OXHEY WOOD summary assessment evaluation guidelines area13

County map showing location of LANDSCAPE CHARACTER AREA

Scale ©Crown Bishops Stortford copyright All rights reserved. County Council LA076678 Hemel Hatfield Hempstead

Watford

area 13

LOCATION KEY CHARACTERISTICS This area is located between the settlements of Northwood, • dense woodland cover and Pinner Green. • Pinnerwood Park golf course to the south • sloping landform up to ridge in the west LANDSCAPE CHARACTER • strong vegetated skyline An oasis of woodland in the middle of suburbia. A • wide range of woodland habitats and botanical interest combination of ancient woodlands, including Oxhey Wood and Old Hangings, and more recent plantations. The DISTINCTIVE FEATURES woodland landscape provides a strong vegetated skyline • distinctive tree forms including the 'Gremlin' from many surrounding areas.

Clearing in Oxhey Wood • (HCC Landscape Unit)

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PHYSICAL INFLUENCES HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES Geology and soils. The underlying geology comprises Woodland management practices of coppicing, to provide Tertiary clay overlaid by slowly permeable and seasonally timber for hurdles, charcoal and firewood, and pollarding, waterlogged soils with some brown subsoils (Windsor to indicate woodland boundaries and to provide wood series). There are locally areas of fine loamy and silty soils pasture, have taken place for centuries but are not much in over the clays including areas of periglacial outwash evidence now. gravels. Field pattern. There is no field pattern in this area as it was Topography. The woods are located on a local area of high until recently 100% woodland cover. ground that slopes in all directions. Transport pattern. There are two secondary roads through Degree of slope. Slopes typically range between 1 in 10 the woods; these have some urbanising features. and 1 in 15. Settlements and built form. There are a few individual Altitude range. 68m at Pinnerwood House to the south- houses within the woodland and the area is almost entirely east up to a maximum elevation of 132m. enclosed by residential development. The former Oxhey Hydrology. A number of streams flow off the clay soils in a Place has been lost. All that remains is the brick and flint radiating pattern towards the tributaries of the river Colne. chapel of 1612, repaired and restored by the Victorians. A few water features are to be found within the grounds of the Pinnerwood golf course. Land cover and land use. The area comprises a mix of woodland habitats. There are areas of recreation and limited residential development. Pinnerwood Park golf course occupies the southern part of the character area, successfully set among the mature woodland areas. Vegetation and wildlife. There is a variety of woodland cover including ancient, semi-natural, scrub and some ornamental planting. There is evidence of wood pasture and the woods were one of the last sites in the county where bilberry was recorded in the 19th century. There are a great variety of trees and shrubs within the woods, ranging from towering oaks to elegantly twisted hornbeam and more unusual species such as the wild service tree and the Midland hawthorn. More recently, areas have been planted with commercial crops, including larch. On the woodland floor there is a range of plant life: in the clearings there is natural regeneration of birch, and bluebells, violets, foxgloves and remnant areas of heather survive.

pg 64 South Hertfordshire Landscape Character Assessment OXHEY WOOD summary assessment evaluation guidelines area 13

VISUAL AND SENSORY PERCEPTION ACCESSIBILITY The area is visible from surrounding areas for some There is public access through the woods and information distance, e.g. from the open Hill to the east and boards and picnic facilities are provided. Facilities for visitors South Oxhey playing fields. There is a marked sense of arriving by car are restricted, poor and uninviting. There is confinement in the wood. probably a major fear of public safety when walking in the Rarity and distinctiveness. The landscape type is unusual woods in an otherwise 'urban' environment, not helped by in the county. The mature and elevated woodland setting, the lack of sensitive management in some areas. surrounded by suburban development, is the most distinctive element. COMMUNITY VIEWS There is currently little evidence that those Hertfordshire VISUAL IMPACT residents surveyed value this site as a distinctive landscape, There is limited built development within the wood; but the sample did not include the neighbouring North however residential, educational and commercial population (D). development surround the area. LANDSCAPE RELATED DESIGNATIONS Local Nature Reserve.

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: widespread Impact of historic pattern: continuous Management of semi-natural habitat: variable Visibility from outside: locally visible Survival of cultural pattern: intact Sense of enclosure: contained Impact of built development: low 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

South Hertfordshire Landscape Character Assessment pg 65 OXHEY WOOD summary assessment evaluation guidelines area 13

STRATEGY AND GUIDELINES FOR MANAGING CHANGE: SAFEGUARD AND MANAGE • promote management plans for the woodland to restore a mix of habitat types and a balance between wildlife and public access. Promote local initiatives for traditional management where appropriate • in existing plantations encourage the replacement of softwoods with indigenous deciduous communities • improve public access arrangements to woodlands from surrounding residential areas with enhanced car park provision and design • woods to be managed along roads and rights of way to create a more open and safe environment • clearings to be created to benefit indigenous heathland plant communities • promote the appropriate management of woodland in order to maintain a rich ground flora and the distinction between different management systems, such as high forest, coppice, coppice-with-standards and wood pasture • promote through education and access the multiple uses of ancient woodland • encourage the dissemination of information about the historic importance and appropriate management of woodland features such as banks and ditches • seek to resolve conflicts arising from competing uses and activities in woodland • prevention of the spread of invasive species such as Rhododendron ponticum • survey and manage veteran trees for biodiversity value • promote both the creation of new ponds and the retention/enhancement for wildlife of existing ponds • ensure Pinner Wood golf course includes appropriate measures to manage and enhance the existing landscape setting and historical and ecological value. Particular attention should be given to earthwork proposals and developing a diverse and botanically rich range of habitats • promote the use of sympathetic materials for roads that pass through the wood

• Oxhey Woods from the south (HCC Landscape Unit)

pg 66 South Hertfordshire Landscape Character Assessment