64 - Potteries and Churnet Valley : Description

Physical and functional links to other National Character Areas

In the east, the landform rises to meet the limestone uplands of the Peak District affording panoramic vistas of a transitional landscape from lowland to upland. In the north, the land rises to the Staffordshire Moorlands, with prominent ridges of Millstone Grit at Mow Cop and Congleton Edge forming a watershed between the River Trent and the River Mersey catchments. These ridges afford unrestricted views westwards across the Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire Plain NCA. To the south-east, there is a less abrupt transition where the wide Dove Valley forms an approximate boundary with the Needwood and South Derbyshire Claylands NCA.

Significant rivers run through this area, with a diverse range of running and still water habitats providing ecological connectivity. The River Trent rises north of Stoke and flows south through the urban area before being joined by the River Dove and flowing on into the Trent Valley Washlands NCA, finally discharging to the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. The River Churnet flows south and east through the area before joining the River Dove, which rises within the limestone of the White Peak NCA. Rudyard Lake reservoir is the largest open water body, supplying water to the Caldon Canal and Trent and Mersey Canal. Minor sandstone aquifers occur around Leek and Alton.

A section of the M6 skirts part of the western boundary, while the A34, A50 and A52 cross the NCA providing access to popular tourist destinations, for example Alton Towers and the neighbouring Peak District. The railway links Stoke-on-Trent to London and Manchester and recreational links include the Trent and Mersey Canal and the Caldon Canal, the Sabrina Way National Bridleway, sections of the National Cycle Network and the Staffordshire Way.

The Potteries and Churnet Valley today

The Potteries and Churnet Valley NCA is a diverse and contrasting landscape of ridges, hills and intervening well-wooded valleys. The topography rises from approximately 100 metres to an elevation of approximately 350 metres in the north and at its eastern edge, where a well-drained limestone plateau with isolated hills meets the remote limestone landscape of the Peak District. This variation results in a transition from a lowland landscape of heathland and grassland to remote upland moorland and grasslands. In the Churnet Valley, frequent dispersed hamlets, individual cottages, farms and clusters of houses along a dense network of sunken lanes evoke an enclosed feel to the NCA that contrasts strongly with the sprawling towns of the Potteries in the west.

The relatively high plateaux and ridges of the Staffordshire Moorlands at Biddulph Moor and Mow Cop are underlain by Millstone Grit. They have given rise to a deeply dissected moorland plateau with poor soils that support permanent pasture, with few woods and gappy hedgerows that gradually give way to drystone walls. The fields are large and take on the regular rectilinear pattern of 18th- and 19th-century enclosure. On the highest ground, towards the boundary with the South West Peak NCA, acidic pasture gives way to open moorland. The Millstone Grit has been used extensively as walling material in both drystone walls and farm buildings. The major agricultural land uses are sheep and beef farming with some dairying and limited arable farming in the south, mostly of cereals.

The Churnet Valley runs through a smoothly undulating upland pasture landscape linked by short, steeply wooded stream valleys or ‘cloughs’. The area has retained its wooded character and has the highest concentration of ancient semi-natural woodland in Staffordshire, occurring in both the Churnet Valley and Coombes Valley Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Woodland types vary from alder in the valley bottoms and flushes; ash and wych elm on base-rich soils; and a mixture of sessile and pedunculate oak and silver birch on drier soils. The woods are especially rich in invertebrate species: over 30 species of beetle, including two nationally rare species that are dependent on the continuous presence of deadwood and over-mature trees. There is an assemblage of priority woodland bird species, including tree pipit, redstart, wood warbler and pied flycatcher, with dippers frequently seen along the watercourses. Along the lower reaches of the Churnet Valley, there are several blocks of conifer plantations that are managed for commercial forestry. The unimproved grasslands in the NCA include a number of traditional hay meadows and pastures; some support breeding curlew and snipe and some are of great botanical diversity, forming part of the mosaic of semi-natural habitats within the Churnet Valley. Small fields, ancient wood pasture and squatter enclosures, surrounded by frequent, well-formed hedges with hedgerow trees, evoke a sense of remoteness and provide areas of tranquillity. The many historic parks and gardens and remnant parkland of the NCA add to the sense of history by providing a setting for grand country houses and their designed landscapes, often with long vistas. These include Trentham Gardens in the Potteries and Alton Towers in the Churnet Valley, best known for its theme park.

The area has a diverse range of running and still water habitats, from deep, fast-flowing rivers and their tributaries, to riffles and scour ponds, subsidence pools and numerous small ponds. The River Trent rises north of Stoke and flows through a wide, natural, flood plain until it reaches the city, where the flood plain is restricted by development and the channel is modified. The River Dove flows through a wide, lush flood plain in the south-west. In contrast, the deep, fast-flowing River Churnet flows through a steep-sided, gorge-like valley.

Riparian woodland is particularly important and is responsible for the influx of large, or coarse, woody debris into rivers and streams, providing a habitat for rare invertebrate species, for example the logjammer hoverfly, caddisfly and soldier fly. Woody debris also provides habitat conditions for salmonids, as evidenced in the Dove river catchment. Brown trout and the native whiteclawed crayfish can be found in the main watercourses; the populations are monitored and are used as an indicator of water quality.

Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Potteries combine to form a large conurbation comprising an intimate mix of residential, retail and industrial developments, roads, canals and watercourses. However, a large percentage is green space, providing open mosaic habitats and public access in an otherwise urban landscape. Landscape-scale reclamation of former mines, spoil heaps, pottery tips and industrial sites has created Apedale Community Country Park, Lyme Valley Park, Central Forest Park, Westport Lake, Chatterley Whitfield Heritage Country Park and the garden festival site at Etruria, providing a sense of tranquillity at the heart of the urban area. Formal public parks, for example Fenton and Hanley, also provide high-quality open spaces in the urban landscape. In contrast, in the rural east, there is a settlement pattern of valley-bottom villages with scattered farmsteads and hamlets on the valley slopes. Local sandstone from the Coal Measures and red brick manufactured from the local Etruria Marl are the predominant building materials in lowland areas; Millstone Grit is used in upland areas in farmhouses and drystone walls. Plain clay and large numbers of Staffordshire blue tiles or Welsh slate are used for roofing. Many old quarries provide an insight into the geology and now provide an important habitat and contribute to the green infrastructure. Current extractive sites occur along the Coal Measures, in the Millstone Grit, providing a tangible link with historic extraction.

The NCA has an extensive network of public rights of way and local trails, many a legacy of past trade and industry, for example the Trent and Mersey Canal and Caldon Canal and the many railway lines. The Stafford Greenway cycle route, Sabrina Way (part of the National Bridleroute Network) and a section of the Staffordshire Way run through the NCA. Stoke is a Cycling City that promotes and develops a cycling culture in the city and the National Cycle Network routes 5 and 55 pass through the urban area. Areas of open water, the many country parks and local nature reserves provide access to nature, recreational opportunities and benefits for health and wellbeing, as well as biodiversity and some historic interest.

The landscape through time

The oldest rocks in the NCA are the limestones from the Peak Limestone Group that occur marginally, in the east of the area. These were deposited during the Lower Carboniferous Period, circa 343-336 million years ago, in a warm tropical sea. The limestones form a well-drained plateau with steep-sided wooded valleys and reef knolls forming isolated hills, for example Ellis Hill. The limestones give rise to limestone streams.

During the Middle Carboniferous Period, interbedded sandstones and mudstones were deposited in a muddy delta with periodic influxes of coarser material belonging to the Millstone Grit Group, which underlies the upland moorland of the Staffordshire Moorlands. The sandstones and gritstones form prominent ridges and have been quarried for building stone, aggregates and glass manufacture. The tropical swamp delta deposits from the Upper Carboniferous Period are dominated by mudstones and coals that comprise the Potteries coalfield. Five of the six towns comprising Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme occur along the outcrop of the Upper Coal Measures, which provided the raw materials of clay and coal for the early pottery industry together with ironstones for iron and steel. Mudstones and siltstones from the Triassic Mercia Mudstone Group underlie the generally lower-lying ground on the margins of the Needwood Basin. Triassic sandstones and conglomerate of the Sherwood Sandstone Group underlie the area around Leek and Alton in the Churnet Valley and form the minor aquifer. These conglomerates are extensively quarried.

Glacial meltwater, circa 10,000 to 13,000 years ago, was responsible for cutting the Churnet Valley. Its gorge-like character around Alton, where it is up to 80 metres deep, earned it the local name ‘little Switzerland’. Deposition of sediments within the River Trent during this period provides economically important deposits of sand and gravel.

Evidence of early human activity includes artefacts and barrows from the early Bronze Age on the prominent hill-top site at Wootton Hill and a concentration of barrows around Mayfield and to the north-east of Ellastone. The remains of an Iron Age hill fort lie on Bunbury Hill within the parkland of Alton Towers, where the discovery of a stone axe hammer, in 1834 during the construction of Alton Towers, indicates occupation of the area as far back as 3,000 BC.

A Roman road, from Little Chester to Chesterton, passed through the NCA and there is evidence of a Roman settlement and fort at Rocester guarding the crossing point of the River Churnet.

After the Norman conquest, part of the area became a Royal Forest. There were a few significant settlements, such as Leek and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and the area was dominated by a sheep-based pastoral economy, with arable farming close to settlements and unenclosed common grazing on the higher and more open land to the north.

By the late 12th century, iron was already being produced in the Churnet Valley from the Froghall Ironstone, exposed by the river. The extensive woodlands that still survive today were used for charcoal production to fuel the furnaces, and river water powered the machinery of the mills.

From the 13th century, the influence of the Cistercian monasteries on the medieval landscape is likely to have been significant. The abbeys of Croxden, Hulton and Dieulacres, the latter north of Leek, had a sheep-based pastoral economy together with coppicing, probably for charcoal production for ironworking. The impressive remains of the abbey at Croxden can still be seen.

By the end of the Middle Ages, the medieval towns of Leek, Cheadle and Alton were well established along with the six towns comprising Stoke-on-Trent: Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton. Originally a series of small upland settlements, they relied on subsistence agriculture but in the late 16th and early 17th centuries pot-making and coal mining increased and led to the rapid expansion of urban areas. By the 18th century, famous potters, for example Wedgwood and Spode, gained an international reputation and five of the towns gained the epithet of ‘the potteries’, typified by the terrace houses of the workers and bottle kilns, for example the Grade II listed kiln at Moorcroft and the distinctive pottery estates such as Etruria.

With the construction of the Caldon Canal and Trent and Mersey Canal, the Potteries expanded rapidly. Brickworks and tileries also flourished. Ironworking and coal mining expanded greatly and the land between Biddulph and Blythe became a mosaic of redbrick towns. However, they have retained their own historic centres comprising civic buildings and large Victorian churches that are still prominent features in the landscape. Many of the parks and gardens, once owned by rich industrialists, are now tourist attractions, such as those at Alton Towers and Biddulph Grange (the latter is now owned by the National Trust).

By the 19th century, the silk and textile industry in Leek and Cheadle became increasingly concentrated in factories in the towns and Alton Towers first opened as a tourist attraction. Along the River Churnet water-powered flint mills and foundries flourished, producing iron and processing copper from the copper mines in Ecton, in the neighbouring NCA. The Thomas Bolton Copperworks at Froghall is credited with producing copper wire for the first transatlantic cable and more recently the same firm provided the generator for the Olympic Games in Beijing. The brick chimney of the Froghall works is a prominent feature in the landscape.

Local evidence indicates a recent decline in the number of agricultural holdings, particularly small-scale dairying, in favour of equestrian holdings and increased use of fencing in preference to traditional boundary features. A growing number of agricultural buildings are being converted for accommodation. Persistent pressure for land for development and improvements to infrastructure, combined with a lack of positive management of semi-natural sites, is resulting in the increasing fragmentation of habitats. However, landscape-scale partnerships are starting to address these issues and several country parks and Local Wildlife Sites have been established.

There is a rising trend in the prevalence of diseases and invasive non-native species: for example diseases such as Phytophthora and invasive plants such as Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam in terrestrial environments, and the signal crayfish and the crayfish plague in waterbodies. However, water quality is improving but this will require continued management.