147 - Blackdowns : Description

Physical and functional links to other National Character Areas

The Blackdowns National Character Area (NCA) is characterised by a marked north-south trend of rivers, valleys and ridges, a product of its geology. The long Greensand ridges offer extensive views across adjoining NCAs and beyond. They provide prominent landscape features and the backdrop to many views across the region. The steep northern scarp slopes of the ridges create a dominant setting for the adjoining and much lower lying Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes NCA. At the coast the ridges are truncated, forming high, often crumbling cliffs, an abrupt transition to the sea.

The ridges are the source of three main rivers (the Yarty, Culm and Otter) and numerous tributaries, including those that feed the River Axe which rises in the neighbouring Yeovil Scarplands NCA to the east. All four rivers flow south into Lyme Bay, although the topography of the northern plateau forces the River Culm westwards into the adjoining Devon Redlands NCA where it joins the River Exe before flowing south out to sea. The River Otter also flows out to sea through the Devon Redlands, parallel to the Blackdowns NCA boundary. The geology across the Blackdowns NCA is much more reminiscent of the geology to the east than the older and harder geology to the west. The significance of the area’s geodiversity is recognised through the entire coast and the adjoining coastline being nominated a World Heritage Site. Natural erosion of the cliffs, particularly large landslides, supplies sediment to beaches in the east as far as Portland and possibly beyond. Access to and along the coast is exceedingly good with the South West Coast Path National Trail following its length. Sections of the coast are also of European importance, designated for their geodiversity and associated habitats and species.

Some of the roads mirror the north-south trend in the landscape, noticeably those along valley bottoms connecting villages and hamlets, and providing access to the coast. Other roads cut across the NCA connecting larger settlements both within and outside the area. Several roads have notable historic origins, for example the A35 between the Roman settlements of Exeter and Dorchester which passes through Honiton and Axminster. Part of this road is thought to follow the route of the Roman Fosse Way which connected Exeter to Lincoln. Along the coast the A3052, also of ancient origins, connects seaside resorts and harbours across the NCA and beyond. The A303/A30 trunk road cuts across the NCA, connecting London and the South-East with the South-West, and the M5 forms part of the northern boundary, at the foot of the scarp slopes. The Exeter to London Waterloo train line also traverses the NCA, again connecting Honiton and Axminster from where it follows the River Axe northwards.

The Blackdowns today

Relatively open plateaux tops, steep wooded scarp slopes, enclosed small-scale pastoral valleys and crumbling cliffs with narrow beaches are the essence of the Blackdowns NCA. Collectively, the Blackdown Hills, East Devon and Dorset Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty cover 78 per cent of the NCA. The rich geodiversity, recognised by World Heritage Site status on the coast and reflected in the various building materials, has strongly influenced the area, including man’s activity, which is evident from at least the Bronze Age.

A series of Greensand ridges trend north-south across the NCA varying in width from narrow ridges to wide plateaux but sharing a characteristic flatness and abrupt falling away at the edges. Pasture with livestock grazing, notably dairy, is the dominant land use on the heavy brown soils. A field pattern of medium to large rectangular fields creates a uniform appearance reinforced by low, fairly narrow earth banks with short hedgerows and sparsely scattered hedgerow trees. Beech is a prominent species, especially in the north, where beech avenues feature. Remnant areas of common exist providing semi-natural habitat, lowland heath, and open access, for example Blackdown Common.

Long, straight roads radiate along the ridges with minor roads at right-angled junctions, winding and narrowing towards the plateau edge. A long history of settlement and land use is evidenced by bronze-age barrows (for example, Gittisham Hill) and iron-age hill forts (for example, Blackbury Camp). Settlement is dominated by isolated farmsteads on medieval sites or resulting from postmedieval enclosure of farmland and the late-18th- and 19th-century planned enclosure of plateau commons, such as Beacon Hill. There are occasional clusters of buildings, usually at crossroads. Second World War airfields including Dunkeswell (one of the finest surviving landscapes of this type) were established on some plateaux, and have been subject to some commercial and other development, including large-scale photovoltaic installations.

Immediately below the plateaux edge, steeply sloping, narrow but extensive ribbons of woodland and permanent grassland exist. Much of this woodland is ancient, semi-natural and designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). This secluded area with its wooded character creates distinctive dark edges to the ridges. Undulating, sloping land falls away from the steep slopes with a transition to a pastoral landscape with grazing livestock and some mixed cultivation towards the valley bottoms. An intricate mosaic of small to medium fields with irregular boundaries of very wide earth banks with low, species-rich hedgerows and many trees creates a well-treed and intimate character. Oak and ash are the most prominent species. Upper stream valleys are often steep and V-shaped, supporting regionally important springline mires, carr woodland and rush pasture. The River Axe, internationally important for lamprey and bullhead fish, differs from other local river valleys, a consequence of the intruding mudstone; it opens into a distinctive lowland valley with a wide flood plain and larger fields of pasture and some arable. During the autumn, winter and spring this valley has a ‘watery’, ephemeral and timeless quality.

There is a medieval settlement pattern in the valleys; isolated farms, hamlets and small villages are located along springlines or clustered at road and river crossings. Parish churches, depicting the underlying chert, sandstone or Beer stone geology, are central to many larger villages. Local building materials are also frequently used in dwellings, red brick detailing being a noticeable characteristic with rusty corrugated iron roofs on farm buildings. There is little widespread modern development although there has been a change in use of some farm buildings to holiday lets or residential property. Changes in agricultural practice have also seen an emergence of larger-scale agricultural buildings. Some concentrated growth has occurred around the inland market towns of Honiton, Chard and Axminster, consistent with highway improvements to the A30 and A35.

A network of narrow winding lanes connects the settlements and provides an opportunity for quiet recreation, particularly in combination with the rights of way network. The regional East Devon Way enables walkers to explore the ridges and valleys as it traverses inland across the NCA. Similarly, the South West Coast Path enables walkers to traverse the geologically diverse coastline with its unique character and breath-taking views.

The coastal zone is a landscape of high, open, gently undulating or rolling plateaux, with notable wind-blown vegetation (especially blackthorn), dissected by deep combes. The plateaux overlaying the chalk outcrop differ from the Greensand plateaux. Here, the field pattern is of medium to large regular planned fields, delineated by dense low hedgerows (often elm) with occasional hedgerow oaks.

There is very little woodland, except conifer shelterbelts and small deciduous woodland, and an arable dominance. The deep coastal combes, by contrast, have an intimate, tranquil and enclosed character. Some are narrow and steep, with well-wooded upper slopes and remnant orchards, while others are more gently sloping and have an open, scrubby, downland character. Pastoral cultivation occurs amidst unenclosed woodland, wet pasture and scrub along the upper edges.

The cliffs west of Seaton are generally vertical in form, with examples of vegetated landslips, most notably the Hooken Landslide. Towards Sidmouth sea stacks are a characteristic feature. East of Seaton the coast is characterised by huge landslide complexes which have created habitats of national significance, particularly soft cliff habitats. Large sections of the coast are internationally important for fossils from the Triassic and Lower Jurassic. At the foot of the cliffs are narrow sand and shingle beaches. Steep paths provide access to some beaches (for example, Western Mouth) and narrow lanes provide access to others, including for small fishing communities (for example, Branscombe). There are longer stretches of beach across some of the wider valleys. These tend to be more popular with visitors and are often backed by Regency towns such as Sidmouth and Lyme Regis. These towns have been the centre of significant urban expansion in recent years with housing ‘creeping’ inland. The coastal zone has also been impacted by tourism development, notably caravan sites, holiday parks and golf courses.

The Axe Estuary adds to the diversity of the coastal zone with strong sensory characteristics, the colour and texture of habitats, the smell of the mudflats, the sound of seagulls and the sight of sunlight reflecting off the sea. It hosts a mosaic of open water, ditches, salt marsh and grazing marsh, internationally important for its biodiversity value. Saline intrusion precludes settlement and limits agricultural cultivation.

The landscape through time

The geology across the Blackdowns records the Mesozoic Era, the ‘Middle Ages’ of life on Earth. During the Triassic (250-200 million years ago) rocks formed in desert conditions. Vast rivers flowed through baking deserts, depositing thick layers of pebbles and red sand; huge lakes spilled across the desert plains. The following period of sea level rise, the Jurassic (200-140 million years ago), flooded the deserts and provided a tropical environment in which marine life, including reptiles and ammonites, flourished and a thick sequence of clays, sandstone and limestone was deposited. A drop in sea level during the Cretaceous Period (140-65 million years ago) resulted in rocks forming in swamps, forests and lagoons. Part way through the Cretaceous, earth movements tilted rocks eastwards – a trend that is evident today – and all but the earliest Jurassic-age rocks were eroded away. Another sea level rise in the Cretaceous deposited the Gault clays, Greensand and Chalk across the eroded surface, creating an unconformity in the rock record where younger rocks lie over much older sediments, as is evident around Beer. Important fossil records were laid down during the Mesozoic, particularly during the middle Triassic and Lower Jurassic.

After the Mesozoic Era, during the Tertiary Period (65-1.8 million years ago) massive earth movements uplifted the area, creating a plateau. This plateau eroded during the Quaternary Period (1.8 million years ago to the present) following the series of ice ages and associated rises and falls in sea level, creating the hills and valleys of the current landscape and the modern coastline. Rivers cut through the Upper Greensand into the underlying red Triassic Mudstone, with Jurassic (Lias) mudstones in the east giving rise to more fertile brown earth and brown clay soils. At the junction of the Upper Greensand and the underlying low permeable mudstones springlines formed and have had an important influence on the position of settlements.

There is evidence of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic occupation from flint and chert tools, and of Neolithic activity including causewayed enclosures. Settlement and land use probably intensified in the Bronze Age; barrows remain on high ground with a noticeable concentration between Gittisham Hill and Black Down. Iron-age hill forts on coastal sites such as Berry Cliff and inland sites such as Blackbury Camp are evidence of increasing territorial conflict and perhaps population growth. The Roman period is represented in the landscape by military use of the iron-age hill fort at Hembury, the later bath-house at Whitestaunton, and several ‘Romanised’ farms and roads, notably part of the Fosse Way linking Exeter and Lincoln. The Romans were also the first to quarry Beer stone, now nationally recognised for church construction and carvings, for example at Westminster Abbey and Exeter Cathedral. Though iron production is thought to have started in the later Iron Age, it was an important Roman industry and continued into the Middle Ages, iron ores being found at the junction of the Upper Greensand and clay layer. The cratered landscape of open cast workings and heaps of iron slag can still be seen on plateau tops, such as at Culm Davy.

The medieval period had significant influence within the Blackdowns with earthwork castles such as Castle Neroche and Dunkeswell Abbey, founded in the 13th century, with its grange farms. The remnants of strip fields provide the distinctive small and irregular field pattern in the valleys, and the dispersed farmsteads, hamlets and villages often occur along springlines or at river crossings, clustered around parish churches. Large concentrations, by national standards, of medieval buildings still exist today. The 19th-century Parliamentary enclosure of former commons on the plateaux tops created large, regular fields with straight roads and beech hedgerows. Beacon Hill near Upottery was the last area in England to be enclosed some 100 years ago. Small boroughs such as Axminster and Colyford developed in the valleys in medieval times, but substantial urban growth occurred in the Elizabethan period when Honiton developed as a centre of the lace and cloth industries, flourishing until the 19th century. On the coast, there had also probably been small market and fishing settlements, such as Sidmouth and Lyme, since medieval times, but from the Regency period onwards they began to develop as seaside resorts. This growth was probably promoted by the development of the railway across the NCA linking Honiton and Axminster, with branch lines down to the coast, including Sidmouth; the latter are now closed.

Although designed landscapes are not widespread, there are some features that make a significant contribution. The Wellington Monument (constructed from 1817 to 1892) is iconic, defining the north-west escarpment. Victorian designed landscapes and manors also make a contribution, particularly in valleys, for example Sidbury Manor with its walled garden, fish ponds and large estate. The Second World War has also had a notable influence; in the north, airfields and associated structures were built on the plateaux, for example Dunkeswell, while along the coast there are numerous defence remnants including pillboxes, bunkers and observation buildings.

Change over the last 50 years has been fairly gradual and relatively concentrated, possibly a consequence of the AONB designations. Landscape character has also probably been strengthened through Environmentally Sensitive Area agreements, available in the northern part of the NCA since 1994, and more latterly Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements, for which most of the NCA has been a target area. The Neroche Landscape Partnership Scheme, covering the northern escarpment, supported the uptake of HLS and enabled the creation of 250 ha of semi-natural habitat within a 1,000-hectare public forest estate.

Increased demand for housing is impacting on the NCA, with evidence of expansion into the peri-urban fringe around Chard, Axminster, Honiton and Seaton, as well as development in the open countryside along the coast, notably inland from Sidmouth, and close to the M5 corridor, such as around Hemyock. Growth in tourism and leisure has resulted in some development: caravan sites, holiday parks, golf courses and the change of use of some farm buildings to holiday cottages. Farm buildings have also been converted to business units which, when coupled with changing agricultural practices, can lead to a demand for modern large-scale agricultural buildings. The road and rail network has not changed significantly in recent times although enhancements have featured on the trunk routes, notably the A303 in the north which is under continuing pressure for improvement, and the A35 around Axminster. Renewable energy technologies, wind and photovoltaic, are starting to have a cumulative impact and larger installations are influencing the character of the NCA in places.