the end of the united woods and lawns will by extending through the 18th century (see below). The SSSI contains some county whole valley, enrich the general face of the county.’ Repton rarities. in his Red Book of suggested improvements to Tewin Water for Henry Cowper, 1799 VISUAL IMPACT Although new roads have in general followed old park LANDSCAPE RELATED DESIGNATIONS boundaries, there is still a strong local impact from road Landscape Conservation Area. transport and built development, such as farm The lower Mimram is recognised as a High Biodiversity Area diversification within the floodplain. The impact of land-use (HBA) for its wetlands and woodlands. change within the area is less palpable. There has been SSSI: Tewinbury. some change from pasture or parkland to arable Tewin Water is Grade II listed in the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

CONDITION STRENGTH OF CHARACTER Land cover change: insignificant Impact of landform: apparent Age structure of tree cover: mixed Impact of land cover: prominent Extent of semi-natural habitat survival: extensive Impact of historic pattern: continuous Management of semi-natural habitat: not obvious Visibility from outside: concealed Survival of cultural pattern: widespread Sense of enclosure: contained Impact of built development: localised Visual unity: coherent Impact of land-use change: moderate 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

East Herts District Landscape Character Assessment pg 40 MIMRAM VALLEY PARKLANDS summary assessment evaluation guidelines area 43

STRATEGY AND GUIDELINES FOR MANAGING CHANGE: SAFEGUARD AND MANAGE • ensure that future development proposals within this area reflect and protect its historic parkland character • ensure that future development proposals for adjoining areas are adequately screened to prevent impact on the character of this area • encourage local landowners to retain and manage pasture • encourage local landowners to maintain the existing high quality of the Mimram watercourse and banks and to manage its riverbanks to increase biodiversity • encourage linkages between the different wetland habitats along the Mimram, to increase biodiversity • support the establishment of agri-environmental schemes within ESAs and CHAs (Countryside Heritage Areas)

• Tewin Meadow (HCC Landscape Unit)

• Footbridge over Tewin Water (P. Cullens)

pg 41 East Herts District Landscape Character Assessment