150 - Dartmoor : Analysis: Landscape Attributes & Opportunities

Analysis supporting Statements of Environmental Opportunity

The following analysis section focuses on the landscape attributes and opportunities for this NCA.

Further analysis on ecosytem services for this NCA is contained in the Analysis: Ecosytem Services section.

Landscape attributes

Open, windswept upland moors with wide views and a sense of remoteness and wildness, where the skyline is broken only by the outline of granite tors, clitter and occasional blocks of coniferous plantation.

Justification for selection:

• The essence of Dartmoor, and the reason many people visit, is the ability to escape modern infrastructure and find tranquillity and remoteness; a landscape of national importance reflected in its designation as a National Park.
• Wide open views across common land extensively grazed by sheep, cattle and semi-wild ponies, contrasting strongly with the busy urban areas of Torbay and Plymouth and the more gentle, mixed farming landscape which surrounds the NCA.
• Geology is at the heart of the Dartmoor landscape and prominent in the landform and features, such as tors and clitter. They are landmarks and reference points that attract visitors and draw the eye to otherwise open views across the moors.
• The granite massif that forms the core of Dartmoor overlain by peat deposits combined with high rainfall has led to the formation of large areas of internationally important blanket bog and valley mire.
• The geological forces which formed the massif also led to the formation of rich mineral deposits, notably tin, that have been mined for centuries. The legacy of that activity is still prominent in the landscape.
• Occasional but large conifer plantations create dark blocks with hard edges, contrasting with the smooth, muted backdrop.

Sheltered valleys with steep wooded sides and wild, fast- flowing rivers descending at the moor fringes.

Justification for selection:

• Contrasting with the open moors, sheltered, often deep cut, valleys radiate from the heart of Dartmoor.
• Ancient broadleaved woodland, dominated by oak, often clothed by a rich assemblage of mosses and lichens. Dartmoor has some of the best examples of high altitude oak woodland in Britain, which are recognised as internationally important. In Spring the woodlands are enriched by broad swathes of wild daffodils and bluebells.
• Four woodland areas have been designated as National Nature Reserves providing access to high-quality nature conservation sites.
• The valley floors are fringed by wet woodland and Rhôs pasture, a habitat of rare flowers, rushes and purple moor grass. Valley mires and Rhôs pasture are of national importance. Characteristic bird species such as pied flycatcher, wood warbler and redstart can be found in these secluded places.
• Cascades and gorges are frequent; their dynamism and vibrancy an attraction for visitors.
• Water is one of the essential elements of the area, from bogs and mires, to fast-flowing rocky streams, cascades and wider, slower rivers in deep valleys.
• The headwaters of some rivers are captured and stored in reservoirs, creating large expanses of open water and providing smooth and flat elements in an otherwise rugged landscape.

Large expanses of grass and heather moorland, interspersed with bilberry, gorse and bracken, and grazed by semi-wild ponies, cattle and sheep.

Justification for selection:

• The quintessential image of Dartmoor – ponies grazing on the open moors.
• Broad, simple expanses and blocks of uniform colour, bright in summer and muted in autumn and winter.
• The moorland supports populations of skylark, red grouse and ring ouzel, golden plover and dunlin. Their song, calls and glimpsed sightings are an inspiration and attraction. The grass moorland is important for fritillary butterflies including the rare high brown fritillary.
• The expansive areas of blanket bog, raised bog and upland heath are all habitats of international importance. Dartmoor has the most southerly area of blanket bog in the country and the main plant community is very rare outside of Britain.
• Dartmoor and South Dartmoor Special Areas for Conservation reflect the quality and quantity of nature that can be experienced on the moor.

Surrounding the main moor a gentler landscape of small, irregular pasture fields, bounded by drystone walls and banks topped with hedges and mature trees.

Justification for selection:

• A distinctive, undulating landform, in places intimate and enclosed, but retaining views onto the higher moorland.
• An historic farmed landscape retaining medieval field patterns and post-medieval hedgebanks enclosing small fields of pasture.
• Winding rural lanes linking nucleated hamlets and villages, with high hedgebanks and many hedgerow trees create a strong sense of enclosure. Sunken lanes form tunnels through pockets of woodland and mature hedgebanks.
• At the fringes of the open moorland a strong pattern of late 18th- and 19th-century ‘newtakes’, bounded by granite drystone walls and low hedgebanks, and now enclosing rough grazing land.

A landscape of great, national historic interest exhibiting evidence of human activity from prehistoric times, including the more recent impact of the quarrying and minerals industries.

Justification for selection:

• The evidence of prehistoric occupation on Dartmoor is among the best preserved, most readily appreciated and important in England. There are ceremonial stone rows and circles, upstanding prehistoric hut circles, burial chambers, cairns, pounds and field systems. There are 1,322 Scheduled Monuments, many of them evidence of the prehistoric landscape.
• There is not only evidence of prehistoric activity, but many phases of later human activity and influence set out in an easily interpretable historic sequence, unlike many other parts of England.
• The quarrying and minerals industries have left a clear impact; there has been a long history of mineral exploitation, with evidence from the Middle Ages. Lead, copper, iron, arsenic and peat were all extracted from the landscape, along with tin. Granite was commercially quarried from the early 19th century until 1997. Remains include spoil heaps, engine houses and chimneys, cottages and granite tramways. China clay continues to be extracted, leaving a barren, ‘luna like’ landscape.
• Surrounding towns are historically linked to the moor; gateways to the moor, market places for produce and the centres of Stannary activity.

Distinctive farmsteads, villages and towns, often comprised of robust vernacular buildings utilising locally occurring granite and slate, sometimes whitewashed, while towards the east, lime-washed cob and thatch broaden the vernacular.

Justification for selection:

• Historic buildings and structures such as cottages, farmsteads, village and some town houses, and mining buildings, bridges and walls, seem to grow out of the landscape like manmade tors. Granite unites the high moor and surrounding farmland area.
• Natural slate is the normal roofing material, shining silver after rainfall. There are, however, other materials used too. Cob and thatch, and whitewashed buildings are often simple in form and appearance.
• The historic cores of villages and towns often have a dense settlement pattern with narrow streets and burgage plots, huddled for shelter in valleys, often clustered around bridging points or cross roads.
• Square-towered medieval granite churches, some with ornate pinnacles, are prominent features within settlements, acting as focal points in long views.

An inspirational landscape rich with evidence of past human activity, natural history and opportunities for vigorous, stimulating recreation or quiet introspection.

Justification for selection:

• A wealth and variety of heritage sites and ancient monuments, SSSI, natural features and processes, and geological assets provide a huge range of learning and research opportunities.
• An area of strong contrasts and bold forms which can provoke artistic, literary and spiritual creativity. An area steeped in ancient myths and legends, traditional fairs and activities, including Widecombe fair and the annual activity of pony drifts.
• Open access, wild features and landforms, rocks and fast water allow for active and dynamic recreation; walking, riding and climbing all prominent activities in the landscape.
• Tranquillity, remoteness and dark night skies, space and lack of modern clutter permit escapism and solitude when sought.

Landscape opportunities

• Protect the undeveloped open character of the moorland and thereby its sense of tranquillity, wildness and remoteness, by avoiding the development of vertical structures, including the planting of trees and woodland, and the intrusion of light, and also by managing and extending the upland heath and blanket bogs.
• Create, extend and link upland habitats, particularly blanket bog, valley mire, western heath and heather moorland. Reduce the overall area of acid grassland through encouraging heather regeneration while retaining areas of importance for species diversity and as habitat for ground nesting birds.
• Protect the distinctive geological features, including the tors and clitter slopes that punctuate and define the skyline of Dartmoor and are the focal points for visitors. Provide guidance and inspiring interpretation to enhance public understanding and manage recreational activities (such as rock climbing) to reduce damage.
• Plan for new landscapes, restructuring topography, filtering views and establishing appropriate vegetation cover around the china clay works and planned tungsten mine.
• Plan for the long-term restructuring and removal of conifer plantations on the open moor, softening hard visual edges and undertaking a phased removal programme and reversion to heather moorland.
• Plan and manage the extension and connection of areas of semi-natural woodland, particularly along the steep river valleys, using traditional coppicing techniques where appropriate.
• Manage, enhance and link important wetland habitats, particularly species-rich Rhôs pasture and wet woodland, through preserving and managing water flows, controlling invasive vegetation and resisting agricultural improvement.
• Protect and manage water catchments to minimise pollution and manage river banks and valleys to maintain water quality for biodiversity and the character of key landscape features.
• Protect and appropriately manage the rich and internationally important cultural heritage of Dartmoor, including bronze-age monuments, former tin workings, ancient trackways and deserted ancient settlements. Promote understanding and education of the landscape’s archaeology to ensure public access and recreation respects the presence of valued sites and features.
• Protect the distinctive field patterns of the moorland fringe (newtakes) and surrounding farmland by managing the hedgebanks and walls that define them, using local styles and materials, traditional building styles and topped by local hedgerow species and trees.
• Protect the small and enclosed character of the pastoral landscape surrounding the moorland. Manage the area’s species-rich neutral grasslands through extensive grazing and hay cutting. Seek to extend and link fragmented sites.
• Protect and manage historic settlement patterns, the scale of new buildings in the landscape and the strong unifying local vernacular of granite and slate, also reflected in walls and bridges. Maintain views to granite church towers as important local landmarks and resist new development on prominent slopes and ridgelines.
• Protect the character of the landscape and setting of the NCA from inappropriate development.