86 - South Suffolk and North Essex Clayland : Summary and Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity

Summary

The South Suffolk and North Essex Clayland National Character Area covers the four counties of Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. It stretches from Bury St Edmunds in the north-west to Ipswich in the north-east, roughly following the line of the A14 trunk road through the Gipping Valley. It then embraces the Colchester hinterland before encompassing the urban areas of Braintree and Chelmsford in the south and stretching to Bishop’s Stortford and Stevenage in the west.

It is an ancient landscape of wooded arable countryside with a distinct sense of enclosure. The overall character is of a gently undulating, chalky boulder clay plateau, the undulations being caused by the numerous small-scale river valleys that dissect the plateau. There is a complex network of old species-rich hedgerows, ancient woods and parklands, meadows with streams and rivers that flow eastwards. Traditional irregular field patterns are still discernable over much of the area, despite field enlargements in the second half of the 20th century. The widespread moderately fertile, chalky clay soils give the vegetation a more or less calcareous character. Gravel and sand deposits under the clay are important geological features, often exposed during mineral extraction, which contribute to our understanding of ice-age environmental change.

Some 2 per cent of the area is designated as the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which sits on the borders of Essex and Suffolk. The area was made famous worldwide through the paintings of the landscape artist John Constable. Many of the scenes that brought him inspiration two centuries ago can still be seen today, especially at Flatford and along the banks of the River Stour. This area, now known as ‘Constable Country’, is a popular visitor destination, particularly during the summer months.

The area’s rich archaeology provides evidence of a long history of settlement and significant past wealth and importance, including Palaeolithic finds, Roman sites, medieval monasteries and castles, isolated moated farmsteads, barns and a number of large country houses. It is an area of notable medieval towns and villages, such as Lavenham, Cavendish and Thaxted, which support many vernacular buildings dating from the 13th to 17th centuries, when the wool and cloth trade brought considerable wealth to the area. Traditional settlements are characterised by organic street patterns, large churches – sometimes, as at Long Melford, overlooking village greens – and groups of colour-washed medieval houses with pegtile roofs interspersed with ones refronted with brick facades in Georgian or Victorian times. An intricate maze of narrow, winding lanes links settlements. Some 6.5 per cent of the area is urban, with most major settlements being located along the southern border, including Ipswich, Chelmsford and the new towns of Harlow and Stevenage. Major transport infrastructure includes the A14 and A12 and the M11, which links to Stansted Airport.

Semi-natural habitats of particular importance include sparsely scattered, small lowland meadows and ancient woodlands. These include Hatfield Forest and Bradfield Woods, which are important for rare species including the dormouse, nightingale and stag beetle, as well as being among the richest in the country for flowering plants such as bluebells, which often carpet the ground in spring. Parts of the river valley floors contain pasture and willow pollards, which contribute an uncommon pastoral quality. Mosaics of valley floor habitats such as grazing marsh, fen and wet woodland support European protected species including great crested newt, otter and pipistrelle bats, as well as the rare black poplar tree.

Farming, predominantly for arable crops, utilises 84 per cent of the land area, supported by the moderately fertile soils and equable climate. Recent changes in farming methods have had an impact on farmland habitats such as hedges and ponds, and once-common species of arable land such as tree sparrow, grey partridge, cornflower and brown hare have declined in numbers. Over recent years the uptake of agri-environment options for land management has increased the potential to restore much of the lost in-field wildlife of the area.

Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity (SEO)

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

SEO 1

Maintain and enhance the character of this gently undulating, rural landscape by maintaining agricultural productivity and encouraging sustainable land management practices that protect and enhance the landscape, geodiversity and biodiversity assets and benefit carbon storage and water quality, as well as the over-riding sense of place.

SEO 2

Protect and enhance the area’s ancient woodland cover, parkland trees, river valley plantations and ancient hedgerows, through the management of existing woods and the planting of new woods, hedgerows and hedgerow trees to benefit landscape character, habitat connectivity and a range of ecosystem services, including timber provision, the regulation of soil erosion and the strengthening of the sense of place and history.

SEO 3

Enhance the slow-flowing, winding rivers and their pastoral valley flood plains that provide linkages through the landscape, including redundant sand and gravel extraction sites, for their ecological, historical and recreational importance. This will support the operation of natural processes and their contribution to biodiversity, geodiversity, soil quality, water availability, regulating water flow and the character of the area.

SEO 4

Conserve and enhance the distinctive character of the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with its much-visited ‘Constable Country’ and improve opportunities for people to enjoy and understand the distinctive assemblage of historic landscapes outside the AONB. Ensure that access and recreational resources are managed to be compatible with the tranquillity of the area and the special qualities of protected landscapes, while providing a valuable health, education and access resource.