National Character Area 143 - Mid Somerset Hills : Key Characteristics

The Mid Somerset Hills are a series of low hills, islands and ridges dividing the Somerset Moors and Levels. They are formed from Jurassic limestones and mudstones, with the overlying younger sediments eroded away. The hills, such as the Poldens, are prominent and dramatic, rising above the surrounding landscape, forming a visual backdrop to the Somerset Levels and Moors and giving panoramic views across the lower lands surrounding them.

Flatter landscapes to the eastern side of the NCA can be contrasted with the hillier west.

Major rivers such as the Parrett and Brue cut through the hills but rise in surrounding NCAs to flow east to west, and are intimately linked to the internationally important and designated wetlands of the Somerset Levels and Moors Special Protection Area (SPA).

There is a strong wooded feel to the landscape here from hedgerows and small woods, although only some 4 per cent of the landcover is woodland.

Ash and maple woodlands, coppiced in the past but rarely so now, are common on ridgetops and on the steeper slopes. Orchards are long characteristic of the lower land, close to the wetland edge and settlements.

Hedgerows, typically containing a wide range of species and hedgerow trees, are the most common field boundary, dividing small, irregular fields.

Grazed pasture, mostly cattle with fewer dairy and sheep than has been the case even in the recent past, tends to be the main landcover.

Remnant areas of species-rich calcareous and neutral grasslands can be found across the NCA, and these support species such as large blue butterfly.

At the wetland edge there is much flood plain grazing marsh, a nationally rare habitat.

The historic landscape illustrates continuous human occupation since prehistory closely linked to the farming and occupation of the Somerset Levels and Moors, with droves and farming systems reflecting this long association.

Tall church towers associated with settlements are evidence of medieval wealth and are common across the area, with St Michael’s on Glastonbury Tor and St Peter and St Paul at North Curry, overlooking the Levels, being the most visible landmarks.

Blue Lias limestone from the Lower Jurassic is the dominant building material, as is notable in Somerton and its surroundings, near where it is quarried.

Small nucleated settlements are common on the hills, ridges and islands that make up this NCA. Small towns such as (ancient) Somerton and (more modern) Street lie in sheltered sites, while other settlements lie on islands rising out of the wetlands (Wedmore) or at the wetland edge (such as Wookey) with characteristic tracks (droves) linking these settlements with the Levels. These are interspersed with high densities of medieval and later farmsteads and houses set in irregular enclosures.