15 - Durham Magnesian Limestone Plateau : 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, large-scale landscape with big fields, low hedges and few trees on the plateau tops, incised with stream valleys along limestone escarpment to the west and denes running down to the coast to the east.

Justification for selection:

• In 2009 52 per cent of the farmed area was under some kind of arable production (cereal, oilseed, root crop or other).
• Woodland cover is 7.5 per cent of the NCA and estimated boundary length is 2,208 km (or 0.05 km/ha).
• A survey of hedgerows in County Durham conducted in 2006 highlights that threats to existing hedges include “overzealous mechanical trimming” and that there is a lack of recruitment of young hedgerow trees to replace a declining, and at times poorly-managed, mature stock.

Dramatic coastline with exposed cliffs of limestone and boulder clay, undulating series of small sheltered bays and headlands, flower-rich Magnesian Limestone grassland, steep-sided wooded coastal denes and sand dunes and beaches that support large populations of waders and seabirds.

Justification for selection:

• The geological and cultural significance of part of the NCA’s coastline have been recognised through recognition as a Heritage Coast.
• The high value of the coast for coastal habitats and assemblages of birds has resulted in a number of European nature conservation designations including: the Northumbria Coast and Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for birds and the Durham Coast Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for plant communities.
• Many of the coastal denes are designated as SSSI in recognition of the nature conservation value of the ancient woodlands they contain. Castle Eden Dene is also a National Nature Reserve and SAC.

Striking west-facing limestone escarpment forming a series of spurs and vales, heavily quarried but still supporting a mosaic of limestone grassland, scrub and woodland.

Justification for selection:

• The NCA is the only place in the world where the CG8 (blue moor grass/small scabious) Magnesian Limestone grassland vegetation community occurs.
• The convoluted edges of the limestone escarpment result in a number of highly visible spurs, some of which have dramatic monuments on top such as Penshaw Monument.

Strong influence of historic mining industry on both local culture and the landscape, in the form of ex-coal mining towns and villages with distinctive surrounding areas of allotments and pony paddocks, reclaimed colliery sites, disused and existing railways, industrial archaeology.

Justification for selection:

• Many of the former colliery towns still have strong links to, and a fierce pride about, their mining past. An audit of the historic environment of the NCA for the Limestone Landscapes Partnership cites research which found that concepts of identity and home in East Durham are still inextricably linked with the coalfield (Limestone Landscapes Historic Environment Audit and Action Plan, Archaeo-Environment Ltd for the Limestone Landscapes Partnership, 2009).
• Although many of the structures and sites associated with the coal mining industry have been either removed or reclaimed, some features exist such as railways routes, either still used, such as the coastal railway, or disused and transformed for use as footpaths and cycleways. While the impact of railways associated with mining is largely positive from the perspective of landscape and recreation, and has served to protect the coast from development, the coastal railway can serve as a visual, psychological and physical barrier to the coast, and also create long and unpleasant access routes to the coast.
• Many of the reclaimed colliery sites are now nature reserves, such as those at Horden and Ferryhill, which are well visited and highly valued by local residents.
• A negative legacy of the coal mining industry along the coast was the dumping of large volumes of colliery waste into the sea. Until the Second World War the sea removed this waste from the beaches and equilibrium was achieved, but with increased mechanisation and output following this, the waste started to build up, eventually creating false beaches of coal waste 10m deep in places. The Turning the Tide project has now successfully removed the waste from long stretches of the coast and restored beaches and coastal habitats.

Widespread urban and industrial development in the north and major transport corridors throughout.

Justification for selection:

• The A19 runs right across the length of the NCA, and a short section of the A1 (M) can be found in the south-west corner.
• The railway runs the length of the NCA near the coast and cuts across the northern section and south-west corner.
• The main settlements in the NCA include Sunderland, Hartlepool (north), South Shields (south), Houghton-le-Spring, Peterlee, Newton Aycliffe, Seaham and Hetton-le-Hole.
• Other areas, particularly near the coast, have scattered mining towns and villages with a distinctive urban character despite their rural location.

A productive farmed landscape with a high proportion of large arable fields and some pasture for sheep and cattle grazing.

Justification for selection:

• In 2009, 52 per cent of farmland was under arable production, and 45 per cent of holdings were classified as primarily cereal or general cropping. 57 per cent of the NCA is classed as farmland.

Small, fragmented patches of limestone grassland supporting unique combinations of plant and invertebrate species.

Justification for selection:

• Many of the Magnesian Limestone grassland sites are designated as SSSI. The importance of two of the sites (Cassop Vale and Thrislington) is also recognised through their designation as National Nature Reserves.
• 504 ha of lowland calcareous grassland.

Rich in important geological sites that are particularly valuable and informative for their range of well-preserved Permian fossils and illustration of geological processes.

Justification for selection:

• The NCA has 11 geological SSSI, 7 mixed biological and geological SSSI and a number of locally important geological sites.
• The area’s Marl Slate has yielded a valuable fossil record; Middridge Quarry is Britain’s best site for Permian plant and reptile fossils, including the earliest British ginkgo tree, and well-preserved fish fossils.

Landscape opportunities

• Protect and enhance limestone grassland sites through active grazing management, preventing scrub encroachment and by buffering and extending existing sites.
• Extend coastal habitats back from the sea cliffs to enable their survival as the cliffs erode.
• Ensure any new tree/woodland planting is in keeping with existing landscape character and sympathetic to sites of existing wildlife interest by using locally appropriate native trees, confining planting to areas away from limestone grassland sites and open areas on the plateau, choosing sites which will connect existing fragments of ancient woodland or buffer sites such as wooded coastal denes.
• Protect and retain existing semi-natural woodland and mature/ancient trees, particularly where these form part of distinctive landscape features such as coastal denes, river valleys and designed parklands.
• Maintain visibility of remaining archaeology by retaining grassland cover and avoiding new cultivation of earthworks, scrub encroachment onto sites or tree planting.
• Ensure appropriate maintenance of traditional buildings, using traditional techniques and materials, to avoid dereliction or unsympathetic alterations.
• Enhance the management and planting of reclaimed colliery sites to optimise their wildlife, amenity and landscape value, by using locally appropriate native species, by creating a range of suitable habitats, particularly Magnesian Limestone grassland, and by providing opportunities for safe and easy to use access routes for a range of users.
• Encourage the restoration of neglected and relict hedgerows (through measures such as gapping-up, coppicing and laying); establishment and planting of hedgerow trees; protection of existing mature hedgerow trees; and enhanced management of existing hedges through less-frequent cutting to allow flowering and fruiting.
• Ensure that landscape sensitivity is considered when decisions are made about installation of new wind turbines and creation of new development/ transport links, and measures taken to minimise landscape impacts, such as screening with suitable tree-planting, particularly where this can also produce biomass for energy generation.
• Enhance provision of green infrastructure and easily accessible green space as part of new development, and use sustainable design features where possible to help adaptation to climate change (such as permeable surfacing and strategic tree planting).
• Protect and record archaeological sites and enhance provision of interpretation information, particularly in relation to the coal mining industry and deserted medieval villages.
• Protect and enhance beaches, particularly using measures to prevent/remove litter such as improved litter disposal facilities and organised beach cleans.