9B: SOUTH EAST NEW FOREST COASTAL PLAIN Buckler’s Hard –the main street leading down to the water is like stepping back to this time which add to the tranquil wooded setting of the Beaulieu river. Needs ore spit at the entrance toLepe country park provides one of Enclosed Coastal Plain character Beaulieu river. the few parts of access to the coast in pervades the character area – south this area. of Langley. St Leonard’s Grange – the medieval Local ‘yellow’ brick used at terrace in Converted aircraft hangers at tithe barn was one of the largest inExbury. Calshot- observation tower the Country an indication of how influential Beaulieu abbey was in local historic land use. Hampshire County 1 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment South East New Forest Coastal Plain Hampshire County 2 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment South East New Forest Coastal Plain 1.0 Location and Boundaries 1.1 This landscape character area stretches from the mean low water mark (Spring tides) in the south and east, to the start of the more acidic soils associated with the raised plateau gravels of the New Forest in the north. It extends westwards to where the coastal plain narrows. Fawley power station is located on the eastern edge of the character area. 1.2 Component County Landscape Types Coastal Plain Enclosed, Coastal Plain Open, Open Coastal Shore, Coastal Reclaim and Grazing Marsh, Estuary, Intertidal Estuary and Harbour. 1.3 Composition of Borough/District LCAs: New Forest DC: North West Solent Estates (predominantly) Beaulieu river (small part which includes the river floor and historic parkland) This character area is very similar in extent and rationale as the New Forest District Assessment: North West Solent Estates. It includes both sides of the river Beaulieu valley as far south as Buckler’s hard. Exbury and Exbury house are within this character area because of its setting in the coastal plain, and the views over the Solent to the Isle of Wight which are exploited in the layout of the grounds. 1.4 Associations with NCAs and Natural Areas: NCA 131: New Forest NA 77: New Forest 2.0 Key Characteristics • Coastal plain rising inland to more sandy soils. • Short wooded visual horizons inland but with open coastal edge over intertidal muds and saltmarsh and across busy Southampton Water. • Tall vertical elements such as electricity pylons, oil refinery chimneys and the towering Power Station stack of Fawley Power Station visible above the tree line. • Internationally-designated coastal biodiversity sites, an ecologically-rich diversity of habitats ranging from salt marsh to heathland, and a relatively high proportion of woodland. • Defensive sites include an Iron Age promontory fort at Exbury, and the Tudor Calshot Castle, which retains its original setting. • Much of the area remains undeveloped, reflecting the historic form of villages, numerous surviving medieval steadings, and saltern sites. • Influence of historic Estates on landscape design, gardens and architecture. Hampshire County 3 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment South East New Forest Coastal Plain 3.0 Physical Characteristics and Land Use 3.1 This coastal landscape is underlain by comparatively young tertiary rocks of the Barton group in the east, and the Becton and Osbourne beds which stretch well into the New Forest. The Barton clays here are a yellow sandy colour (used as the traditional local brick material). The whole area is overlain by marine terrace gravels from the Pleistocene. Overlying this are well drained fine loamy acid soils. The coastal plain landscape is cut by several rivers creating a gently undulating topography, generally less than 30m AOD and mostly below 10m AOD. 3.2 There is a mix of grazing/dairying and arable use, with the latter increasing to the north and west on higher, drier land. Many of the fields have boundary ditches and internal ditch systems adjoining the coast. Verges are often wide with thick hedges, and contain closely spaced oaks (some ancient) on banks. The fieldscape is fairly regular in pattern, often with straight boundaries and sometimes set between more sinuous long boundaries associated with lanes and tracks. The fields tend to be small-medium in size, most being between 5-15ha and predominantly bounded by hedges. Other specific land uses include the power station at Fawley, and a comparatively high proportion of woodland compared with other coastal plain landscapes – often ancient in origin. 3.3 There are small well-wooded river estuaries which typify the eastern half of the character area running north to south. These include the Dark Water, Sowley, Mopley and the largest, the Beaulieu river, a 9km tidal estuary which is comparatively shallow varying from 1 to 8m. 3.4 There are two major coastal spits, one at the entrance to Southampton Water (formed over 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age as sea levels rose and large amounts of shingle worked along the coast by easterly longshore drift). The other is Needs Ore spit formed after the great hurricane of 1703, which formed in an easterly direction across the main Beaulieu river channel, dramatically deflecting the main channel. Recently with cliff erosion to the west a secondary spit has formed seaward of Needs Ore. There are low sandy cliffs at Lepe and the beaches are fairly narrow and shingly. 4.0 Experiential/Perceptual Characteristics 4.1 This landscape is full of visual contrasts, but is more enclosed than most other Hampshire coastal plain landscapes because of the gently undulating topography, thick wooded hedges and woodland. Fawley chimney stack is an enduring feature of many views. Emerging on the coast this is often the first sight of the waters of the Solent and Southampton estuary, although the hilly outline of the Isle of Wight is frequent, being less than 2 miles from Lepe. 4.2 This is a very quiet, rural landscape with visitors drawn to honey pot sites such as Buckler’s hard, Exbury gardens and Lepe which in high season creates localised crowds. Much of the experience of this landscape is from the rural lane network. Lack of off road access is likely to affect people’s perceptions of being able to experience the tranquillity of the landscape. Hampshire County 4 Status: FINAL May 2012 Integrated Character Assessment South East New Forest Coastal Plain 5.0 Biodiversity Character 5.1 Parts of this landscape character area are internationally designated with the Solent Maritime SAC covering most of the coastal and estuarine parts of this character area, along with the Solent and Southampton Waters RAMSAR site and SPA. These sites are of importance for their populations of overwintering and migratory wildfowl and wading birds, and of national importance for their populations of breeding gulls, terns and waders. These coastal areas and also the parallel valleys of the Beaulieu River, Dark Water and the Stanswood Valley are also designated as The North Solent SSSI and NNR. This SSSI has a remarkable diversity of habitat ranging from coastal mudflats and saltmarshes to valley mire, heathland and a range of ancient semi-natural woodlands as well as equally rich and diverse insect fauna. 5.2 Another SSSI designation in this LCA is Sowley Pond SSSI which is an important refuge for both surface feeding and diving ducks. In this respect it functions as an integral part of the marshland system of the west Solent. The pond is surrounded by mature oak and Scots pine woodland which supports the largest Hampshire heronry. Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary SSSI also extends into the southwest corner of this character area although it exists mostly in LCA 9A. 5.3 Beyond the designated areas inland, habitats are associated with agriculture: there are arable fields and some improved grassland, this resource being most limited in the northwest of the area. Large woodland mosaics exist within the agricultural landscape with a range of woodland types, including broadleaved woodland, coniferous and broadleaved plantations, and mixed woodlands. In the west, there are patches of active coppice with standards and patches of unimproved grassland, often neutral. To the east of the Beaulieu River, and associated with Mopely Ponds and Badminston Common/ Spratsdown area, the woodland mosaic is significantly more diverse. It contains parkland and supports more ancient and semi-natural woodland than woodlands to the west of the river. In the far east, woodland is associated with a matrix of wet and dry heath, the latter also occurring in a mosaic with dry acid grassland. Still further east, the landscape changes again with quarrying sites, including settling ponds, and industry plus a significant patch of coastal grazing marsh. 5.4 This landscape character area is partially covered by the New Forest Coast BOA which covers a diversity of habitats supporting a rich flora and an equally rich and diverse insect fauna, as well as overwintering wild fowl, wading birds and breeding gulls and terns. There are over 50 SINCs in this landscape character area, designated for the woodland, grassland, heathland and coastal habitats which they support. 6.0 Historic Character 6.1 Archaeology 6.1.1 There are currently no Mesolithic sites or finds in this area, but a review of the wider New Forest coastal plain suggests that this area was generally exploited during the Mesolithic period and it is reasonable to assume hunter gatherer activity. Certainly Mesolithic material has been found offshore, deposited before the Solent valley was drowned. There is no evidence of Neolithic activity. It would therefore appear that the area was not farmed and settled at this time, but it is likely that extensive exploitation, such as grazing and hunting took place. This pattern appears to continue into the Bronze Age.