94 - Leicestershire Vales : 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

An undulating, open landscape of gentle clay ridges and valleys with occasional steeper scarp slopes.

• Underlain mostly by Mercia Mudstones and Lias group rocks with an extensive covering of superficial deposits these give riCreate new habitats where possible. For example, new woodlands and wetlands at old gravel quarries. Seek to extend and link areas of existing habitat. Manage existing grassland and woodlands that contribute to sense of place. This will help to enhance biodiversity resilience and habitat networks.se to a moderately undulating landscape characterised by mixed pasture and arable agricultural use that has developed on the neutral clay soils.
• The valleys drain radially from the uplands and have a significant influence on the landscape where the streams have eroded convex sloped valleys that are in part responsible for creating the undulating landform.
• A lack of tree cover and woodland results in the landform being prominent.

Many historic features, particularly Roman roads, grand and vernacular buildings, canals, ridge and furrow and a nationally significant battlefield.

• There is evidence of the bronze-age pattern of settlement along the main valleys and a network of Roman roads which still influence the character of the area, not least the Fosse Way and Watling Street followed by the current route of the A5.
• The nucleated settlement pattern formed in medieval times remains evident where separate villages can be seen clustered around a church often with a tall spire.
• A history of agricultural land use is evident in remaining examples of ridge and furrow in the south of the NCA, now overlaid with a strong rectilinear field pattern of medium to large fields as a result of Parliamentary enclosure.
• Fragments of ridge and furrow survive under pasture and, most importantly, the survival of open field patterns at Gumley, Saddington and Mowsley (Laughton Hills).
• The many historic country houses in the area, most of which are still surrounded by parkland, are visible reminders of a prosperous past, as are the canal systems and especially the engineering examples at Foxton Locks and the Foxton Inclined Plane.
• The Battle of Bosworth was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the
  Houses of Lancaster and York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century.

Varied field and enclosure pattern.

• There is much variety in the distribution and extent of hedgerow and tree cover and density of hedgerows. On some valley flood plains, such as that of the Welland, there are substantial waterside trees and meadows, but elsewhere flatter areas are arable farmland with low and intermittent hedgerows.
• In some areas, neglect of hedgerows and lack of management or over-management, has led to the decline of the overall structure of the landscape and an increase in the visual dominance of urban influences.
• The patterns of medieval open fields, Tudor enclosure and Parliamentary enclosure can be found across the area.
• A number of hedgerows are still managed by the traditional ‘Midlands style’ of hedgelaying.

Many urban areas and large, visually dominant settlements.

• As a result of an open character, the frequent large settlements tend to dominate the landscape.
• The expanding city of Leicester, with its outer ring of enlarged villages dominates the north-east landscape. The main settlements also have extensive edges of commercial and retail buildings and out of town development spread along their respective river valleys.
• Several smaller towns like Market Harborough and Lutterworth have a high density of 19th- and 20th- century red brick houses and buildings.
• The city and county town of Leicester acts as a focal point in the landscape and has a strong influence on the local sense of place.

Distinctive river valley of the Soar with flat flood plains and gravel terraces together with its tributaries including the River Sence.

• The Soar is fed by the Sence in the south-east. The River Swift flows into and out of the neighbouring area of Dunsmore and Feldon in the south-west.
• Higher ground around Market Harborough separates the Soar and Welland catchments.
• Riverside meadows and waterside trees and shrubs are common.
• River valleys have been the focus of settlements from Neolithic times.
• Gravel extraction is prominent along the Soar Valley, often on land previously used as arable farmland.

Low percentage of woodland resource.

• Only 3 per cent of the NCA is woodland.
• A wooded character is derived largely from spinneys and copses on the ridges and more undulating land and from waterside and hedgerow trees and hedgerows.
• Dutch elm disease and ash canker have affected tree cover.

A settled landscape with 20th-century develop- ment, associated with major transport routes, connecting a few large towns, enlarged commuter villages and isolated farmhouses.

• Settlements with a strong sense of place and a historic core are being diluted at their edges by modern development. Commuter villages near Cambridge, such as Sawston, or villages with railway stations that have grown since the Second World War, such as Foxton and Meldreth, have all been unable to retain their rural character.
• Distinctive 19th-century white or yellow brick farmhouses, some of which have expanded into small rural enterprises.
• 20th-century development of Stevenage, adjoining the NCA in the south-west, and Letchworth which is the world’s first ‘garden city’.
• Cuttings alongside new road developments such as the Baldock bypass (A505) can be left unsprayed to encourage natural plant re-colonisation with associated invertebrate populations.
• To the east of Newmarket the villages tucked into the more undulating terrain are often Georgian, built of red brick and flint with slate, pegtile or thatched roofs.
• Further south there is a transitional zone around Saffron Walden onto the till which supports a series of attractive villages such as Barley, Barkway and the Chishills.
• Although Cambridge lies to the northern boundary of the NCA it is one of the fastest-growing cities in Western Europe and its expanding southern developments in the green belt influence the developed character of this NCA.

Historic archaeological features.

• Significant linear features, such as Devil’s Dyke, Fleam Dyke, Heydon/Bran Ditch, Brent Ditch, Icknield Way and some stretches of Roman roads.
• Earthbanks – populated by hill forts and burial mounds, the latter being very noticeable at Therfield
  Heath.

Mixed pasture and arable agricultural use that has developed on the neutral clay soils.

• Neutral clay soils supporting three-quarters of the area as Grade 3 agricultural land.
• An area of mixed farming where on the slopes of the many minor valleys, on more undulating ground generally and close to settlements, pasture in small fields tends to predominate.
• There is a tendency for arable land on the broader flat river terraces and there has been a noticeable recent expansion of arable in the Leicestershire Vales.
• Between 2000 and 2009 the area of land used for cereal farming increased by nearly a quarter.

Landscape opportunities

• Protect the open, undulating landscape of gentle clay ridges and valleys with occasional steeper scarp slopes with its rich and varied historic sites and its fragile but valuable woodland and hedgerow resource.
• Protect this landscape’s mixed farming systems by working to prevent further loss of pasture to arable production. Manage high-quality patches of unimproved grassland by linking and buffering with lowland pasture, hay meadows and grass margins and protect lowland grassland from fragmentation to improve habitat condition, encourage species diversity and resilience to climate change following appropriate management options under Environmental Stewardship and its successor scheme.
• Protect from damage and appropriately manage the area’s cultural and historical heritage in particular the Bosworth Battlefield, Foxton Locks, areas of ridge and furrow, historic country houses and the parkland landscapes such as those found at Wistow, Misterton and Cotesbach including veteran trees and hedgerows.
• Plan to establish a strong landscape framework as a context for further development expansion around Leicester and other larger settlements, for example Hinckley, ensuring that new development does not have a negative impact on landscape character. Consider the visual impact of any new development, particularly urban intrusion into rural areas, and manage road improvements to maintain the existing character of the rural road network.
• Manage arable cropping patterns and arable cultivation to maintain strong visual identity and encourage rare arable plants and range-restricted farmland birds and mammals, utilising appropriate agri-environment scheme management options.
• Manage and conserve the distinctive field patterns, hedgerow networks and hedgerow trees. Ensure woodlands can be managed as single entities and include measures to reduce their fragmentation and restore structural diversity. Reintroduce active coppice management where this will enhance woodland habitat and wildlife interest and strengthen hedgerow networks particularly where hedgerows connect areas of woodland.
• Encourage the use of traditional hedgelaying techniques to bring hedgerows back into good condition.
• Manage the network of streams and rivers, such as the Soar, Swift and the Sence, to maintain them as distinctive features in the landscape and enhance their wildlife interest, while restoring, expanding and re-linking wetland habitats, bringing rivers back into continuity with their flood plains where these will help sustain these wetland habitats.
• Plan for the opportunity to enhance the old workings of gravel extraction sites along the river valleys, creating new wetland habitats and providing recreational opportunities.
• Manage all Local Sites to ensure that they are in good condition and that suitable sites are accessible for recreation, education and research.