33 - Bowland Fringe and Pendle Hill : Description

Physical and functional links to other National Character Areas

The Bowland Fringe and Pendle Hill National Character Area (NCA) forms a transitional landscape between the dramatic upland core of the Bowland Fells and the flat Lancashire and Amounderness Plain NCA to the west, the Yorkshire Dales NCA to the east and the Lancashire Valleys NCA to the south-east. It lies mainly in Lancashire, but has its eastern edge in the Craven District in North Yorkshire. Over half of this NCA lies within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which also encompasses the Bowland Fells NCA.

Transport links are concentrated around the lower land, at the fringes of the area, and encircle the Bowland Fells. The M6 and west coast mainline railway line are major north-south links that enclose the area to the west.

The River Lune, in the north of the NCA, has its source in the uplands of the Cumbria High Fells and Howgill Fells, and enters the sea at Morecambe Bay. Its tributaries, the Hindburn, Wenning, Greta and Leck Beck, drain the northern slopes of the Bowland Fells and the south-western part of the Yorkshire Dales. The River Wyre, in the west of the NCA, and its tributaries the Calder and Brock, drain the western and south-western slopes of the Bowland Fells, along with the Conder. The southern and eastern parts of the NCA contain the River Ribble (which has its source in the Yorkshire Dales), and its tributaries the River Hodder and Tosside Beck, which drain the southern and eastern slopes of the Bowland Fells.

The Bowland Fells form a dramatic backdrop to many views within this NCA, and the moorland outliers of Beacon Fell, Longridge Fell and Pendle Hill afford long- distance views across the Lancashire plains and valleys towards the Irish Sea.

The Bowland Fringe and Pendle Hill today

Bowland Fringe and Pendle Hill is a transitional landscape which wraps around the dramatic upland core of the Bowland Fells. It extends from the Lune Valley in the north, around the slopes of the Bowland massif, before merging imperceptibly eastwards into the landscape of the Ribble Valley. The eastern boundary links with the Yorkshire Dales, while the Lancashire Valleys lie to the south.

This is a diverse landscape of undulating pasture, broadleaved woodland, parkland and waterbodies, including oxbow lakes, reservoirs, disused gravel pits and field ponds. Fields are small to medium-sized, and are enclosed by hedgerows with large mature hedgerow trees. Improved pastureland defined by well-maintained hedgerows is characteristic of the agricultural land in the fringes, which supports both dairy and livestock farming. Over half of this NCA is within the Forest of Bowland AONB.

To the south of Bowland, the moorland outliers of Pendle Hill, Beacon Fell and Longridge Fell, found on Carboniferous Limestone knoll reefs, enclose the Ribble Valley and reinforce its affinity with the Forest of Bowland. The combination of topography, tree cover and field enclosure creates a sense of intimacy which contrasts with the vast expanse of the coastal plain and the exposed moorland heights of the Bowland Fells. Similarly, the herb- rich limestone knoll reefs located around Clitheroe and Chatburn are distinctive and provide unusual relief in a pastoral landscape, as well as a rocky promontory on which Clitheroe Castle is situated.

To the north of Bowland is the Lune Valley, which separates the Fringe from Morecambe Bay. It has a pastoral character, with a meandering river and fields enclosed by hedgerows containing mature hedgerow trees. Deciduous woodland, including some areas of ancient woodland, is concentrated on valley sides, and is most prominent in the Roeburn, Wenning, Greta and Hindburn valleys.

While lying just beyond the boundary of the NCA, the major conurbations of Lancaster to the west, Preston to the south-east and Settle to the east, all exert an influence over the area, through visits for recreational activities, tourism and commerce.

Small to medium-sized hay meadows and permanent pasture fields are defined by stone walls immediately adjacent to the Bowland Fells, but these become hedgerows within valley bottoms and in areas around settlements. Mature oak, ash and alder trees are common components of hedgerows. Pignut, yellow rattle, great burnet, oxeye daisy and lady’s mantle can all be found in the species-rich hay meadows. At higher elevations the improved pastures give way to areas of rough grazing and field patterns become more regular, with stone walls predominating. Here, wet rushy pastures are of particular importance for breeding waders such as lapwing, snipe, curlew, redshank and oystercatchers.

Numerous rivers and watercourses provide habitats for salmon, brown and sea trout, eels, lampray and bullheads, as well as birds such as kingfishers, dippers, grey wagtail, common sandpiper and oystercatchers. Otters are also present along rivers and streams throughout the area. The rivers make a significant contribution to the area, as does the Lancaster Canal, which supports an interesting array of locally rare aquatic plants such as flowering rush, greater spearwort, white water lily and various pond weeds. A number of reservoirs and disused gravel pits along the Wyre Valley are also important as habitat for breeding great crested grebe and wintering wildfowl, while the high density of field ponds between Preston and Garstang provide an important habitat for aquatic plants, freshwater invertebrates and amphibians.

Extensive areas of predominantly ancient, semi-natural woodland are concentrated on the ridges, slopes and valley sides of the many rivers present throughout the area. There are areas of ancient woodland along the Hodder between Whitewell and Hurst Green, as well as along the Brock and Calder, and between Dolphinholme and Abbeystead. Woodlands here are dominated by oak, ash and birch, with extensive amounts of wych elm and wild gean, especially along the Ribble, with alder and willow beside the Brock, Wyre and Calder. The woodlands on the northernmost side of the Fells are particularly important for their rich assemblage of mosses and lichens. Pied and spotted flycatchers, redstart, tree pipit, tawny owl, great spotted woodpecker and sparrow hawk are all characteristic bird species associated with these woodlands.

The settlement pattern is of small stone villages, hamlets and farmsteads. The isolated country houses set in formal parkland, such as Browsholme and Quernmore, are a typical feature of the landscape. These managed estates are enclosed by belts of woodland and estate fencing, and typically consist of open grassland with ponds and lakes, scattered trees of oak, ash, sycamore and lime, enclosed by blocks of secondary woodland. Farms tend to be larger than those in the Bowland Fells, with better-quality land supporting large dairy herds. Farms generally consist of a core of farm buildings and some conspicuous modern outbuildings.

The road network is typified by a complex system of narrow lanes, with few direct routes between settlements. The railway, canal and M6 form the major north-south links in Lancashire, and are confined to a narrow corridor that defines the western boundary. The Pennine Bridleway crosses the eastern corner of this NCA.

This is an intimate, tamed landscape in contrast to the wild, exposed moorland of the Bowland Fells. The combination of well-maintained hedgerows and hedgerow trees, areas of parkland and well-grazed pasture, gives this area a managed character.

The landscape through time

This is a transitional zone between the coastal plain, with its unconsolidated glacial deposits, and the high fells of Bowland, formed by the strong sandstone of the Millstone Grit. The transition from plain to fell landscape is rapid, and reflects the existence of a substantial boundary fault separating the soft Permo-Triassic rocks from the harder Carboniferous rocks. The transition is softened by the presence of thicker glacial deposits around the edge of the upland area, and by the valley features where Bowland’s upland streams flow out of the hills onto the plain.

In the south, where the Brock Valley crosses the area, the coarse-grained sandstones of the Millstone Grit of Bowland give way to the softer calcareous mudstones, with limestone beds, of the Carboniferous Limestone. This accounts for the less dramatic change between the Fringe and Fells landscapes. Surface drift features also become more important as the Fringe merges imperceptibly south-eastwards into the landscape of the Ribble Valley. The Ribble and Hodder drain the southern flanks of the Bowland Fells. Within the valleys, strong mounded outcrops or ‘reef knolls’ form distinctive landscape features that give the area its special character.

The Lune Valley area is gently sloping and undulating, and is contained by steep scarp slopes with the river as the central feature. The Lune’s many tributaries commonly arise from deep erosion scars, or cloughs, cut into the steep scarp slopes of the surrounding moorland upland. The solid rocks are overlain by a complex of glacial deposits, mainly comprising thick tills but also with extensive areas of hummocky sand and gravel deposited from glacial meltwater. One such complex, in the Ribble and Hodder valleys at Stonyhurst and Hurst Green, imparts a special quality of small wooded knolls to the local landscape. To the east of Gisburn, a tract of drumlins forms a characteristic landscape.

The Lune Valley has been used as a communication route since the Roman period – and even earlier. It formed a principal route for the Anglian invasion of Lancashire from the east from 570 AD, and for Norse settlers from the Isle of Man, Scotland and Northern Ireland from the early 10th century. The lush pasture and arable land in the Lune Valley has long supported prosperous farms – from the medieval period and earlier – and this is reflected in the number of large farms and country estates that are scattered along the valley sides. The Ribble Valley formed an important Roman communication route to York, and some evidence of Roman roads can still be found.

The 19th-century (and earlier) settlement pattern, still largely unaltered, tends towards nucleated villages in the river valleys to the north and south-east of the Bowland Fells, and more heavily dispersed patterns of isolated farmsteads and small farming hamlets across the west and south-west. Vaccaries (cattle stock farms), founded in the 12th and 13th centuries, had a large impact on the settlement pattern, especially in the Lune Valley, developing into farmsteads as they were let out by landowners from the 14th century. The settlement pattern of small villages with isolated houses and farms dotted around the winding country lanes dates from the medieval period. Population increases in the 12th and 13th centuries expanded the pattern of settlement through the assarting of former woodland, to produce a small-scale and intimate landscape of scattered farms linked by winding roads and irregular fields, still very evident in the Lune and Ribble valleys.

From the 15th century, many small farms were created from vaccaries, and large areas of the adjacent hunting lands of ancient Forest Law were being sold or leased for grazing. Hunting status was, however, retained through the creation of private deer parks within the country estates of the nobility, which have left traces in the boundary and woodland patterns of the area – notably around Pendle Hill and along the upper reaches of the Hodder.

The field pattern around settlements and on valley bottoms is generally irregular, and small to medium in scale, which indicates medieval to 17th-century enclosure from woodland and moor, and also from medieval strip fields. Areas of common land at higher elevations have a more regular field pattern, following late 18th- and 19th-century Parliamentary enclosure. A particular feature of this area is the number of large country houses and halls set in parkland, such as Ellel Grange, Waddow Hall, Bolton Park and Leagram Hall, as well as country estates, such as Abbeystead, which have developed from the medieval period.

In addition to these country houses and halls, there is a distinctive architectural legacy of stone-built farmsteads, houses and settlements, mostly dating from rebuilding in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Isolated stone villages tend to be nestled into the escarpments and are commonly characterised by distinctive becks, greens and mills – each with its own unique charm. Many of the smaller villages and hamlets are linear in character and commonly take the form of terraced stone cottages along the main road. Farmsteads tend to consist of a core of vernacular stone buildings, many dating from the 17th century, with either stone-flagged or slate roofs. On higher ground, traditional stone field barns are commonplace.

The textile industry developed from the 15th century, and farmsteads and settlements retain significant evidence of loom shops, with large windows dating from the 17th century. Industry is also represented by some small mill settlements in the Calder Vale, Oakenclough, Dolphinholme and Galgate (terraced cottages associated with mills), and by lead-mining remains and derelict lime kilns along the Ribble Valley. Settlement expansion dating from the 19th and 20thcenturies is generally restricted to the south and south-east (Clitheroe and Longridge). Modern development around village fringes gives a suburban character, with a mix of building materials and styles.