3.0 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE’S ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER 3.2.3 ROCKINGHAM FOREST Rockingham Forest is one of the most well known and celebrated landscapes in the county and takes its name from the royal hunting forest that existed across the area from the 11th to the 19th centuries. Indeed, what is identified as Rockingham Forest today is only a fragment of a much larger area that extended from Northampton to Stamford. Whilst woodland was an important component of the royal forest, the term was applied to a specific area where forest law applied, rather than an area that was densely forested. Much of the Rockingham Forest plateau is capped by Boulder Clay, which obscures the underlying solid geology. Within the upper Ise, Harper’s Brook and Willow Brook valleys, however, the river systems have eroded through the Boulder Clay to expose a succession of Inferior and Great Oolite Group rock formations including both sandy and oolitic limestones, and sandstones. © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Northamptonshire County Council: In the Corby area, there are more extensive deposits of the Licence No. 100019331. Published 2006. Northampton Sand Formation that includes the Corby Ironstone Member and the source of the important ironstone, which has been extensively mined. The Boulder Clay deposits that cap much of the area give rise to heavy intractable soils. These were unattractive for cultivation and therefore significant areas of woodland survived the clearances that occurred elsewhere in the county. Whilst the valleys were cleared and settled during the Neolithic and Bronze Age, significant areas of the more elevated areas remained thickly wooded. Settlement and agriculture penetrated the heart of the forest along the Willow Brook, and the Iron Age and Roman periods saw the development of a major iron industry within the forest and the establishment of villas such as the large complex at Weldon. Following the Roman period, Saxon settlements tended to be sited around the periphery of the central woodlands that were controlled by royal or former royal manors. This ancient pattern of settlement persists to the present day with the central forest area remaining relatively sparsely settled. There is also evidence, for example around Brigstock, that an earlier phase of dispersed settlement Willows at Willow Brook Field existed, although this was gradually abandoned in favour of the nucleated village settlements that survive to this day. After the Norman Conquest, most of the area had become part of a royal forest stretching from Northampton to Stamford. Over time, clearances, often assarts, created a patchwork landscape of woodland and open field cultivation surrounding nucleated villages, as well as extensive areas of waste and common, and isolated farmsteads cut out of the woodland. The Crown also held a number of lodges for the purposes of hunting in the Forest. Rockingham Castle is perhaps the most well known, and many of the Norman kings held court there. Indeed, the Council of 1095 is one of the first recorded assemblies of State. Throughout the Saxon and early medieval period iron working was a major activity supported by one of England’s largest charcoal industries. By the late medieval period, around the 14th century, iron working had petered out but, by the mid 19th century, iron working was again reinvigorated by the arrival of the railways, when the excavation of new railway cuttings revealed the wide extent of the Northampton Sand formation deposits. Woodland was cleared, Boulder Clay stripped and a chain of quarries were established from Blisworth near Northampton to Stamford. The local population was swelled with a great many migrant workers. A number of the villages developed rapidly and towns currently on the edge of the forest such as Corby and Kettering, expanded greatly. Corby remained as the centre of the local iron industry up until 1980, after which time the steelworks and ironstone workings were closed down. A feature of the former quarries is the rich semi natural habitats that have evolved there in the form of fragmented calcareous and mesotrophic (neutral) grasslands. Kings Cliffe, Willow Brook and Limestone Walling ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER ASSESSMENT AND KEY ISSUES 14 3.0 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE’S ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER Coppicing was the principal method of woodland management throughout the medieval period as well as in later centuries. Its use has declined in parallel to a reduction in the area of woodland and as such there has been a decline in the species reliant on this management practice. After the medieval period, the area of forest declined as a result of enclosure for agricultural use, the greatest clearances following the removal of the legal status of the forest in the 19th century. Despite these significant losses, extensive areas of ancient woodland are a particularly strong and unifying characteristic of the area. They tend to lie on the highest, Boulder Clay capped hills, emphasising the relief, with larger woodlands such as Wakerley, Geddington Chase and Fermyn forming prominent skyline features. Beyond these woodlands, significant areas of tree cover can be found in the historic parks that occur Rockingham Village throughout the area, such as Rockingham, Deene, Drayton and Boughton. These also contain impressive mansions dating to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Many of these sites began as royal and private deer parks, others falling out of use and converting to agriculture by the 17th and 18th centuries. Many of the woodlands are ancient former coppice woods and contain a diverse range of species. Small leaved lime is particularly characteristic of the eastern woodlands where limestone geology is predominant. Woodlands on glacial Boulder Clay deposits tend to be characterised by ash, hazel and field maple. Rides within the woodland are also important and home to a rich flora and fauna. Other areas are replanted ancient woodlands or new plantations dating to the 20th century. Replanted ancient woodland sites often retain a species rich field layer, whereas the ground flora associated with new plantations tends to be more species poor. The Red Kite is symbolic of the conservation interest of the Forest. Woodland on steep scarp slopes They were successfully reintroduced in the 1990s and there were 27 successful nests in 2004. Within the forest, areas of woodland are generally separated by large fields, mainly in arable use, which tend to have low hedges and intermittent trees. The increase of arable cultivation in recent decades has been mirrored by hedgerow removal and field amalgamation, which has resulted in a number of large fields being created. This led to areas of open agricultural land that offer an abrupt contrast with the woodland areas. In the valleys, more intimate landscapes exist where better maintained hedgerows and dry stone walls can often be found enclosing improved pastures. Willow pollards are a characteristic feature of many streams. Settlements generally lie off the Boulder Clay, along the valleys where more easily cultivated land is available. There is generally a more intimate character, with valley settlements tending to be surrounded by small pasture fields, together with a 19th century dispersed pattern of farms beyond the village settlements. A more robust network of hedgerows and stone walls is also evident that contrast to the more expansive and open areas of the wooded uplands. Vernacular architecture is also an important unifying element across Rockingham Forest. Older buildings are generally of creamy grey Lower Lincolnshire Limestone in the east, and often roofed with Collyweston Slate. In the west, ironstone building stone from the Northampton Sand Formation is more common. Many of the lesser buildings are constructed from stone rubble or simple dressed stone, contrasting with the dressed stone of the manors, grand houses and churches. A number of villages are, or were, estate owned and as such exhibit a uniformity of character. There is relatively little modern development within and around the forest villages, many of which are served by minor country roads, often with wide verges typical of the enclosure period. Many villages therefore retain a quiet, dignified and sometimes remote rural character. Greater expansion, largely in the late 20th century, has occurred in the villages at the edge of the forest with good road access to the larger towns nearby. Lyveden Fields ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER ASSESSMENT AND KEY ISSUES 15 3.0 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE’S ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER KEY ISSUES • Rockingham Forest is one of the most well known and celebrated landscapes in the county and takes its name from the royal hunting forest that existed across the area from the 11th to the 19th centuries. Today, what is identified as Rockingham Forest is only a fragment of a much larger area that extended from Northampton to Stamford. As such, the remaining forest area is sensitive to any further loss or degradation of characteristic features and woodland resource. Lone Tree, near Short Woods View to Biggin Hall Woods • The Boulder Clay deposits that cap much of the area give rise to heavy intractable soils. These were unattractive for cultivation and therefore significant areas of woodland survived the clearances that occurred elsewhere in the county. At a strategic scale of planning, these areas should be targeted for new woodland planting, and in particular those areas that can be demonstrated to have been wooded in the recent past in order to take full advantage of surviving seed banks. • Settlements and agriculture penetrated the heart of the forest along the valleys, and new development in or fringing forest villages should be sensitive to settlement morphology and relationship to landform features. • Iron Age and Roman periods saw the development of a major iron industry within the forest and the establishment of villas such as the large complex at Weldon. Wherever possible, archaeological features of such significance should be protected in situ and new development located away from the most important areas.