Area 17 Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge

Area 17 South Gloucestershire Landscape Character Assessment Draft Proposed for Adoption 12 November 2014 Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge Tytherington and Rudgeway Area 17 Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge Contents Sketch map 234 Key characteristics 235 Location 236 Physical influences 236 Land cover 236 Settlement and infrastructure 237 Landscape character 239 The changing landscape 241 Landscape strategy 243 Photographs Landscape character area boundary www.southglos.gov.uk 233 Area 17 South Gloucestershire Landscape Character Assessment Draft Proposed for Adoption 12 November 2014 Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge Tytherington and Rudgeway Key å11 Photograph viewpoints Scale: not to scale •21 è2 è1 å3 æ4 æ11 •5 á6 è7 á9 æ8 á10 Figure 52 Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge Sketch Map 234 www.southglos.gov.uk Area 17 South Gloucestershire Landscape Character Assessment Draft Proposed for Adoption 12 November 2014 Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge Tytherington and Rudgeway Area 17 Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge The Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge character area is a broad open ridge N comprising a pastoral landscape, punctuated by woodland and copses and dissected and defined by roads. Key Characteristics ¡ A broad linear ridgeline, with ridge/plateau ¡ Occasional extensive views from the and gentle slopes to the east, seen as a western boundary include the Severn backdrop to the vale and plain beyond. Estuary and beyond. The eastern slopes look towards the Cotswold Scarp. ¡ Open to semi-enclosed predominantly pastoral landscape of regular, medium ¡ Extensive road pattern of M5, M4/M5 sized fields with a mix of thick, clipped and interchange and A38 define this area. intermittent hedges and stock fencing. B4427 and other minor roads connect and cross the area. ¡ Limited common land at several sites to the north and east. ¡ Settlement is limited, with small villages/ hamlets and ribbon settlement along ¡ There are a number of areas of calcareous roads. Stone walls line some roads, most grassland across this character area notably sections of the A38 and roads that add both visual interest and provide adjacent to older farms. important habitat for a diverse range of flora including areas of species rich ¡ One large active quarry that includes grassland. a geological SSSI, and a number of powerlines lie to the north and one to the ¡ Regular dispersed pattern of copses south. throughout, with large areas of deciduous woodland in the south and north and ¡ The Hortham hospital site has been containing sections of the western redeveloped for housing, while retaining boundary along the A38, while also much of its strong and characteristic tree providing habitat for notable species cover. including European Protected Species. Limited mature tree specimens are associated with some older farmsteads, occasionally within hedgerows or fields. www.southglos.gov.uk 235 Area 17 South Gloucestershire Landscape Character Assessment Draft Proposed for Adoption 12 November 2014 Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge Tytherington and Rudgeway road infrastructure and accompanying man-made Location landform of earthworks, road embankments, The Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge character prominent gantries and overbridges. The M4, to area extends north eastwards from the M4/M5 the north west of the interchange, cuts into rising interchange (adjacent to the northern edge of the ground of the Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge Bristol conurbation) and is located centrally within and Severn Ridge beyond this area. South Gloucestershire. Surface land drainage is minimal, with a few The western boundary follows the often distinct drainage ditches along field boundaries feeding landform change between the upper slopes the Hortham Brook to the south. A number of the Severn Ridges and open plateau/rolling of small ponds are scattered across the area, ridgeline of this area. (Figure 55) generally near farms. The eastern boundary marks a transition between Land Cover the lower eastern slopes of this area and the landform of the Tytherington Plain and Earthcott The character area is largely a pastoral landscape, Vale. (Figures 28 & 31) with regular shaped, medium sized fields. The fields are divided by a mix of thick, clipped and The northern boundary defines the end of the intermittent hedges, with some areas of fencing ridge and its approximate skyline, the descending around paddocks nearer to the A38 (Photo 7). slopes beyond containing the Falfield Vale. (Figure 22) There are limited mature hedgerow trees. Mature tree specimens are often associated with old The southern boundary follows the M4 and farmsteads and more limited elsewhere. Small includes part of the M4 / M5 interchange. (See regular shaped copses of deciduous woodland Figures 55). occur frequently scattered throughout the area. Large areas of woodland lie to the south in the vicinity of Woodhouse Down (Photo 9), to the Physical Influences north at Milbury Heath, with a cluster of smaller The Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge area woodlands and copses around Tytherington consists of Jurassic limestone, interwoven with a (Photo 3). small proportion of alluvium and Carboniferous limestone. Soils are predominantly Pelo- Limited areas of common land lie to the north stagnogleys. east of the area, with a concentration of small sites around Tytherington at Baden Hill, (site of a This combination of geological strata creates small disused quarry), Tytherington Hill (ancient a broad gentle ridgeline, on a north east-south woodland and open undulating ground) and Hilly west axis at approximately 100 metres a.o.d., Upman (open playing fields). with a small plateau to the east of Alveston. Descending, gently rolling, south east facing The larger area of Itchington Common falls within slopes fall towards and contain the Tytherington this area. The common is severed by the M5 and Plain and Earthcott Vale at between 50-65 metres comprises rough grassland, with dense boundary a.o.d. Slopes are convex towards the south, with vegetation (Photo 5). a small bluff forming Tytherington Hill to the north. The boundary of the area is located at the foot of Horse paddocks are generally limited in the hill. distribution, largely located off the A38 corridor. The M4/M5 interchange, partly within this area Tytherington Quarry occupies an extensive area to the south west, forms a large scale focus of to the north, comprising a plant area (Photo 236 www.southglos.gov.uk Area 17 South Gloucestershire Landscape Character Assessment Draft Proposed for Adoption 12 November 2014 Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge Tytherington and Rudgeway 1) and areas of excavation which have been As there are few watercourses within the worked sequentially southwards, parallel to the Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge area, species M5. The edge of the site is largely contained by within these habitats are likely to be sensitive to hedgerows and hedgerow trees, supplemented any changes impacting upon the water body, this in places with earth mounds, and a developing could include water voles in this area. Ponds and woodland structure. pools within the area will support amphibians such as great crested newts (a European The Castle Hill Fort to the west of the village of Protected Species). Tytherington and partly quarried, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Little Abbey Camp, to the The majority of the agricultural land use within west of Grovesend, is severed by the A38 and this area is pastoral farmland with small areas comprises a fortified enclosure which is also a of arable farmland. Arable farmland provides Scheduled Ancient Monument. ground nesting and the winter stubble provides foraging opportunities for farmland birds including some listed as being Globally Threatened Red list Biodiversity species. The Rudgeway and Tytherington Ridge’s mosaic of grassland, woodland and farmland with the There are disused and working quarries across Hortham Brook and its tributaries to the south this area. A disused railway line is associated and hedgerows providing connectivity comprise with the quarry and part of the line is tunneled. important habitat for a diverse range of species. Underground quarries, mines and tunnels provide an ideal habitat for many species of bat including This character area includes approximately 17.5 European Protected Species. hectares designated as ancient woodland in two medium size woods, representing approximately Settlement and Infrastructure 40 percent of the total woodland within this character area. Several areas of broadleaf Settlement is limited within the area to small woodland at Tytherington and Hortham are villages or hamlets such as Tytherington, designated as SNCI. Key species likely to be Woodhouse Down and Rudgeway, with small associated with the broadleaved woodland scale ribbon development, in places clustered at include bats and dormice both of which are road junctions, or scattered farms and houses present across the District and are UK priority elsewhere. These are typically constructed from species with associated Biodiversity Action Plans Pennant sandstone, with some limestone to (BAP). the south west of the area. In addition there is the more recent residential development in the There are seven sites within the Rudgeway and grounds of the former Hortham Hospital in the Tytherington Ridge designated as SNCIs for the south of the character area. calcareous grassland present on the sites and includes species-rich grassland. This diverse Tytherington village is located at a confluence of habitat supports a range of invertebrates

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