143 - Mid Somerset Hills : Summary and Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity

Summary

The Mid Somerset Hills form a number of low hills and ridges rising out of the Somerset Levels and Moors. They lie between the Blackdowns National Character Area (NCA) to the south and the Mendip Hills NCA to the north. The hills have a distinctive, predominantly pastoral character rich in hedgerows, farms and small villages, and often with expansive views over the flat Somerset Levels and Moors NCA to the west. Farming is now mixed, but the area was known for its sheep and leather used in connection with the shoe-making industry at Street.

Many settlements are on islands rising out of the wetlands, such as Wedmore, or at the wetland edge, such as Glastonbury. Small towns and villages such as Somerton and Street lie within the hills in sheltered sites, but other settlements such as Wookey, intermixed with small orchards and paddocks, have more of a wetland edge character, with winding roads closely following the form of the ridges. Many settlements retain a uniformity of building style and materials, perhaps most noticeable in the Lias limestone buildings of Somerton – where the stone is still quarried. Tall church towers are visible evidence of medieval wealth, but none is more dramatic than St Michael’s on Glastonbury Tor, visible for miles across the flat wetlands. The Mid Somerset Hills have strong roots in the past, with most villages mentioned in Domesday Book; they are also celebrated in modern culture, with the internationally known Glastonbury Festival, and the Arthurian legend.

Historic links are particularly strong with the Somerset Levels and Moors. Marsh edge communities living in the Mid Somerset Hills used the Levels and Moors for summer grazing, moving livestock to drier, higher ground in the winter, evidenced by trackways and causeways. This link remains as many of the rivers, such as the Brue, Tone and Parrett, rise to the east or north, cut through this NCA and flow onwards into the Levels and Moors flood plain, where they are often a factor in flooding downstream and nutrient enrichment.

The Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the south dips into this NCA near Staple Fitzpaine. Ancient woodlands such as at Thurlbear or Swell, species-rich hedgerows with trees and veteran trees lend the area a wooded feel despite having little woodland cover. The NCA is strongly agricultural, but with a mosaic of calcareous grassland along the Polden Hills, neutral grassland and flood plain grazing marsh and woodland, to support species such as the large blue butterfly, lapwing and linnet.

Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity (SEO)

See the Statements of Environmental Opportunity section for more details on the headlines listed below.

SEO 1

Safeguard and manage soil and water resources, notably the rivers Parrett, Brue and Tone, as part of the wider Somerset Levels and Moors Priority Catchment, allowing naturally functioning hydrological processes to maintain water quality and supply; work to reduce flooding; and manage land to reduce soil erosion and water pollution, and to retain and capture carbon.

SEO 2

Protect, manage and enhance the distinctive farmed landscape, retaining the balance of productive mixed farmland and diversity of habitats and associated species. Create and enhance connecting corridors of hedgerows, orchards, calcareous and neutral grasslands, ancient or newly planted woodland, hedgerow and riverside trees, and flood plain grazing marsh, for their contribution to sense of place and their positive role in reducing soil erosion and enhancing water quality and biodiversity.

SEO 3

Protect and positively manage the distinctive historic environment and geodiversity of the Mid Somerset Hills – including the many heritage assets such as the droves, small quarries, Roman and medieval monastic remains, and vernacular architecture – and the functional and cultural relationship with the adjacent Somerset Levels and Moors National Character Area.