WARRINGTON: A LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ASSESSMENT Agathoclis Beckmann Landscape Architects Onion Farm Warburton Lane Lymm Cheshire WA13 9TW Prepared 2007 CONTENTS Page No. 1. INTRODUCTION 01 List of Figures 07 2. METHODOLOGY 11 3. LANDSCAPE CONTEXT 15 4. PHYSICAL INFLUENCES ON THE LANDSCAPE 18 5. ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT 26 6. HUMAN INFLUENCES AND THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT 33 7. LANDSCAPE CHARACTER TYPES AND AREAS 46 CHARACTER TYPE 1: UNDULATING ENCLOSED 50 FARMLAND AREA 1.A STRETTON & HATTON 54 AREA 1.B APPLETON THORN 63 AREA 1.C WINWICK, CULCHETH, GLAZEBROOK & RIXTON 71 AREA 1.D CROFT 90 AREA 1.E BURTONWOOD 96 AREA 1.F PENKETH & CUERDLEY 105 CHARACTER TYPE 2: MOSSLAND LANDSCAPE 114 AREA 2.A RIXTON, WOOLSTON & RISLEY MOSS 120 AREA 2.B HOLCROFT & GLAZEBROOK MOSS 129 AREA 2.C STRETTON & APPLETON MOSS 137 AREA 2.D PILL MOSS 144 CHARACTER TYPE 3: RED SANDSTONE ESCARPMENT 148 AREA 3.A APPLETON PARK & GRAPPENHALL 153 AREA 3.B MASSEY BROOK 165 AREA 3.C LYMM 170 CHARACTER TYPE 4: LEVEL AREAS OF FARMLAND AND 179 FORMER AIRFIELDS AREA 4.A LIMEKILNS 181 AREA 4.B FORMER BURTONWOOD AIRFIELD 186 AREA 4.C FORMER STRETTON AIRFIELD 192 CHARACTER TYPE 5: RIVER FLOOD PLAIN 197 AREA 5.A RIVER MERSEY/BOLLIN 201 AREA 5.B RIVER GLAZE 215 AREA 5.C SANKEY BROOK 221 CHARACTER TYPE 6: INTER-TIDAL AREAS 230 AREA 6.A VICTORIA PARK TO FIDDLERS FERRY 233 8. LANDSCAPE OVERVIEW AND APPLICATION OF THE REPORT 240 BIBLIOGRAPHY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS APPENDICES: APPENDIX 1 FIELD STUDY SHEETS (Fig xiiii) APPENDIX 2 PHOTOGRAPHS (Fig xiv) APPENDIX 3 FIELD STUDY & PHOTOGRAPH LOCATION POINTS Area 1.A Stretton & Hatton Area 1.B Appleton Thorn Area 1.C Winwick, Culcheth, Glazebrook & Rixton Area 1.D Croft Area 1.E Burtonwood Area 1.F Penketh & Cuerdley Area 2.A Rixton, Woolston & Risley Moss Area 2.B Holcroft & Glazebrook Moss Area 2.C Stretton & Appleton Moss Area 2.D Pillmoss Area 3.A Appleton Park & Grappenhall Area 3.B Massey Brook Area 3.C Lymm Area 4.A Limekilns Area 4.B Former Burtonwood Airfield Area 4.C Former Stretton Airfield Area 5.A River Mersey & Bollin Area 5.B River Glaze Area 5.C Sankey Brook Area 6.1A Victoria Park to Fiddlers Ferry 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND APPLICATION OF THE REPORT __________________________________________________ 1.1 Context of the Borough The Borough of Warrington is located in the northwest of England in the county of Cheshire. It has a population of approximately 190,800, with over 160,000 people living in the town centre. Warrington is located centrally within the Borough and is surrounded by small village settlements and open countryside. The River Mersey runs through the centre of the area from east to west, passing through the town centre and dividing the borough roughly into two equal halves to north and south. A location and context plan is illustrated on Figure 1 (page 9). 1.2 The Landscape of Warrington Borough Warrington is seen now as a post-industrial town, with its urban core the legacy of the C19th. This does not do the town justice as it has far more complex origins than the Industrial Revolution. Warrington sits in an agricultural landscape of great variety, a landscape influenced as much by the town and its needs as by nature itself. To the south of the area, a red sandstone ridge creates a prominent escarpment and ridgeline before gently sloping back to the south into the Cheshire Plain. The River Mersey, with its broad meander loops and tidal sections of mudflats and salt marshes, forms a central, low-lying area, with mainly arable farmland on more gently sloping land to the north. Flat areas of peat moss intersperse the area, providing both rich areas of farmland and valuable habitats for flora and fauna. The main areas of mossland lie on the north side of the Mersey valley, but have considerably diminished in size over the last two centuries. The area’s industrial heritage and communication routes create further layers of character to the landscape and contribute to the creation of a local distinctiveness in Warrington’s landscape. The rural settlements of the area have a long and varied history, which is reflected very much in their architecture. 1.3 Purpose of the Report When reading this report, it should be borne in mind that landscape is dynamic. It has changed considerably to form the countryside we find familiar today and will inevitably contrive to change in the future. This is brought home by the poet and early environmentalist, John Clare, in the early 1800s when he witnessed the first major English field enclosures from what would, at that time, have been a much more open landscape: “Inclosure, thou’rt a curse upon the land, 1.0 Introduction Warrington Borough Council LCA 1 And tastless was the wretch who thy existence plann’d” Today we see the hedged field patterns of our landscape as fundamental to the structure of the countryside and almost sacrosanct. This report is intended to provide an objective view of Warrington Borough’s landscape as it stands today, to define its current landscape character and to recognise the pressures of change upon it. The report ultimately considers judgements and recommendations for management, which will assist in shaping Warrington’s landscape for the future. 1.4 Planning Context The Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) will form part of the evidence base for the preparation of Development Plan Documents. The LCA will provide the council and users of the planning system with evidence to inform planning policy, the issue of supplementary planning documents and advice on development proposals. Most importantly it will provide information on the status of the existing landscape, a ‘snapshot in time’, recording the existing and potential threats to the landscape. It is important to note that a Landscape Character Assessment does not attach any values to any particular Landscape Type or Landscape Area. It is simply an objective assessment of the current (at time of writing) landscapes within the Borough of Warrington. Other attributes within these Landscape Types and Landscape Areas may indicate the need to preserve some features or elements of the landscape or even to remove them, but these attributes are not given any status within the Assessment. Ideally, the LCA should be updated on a regular basis, but this is up to the Planning Authority and will depend upon significant changes in circumstances and the availability of resources. The LCA will also provide base information on the visual status of the landscapes around Warrington, from which Visual Impact Assessments can be judged. These are increasingly important assessments and are required when visually dominant developments are proposed, such as landfill sites, new roads or large developments at the edge of villages or the town of Warrington itself. The current policy framework is provided by the Adopted Unitary Development Plan (UDP) and associated Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) or Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD). The UDP includes several policies relevant to Landscape Character, including GRN3 (Development Proposals in the Countryside) and GRN22 (Protection & Enhancement of Landscape Features). Supplementary Planning Documents include Design and Construction, which has a Landscape Design Guidance Section which looks at Landscape in New Development and Protection of Trees on Development Sites. Supplementary Planning Guidance includes Village Design Statements for Burtonwood & Collins Green, Grappenhall & Thelwall, and Lymm A plan illustrating Parish boundaries is provided in Figure 2 (page 10). 1.0 Introduction Warrington Borough Council LCA 2 1.5 Major issues affecting the landscape of Warrington. Macro-scale issues: Farming Farming has radically changed the character of Warrington’s landscape over time. The first most notable changes occurred with the introduction of the Corn Laws, when farmers were able to plough large acreages for grain production. This necessitated the change to much larger field sizes. At the repeal of the Corn Laws, grain production began to decline, only for the two World Wars to increase the demand again. World grain demand is again rising. Increasing mechanisation of farming has resulted in pressure being exerted on trees and hedges, many having been totally removed. Hedges and hedgerow trees Hedges and hedgerow trees in the landscape have been under pressure from farming for many years. The greatest period of losses of hedges and hedgerow trees appears to be in the 1950s and 1960s. It is very clear from the survey undertaken to prepare this report that few, if any, hedges in the area are being planted or even gapped up. It is also clear that traditional hedgerow management is in sharp decline with little or no hedge laying being undertaken. Most of the Borough’s hedgerow trees are either mature or over mature and dying and, most importantly, there is no evidence of trees being replaced. Mechanical hedge cutting does not assist in the retention of saplings and the farmer appears to have little interest in taking extra time to cut around individual trees. Urgent action is necessary to encourage farmers to plant new trees in their hedges and to maintain the trees they already have. Agencies for change 1. Warrington Borough Council continues to be a major agent for change in the area. The Borough became a Unitary Authority on 1st April 1998. The major instrument for policy is the Warrington Unitary Development Plan (UDP) of 23rd January 2006, which replaces a number of part-area Local Plans approved in the 1980s. The UDP comprises of two parts, Part 1 being a written statement of general policies and proposals of strategic importance for the use and development of land. Part 2 is a written statement of policies and proposals and a Proposals Map showing site-specific proposals and area- based policies on an Ordnance Survey map base.