46 - The Fens : 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

Open, flat expansive estuarine landscape and seascape with extensive skies and panoramic views offer a sense of remoteness and tranquillity.

Justification for selection:

• The flat landscape of the Fens, which results from the underlying geology, is large and open, with big skies, wide views and large open geometric fields. Seasonal colour changes and sunsets are dramatic.
• When the bombing range at RAF Holbeach is not in use, the coastal zone offers a feeling of tremendous remoteness and tranquillity.
• This predominantly flat landscape and the sense of remoteness and isolation could be lost through insensitive placing of new wind energy schemes and other types of visually dominant infrastructure.
• SSSI notified for their geological interest make a significant contribution to our understanding of past environments, particularly in regard to climate change.
• One per cent of the NCA falls within the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Highly productive peat soils support large-scale commercial agricultural activity which is nationally important for food production.

Justification for selection:

• 87 per cent of land in the Fens is Grade 1 or Grade 2 agricultural land. In 2009, 44 per cent of the farmed land was used for growing cereals.
• Between 2000 and 2009 the area of farmed land used to grow oil seeds increased by 128 per cent, for stockfeed by 442 per cent and for vegetables by 18 per cent.
• The loamy and clayey soils of coastal flats with naturally high groundwater (51 per cent) have a high agricultural potential, especially along the east coast. Continual pumping of water is necessary to maintain water at levels which will allow cultivation.
• Soils over the coastal and central fens are rich, fertile calcareous and silty. Further inland soils are defined by dark, friable fen peat.
• Loss of peat results in loss of carbon and reduces the ability of an area to store carbon.

A historic wetland landscape with a distinct hierarchy of rivers, drains and ditches and large rectilinear geometric fields which create a strong pattern in the landscape.

Justification for selection:

• A distinct hierarchy of rivers, drains and ditches strongly influences the strong dominant rectilinear/geometric landscape pattern and is a consistent feature of the area.
• Fossil drainage systems for example roddons.
• Drainage ditches are the dominant boundary features, some being of considerable antiquity. They are key landscape features and important areas for biodiversity. The Ouse Washes, Nene Washes, Fenland and Baston Fen are all designated as Special Areas for Conservation because the ditches on these sites support the internationally protected species of spined loach.
• Ditch and embankment upgrading to aid flood protection. Some over-management of ditches has reduced aquatic and marginal vegetation.
• Agri-environment schemes for ditches in the Fens in 2003 covered more than 15 per cent of the national total.
• Losses of grazing banks, tree belts and grasslands around settlements to ploughing, and a move to cropping and subsequent loss of livestock, have impacted on the character of the farmed landscape.

A mosaic of semi-natural wetland habitats such as wet woodlands and grassland, salt marshes, mudflats, reedbeds and fen.

Justification for selection:

• The Fens are predominantly cultivated and remnants of semi-natural land are rare, found only at places like Needingworth and Baston, Lakenheath, Wicken, Woodwalton and Holme Fens. Drainage of the fens has caused the loss of 97 per cent of the original fenland habitat. Despite this, the surviving patches of protected fens are among the richest places for wildlife in the country.
• The Nene and Ouse Washes are designated as Special Protection Areas under the Birds Directive because the washland habitat found on them supports major populations of overwintering and breeding wildfowl.
• The Nene Washes are part of the Peterborough higher level Environmental Stewardship target area.
• The Environment Agency’s Anglian Habitat Restoration Programme will create habitat to compensate for its loss through flood and coastal risk.
• The intertidal mudflats and saltmarshes of the Wash Ramsar/SAC and SPA site represent one of Britain’s most important winter feeding areas for waders and wildfowl. The reclamation of saltmarsh for agriculture and consequential squeezing of intertidal mudflats has had a significant impact on character.

The Wash estuarine landscape and seascape which is internationally important for nature conservation.

Justification for selection:

• The Wash Shoreline Management Plan states that the Wash is accreting at present. The saltmarsh and mudflats provide important habitats for wildlife and act as an important natural sea defence. It will be important to retain these flood defence capabilities.
• The shoreline of the Wash between Gibraltar Point and a point to the north-west of King’s Lynn is characterised by a sea bank that divides saltmarsh and mudflat from extensive low-lying agricultural land.
• Marshes directly adjacent to the Wash exhibit an exceptionally open aspect (broken only by sea walls). The coastal area of the Fens is valued by visitors seeking peace and quiet recreation and those enjoying the abundant wildlife present at certain times of the year.
• Saltmarsh maintenance is important for carbon sequestration as well as for its value as a natural flood defence and feeding ground for protected birds and for its extensive livestock grazing systems.

A traditionally unwooded character.

Justification for selection:

• Only 1 per cent of the NCA is woodland – 0.04 per cent is ancient semi-natural woodland covering small areas that are particularly valued, and have historic value.
• There are no large areas of tree planting although extension of woodlands through new planting is marked.
• The pollarding of existing willows along ditches and watercourses should be encouraged, particularly where they are local features such as at Whittlesey.
• Traditional orchards, for example the former extensive orchards in the northern fen to the south of The Wash, are being replaced by arable cultivation or new development.

A varied settlement pattern.

Justification for selection:

• This reflects settlement history and past responses to the location of dry land. The more extensive and older settlements are on clay islands in the peat and alluvium.
• Linear settlements along the main roads (for example the A17) in more dispersed patterns in drained coastal marshes and on the higher ground of the inland fens. Long straight roads are typical. Dispersed historic farms occupy the elevations offered by roddons.
• Visually intrusive development at settlement margins includes road schemes, power lines, industrial and residential construction and has impacted upon local character. There has been much building outside urban and fringe areas.
• Linking fen villages and settlements to their surrounding landscapes using grassland, wetland, shelterbelts and hedgerow planting could be considered, with the mix dependent on local patterns.

Historic character and archaeological features provide cultural and experiential qualities which contribute strongly to the sense of place.

Justification for selection:

• The fen ‘islands’ of land rising to between 5 m to 20 m AOD, roddons and the fen margins have been influential in determining the historic settlement pattern. Settlement character contrasts between the northern silt fen and the southern peat fen.
• In the north, numerous 16th and 17th century houses are evident in small historic village cores around medieval churches or manors. Substantial post-medieval mansions occur in large gardens or parklands.
• Urbanisation of the towns that developed around the ports of Wisbech and King’s Lynn is reflected in building types, where industrial zones retain some historic elements. The southern peat fen is host to numerous islands, many of which had medieval manors, monastic establishments, market places and river/canal systems that secured continuous occupation in these seasonally isolated settlements. More erosion of the historic fabric of these villages has occurred but timber framed, thatched or pan-tiled houses are still present in their core areas.
• Industrial buildings (such as lumber yards, foundries, engine houses and brick kilns) and the historic wharves, quays and docks along the tidal rivers, indicate a rich and varied history of traded and local goods, manufacture and distribution, while the major sluices at Denver and Dog-in-a-Doublet are strong reminders of the strict management of the regional water environment enabling the present day habitation and cultivation of the fens
• The fen deposits conceal considerable evidence of prior settlement dating back to prehistoric times. An intricate pattern of roddons, former tidal creeks, is evident from aerial and LiDAR images.
• As the peat shrinks, well preserved remains of prehistoric landscapes are revealed. Particularly rich archaeology is found on fen margins where diverse settlements and field patterns are being exposed.
• Key historic buildings such as St. Botolph’s Church (“Boston Stump”), Ramsey Abbey and Ely Cathedral are iconic local buildings.

Landscape opportunities

• Maintain and conserve the area’s valuable soils through sustainable farming and agricultural agreements to the benefit of food production, biodiversity, sense of place and climate change regulation.
• Expand the total area of semi-natural habitat and increase connectivity to allow adaptation to climate change. In particular, increase connectivity between new and existing wetlands by the creation of linear habitats and river enhancement. Of particular value is the washland habitat which supports internationally-important numbers of water fowl and wildfowl; its management could increase habitat connectivity and contribute to managing flood risk. It is important as the last refuge of BAP lowland meadows in the Fens.
• Ditches and watercourses are seen as features in the landscape and need to be better managed. Management of the field boundary ditch system will reinforce the wetland character of the area.
• Preserve and manage the historic orchards which characterise the area around Wisbech both for their landscape value and their genetic diversity.
• Protect and manage the sandflats, mudflats and saltmarsh areas around the Wash which support international numbers of overwintering and breeding wildfowl, while recognising the mobility of these species.
• Put in place better protection and management practices for the subsurface archaeological sites which provide an important educational resource and which are assessed as being at risk from damaging agricultural and drainage practices.
• Protect the long views and open expansive unwooded character of the landscape and work to visually mitigate the impact of large structures including unsympathetic buildings and energy infrastructure that are highly visible in this flat landscape.
• Work to minimise the effects of light pollution, especially from transport routes in rural areas.
• Protect the distinctive character of settlements throughout the landscape and consider the visual impact of new development such as Alconbury Weald and Northstowe, which lie just outside the NCA and have an effect locally as centres of commercial and residential development.
• Make use of village and town design statements and conservation area appraisals for informing future development proposals. Encourage design that minimises visual impact on local landscapes.