28 - Vale of York : Description

Physical and functional links to other National Character Areas

The Vale of York forms a transitional landscape between the more varied topography and the mixed farming of the Vale of Mowbray to the north and the flat, open land of the Humberhead Levels to the south.

The adjoining elevated areas feature an extensive network of major rivers, with the Derwent rising in the North York Moors and Cleveland Hills National Character Area (NCA) in the north; the Swale, Nidd and Ure in the Yorkshire Dales NCA; and the Wharfe in the Southern Pennines NCA to the west. These watercourses all ultimately flow into the Humber Estuary to the south-east. The Vale of York is an important convergence zone for the upland rivers; they converge into the River Ouse, which starts in the Vale of York. These rivers, and their associated flood plain habitats, provide important corridors for species movement between the Vale and surrounding NCAs. This could become increasingly important as habitats around the Humber are squeezed by the effects of climate change. The settlements in the Vale rely heavily on the water supplied by these rivers.

A network of transport routes radiates from the City of York: York railway station remains an important junction for passengers travelling to the northeast. The A19 runs north-south through the centre of the NCA, with other A roads linking York east-west with other NCAs.

Views of higher ground to the north and east in the Howardian Hills and Yorkshire Wolds, and to some extent the Southern Magnesian Limestone ridge to the west, frame the valley and provide a backdrop to the relatively open and flat landscape of the NCA.

The Vale of York today

The Vale of York is a transitional vale landscape marking the change from the more varied topography and mixed farming of the Vale of Mowbray to the north to the flat, open land of the Humberhead Levels to the south. It is a broad area bounded by the ridge of Magnesian Limestone which rises to the west and by the Howardian Hills and the Yorkshire Wolds to the east. The low ridge of the Escrick Moraine, which trends to the north-east, marks the southern limit and the transition to the Humberhead Levels.

The soils are mainly formed from glacial till, sand and gravel, making them generally fertile. The majority of the land is in arable use, with extensive areas of wheat and root vegetables. Fields are medium to large in size and enclosure is by low, flailed, often intermittent hedges, with few hedgerow trees. This gives the landscape a generally large-scale, open, well-tended character, where production is the main emphasis of land management. Much of the Vale of York is a working agricultural landscape but the settlement also contributes to its character. The City of York itself has a dominant influence and the tower of the minster, built from stone brought from the Southern Magnesian Limestone ridge to the west, is visible for miles around. The city, enclosed by the historic city walls, is very popular with tourists, bringing visitors through the city gates to attractions that build on the historic importance of the area.

The flat farmland is dotted with solid brick farmsteads and large villages, such as Upper and Nether Poppleton and Haxby to the north and Bishopthorpe and Copmanthorpe to the east, which exhibit the typical linear vale form of mottled brick houses with pantile roofs facing each other on either side of a main street. They are in themselves important features of the landscape and provide a special focus of interest.

The many stream courses and drainage channels link with the main rivers that cross the Vale. The flood plains of the rivers Ouse, Derwent, Ure, Nidd and Foss create much of this flat landscape. The National Character Area (NCA) has a wide variety of waterbodies (in terms of size and velocity) within it, making water a key feature of the NCA. The flood plains of the main rivers form a characteristic sight in the area, generally flowing from north-west to south-east. The flood plain of the River Derwent in the Lower Derwent Valley is designated both as a Special Protection Area (SPA) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for its internationally important lowland hay meadow habitat and contains a greater area of high-quality examples of this habitat than any other UK site. Traditional management has maintained the mosaic of habitats within the valley and it is this variation that helps to support important species such as Bewick’s swan (0.7 per cent of the population of Great Britain), ruff (19 per cent of the population of Great Britain) and golden plover (2.4 per cent of the population of Great Britain). In winter the valley supports an internationally important assemblage of wading birds, including European teal and Eurasian wigeon. In the wider landscape, wetland features such as small field ponds, old brick ponds, wet heathland, valley mires (for example Askham Bog), fens and swamps (for example in the Lower Derwent Valley), fen meadows (also in the Lower Derwent Valley) and drainage dykes interspersed through the agricultural areas with other patches of semi-natural habitats provide stepping stones between designated areas and patches of semi-natural habitat.

Variations in landscape character come from subtle changes in soils, topography and land cover. Low ridges of sand and gravel, deposited as moraines or eskers as the glaciers of the last ice age retreated, rise above the flat plain in places, creating a more pronounced ridge and valley landform. Where there are dry, sandy soils, especially around York to the north, east and south, there are remnants of historic heathland and ancient semi-natural woodlands. Because of the low fertility and acidity of the soils, many of these areas have been planted with coniferous woods, usually of Scots pine. Examples of these features include Strensall, Stockton and Allerthorpe commons. Plantations, woodlands and heaths give a different character to these parts of the Vale, with the woodland edges creating a greater feeling of enclosure and forming wooded horizons.

Parkland associated with country houses is also a feature of this NCA, and the tree clumps, tree belts, avenues and other architectural features all add to the variety of the landscape. Examples include Rufforth Hall Park, Beningbrough Hall and Bilton Hall.

Access within the wider NCA is limited, but the Way of the Roses cycle route, which passes east-west as it links Morecambe to Bridlington, and the Yorkshire Wolds Way, which enters the NCA in the south-eastern corner, are notable longdistance routes that pass through the area.

The landscape through time

The solid geology of the Vale of York comprises Triassic sandstone and mudstone and Lower Jurassic mudstone and is completely cloaked by varied superficial deposits. The deposits include glacial till, which forms a marked bench in the east, and sand and gravel, as well as two moraines that curve eastwards across the NCA. The York Moraine forms a curving ridge that extends from York to Sand Hutton, while the Escrick Moraine is evident about 8 km to the south, formed at the point at which the ice met the large proglacial Humber Lake in the south of the NCA. Trapped between moraine ridges a series of (possibly contemporary) glacial lakes developed to the north of the Escrick Moraine as the ice sheet advanced and retreated. When the lakes drained, they left a sequence of lake clays, silts and sands over much of the NCA. Subsequent aeolian (desert) reworking of these sands has led to the accumulation of thick sequences of wind-blown sand along the eastern margins of the NCA.

The main rivers and streams also laid down river alluvium consisting of clay, silt and sand. These lacustrine and alluvial deposits provide good loamy soils that support human settlement and food production. The impact of the river systems has influenced the locations at which settlements have developed, with evidence of early settlements on higher outcrops and later settlements centred on river crossings. The cool climate and increased rainfall during the Bronze Age meant that lowland wetlands enlarged and spread across the south of the Vale, making it less habitable. Evidence of early human settlement in the Vale of York (mostly in the western and eastern fringes) comes from the discovery of stone tools and flint scatters representative of Mesolithic and Neolithic activity, and rapiers and axes from the middle Bronze Age.

The Romans had a large influence on the character of the Vale of York, defining some of the settlement and infrastructure pattern that can still be seen today, particularly the network of roads radiating from York. The building of a legionary fortress on the York Moraine at Eboracum (now York) was the beginning of permanent civilian settlement in the area. York has continued to be the central focus of the area since this time and developed from a frontier town that resisted local tribes to a strategically important staging post to the north. York Minster was founded in 627 on the site of the Roman fortress and has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times since, with the remaining Gothic structure started in 1230 and finished and consecrated in 1472. The surrounding productive and wealth-generating landscape meant that the Bishop of York rose to be the second highest office in the Church of England and that York became a major ecclesiastical centre.

There are a number of outlying military camps surrounding York, such as at Clifton Moor and Monks Cross, which further indicate the impact of the Romans on the landscape. New evidence from this period continues to be revealed, including sites at Sutton on Derwent and at Hayton. Roman settlement also introduced management to the river flood plains to increase agricultural productivity, marking the start of the decline in many flood plain habitats.

During the period that the Vikings held the north of England in the late ninth and early tenth centuries they established Jorvik (York) as their capital of Northumbria. In 954 this Viking kingdom was absorbed into the rest of England, although there were various attempts throughout the early 11th century from Danish Vikings to retake the kingdom. In 1066 the Battle of Stamford Bridge was fought between King Harold and a Norwegian force bolstered by Northumbrian support, which weakened Harold’s army ahead of the Battle of Hastings.

Mixed agriculture has dominated the area since medieval times. Following the Norman conquest, King William undertook a number of campaigns to break future threats to the crown from the north, known as the ‘harrying of the north’. The destruction of towns, villages and agricultural assets and the reassignment of land to favourable nobles led to a strong trend of nucleated settlement in planned villages; manors and estates established within the wider landscape during the late 11th-13th centuries still exist today. Moated sites are a particular feature of this landscape, such as examples at Appleton Roebuck, Pocklington and Barmby Moor. Many survive today as earthworks, cropmarks and soilmarks, and the ditches associated with these sites are still waterlogged in places, providing essential information on past land use and activity. Some villages retain former ridge and furrow and hedges following lines of curved strips, and the area is characterised by a high proportion of planned enclosure by Parliamentary Act between the mid-18th century and 1815.

Historically there has been a predominance of cattle rearing and dairying to the west, and horse breeding to the east, with livestock from the hills in surrounding NCAs brought to the lush vale grasslands for fattening. The rich grasslands of the flood plains supported sheep grazing and increased York’s importance in the wool industry. Stud farms increased around York in the 18th and 19th centuries, probably as a result of the formalisation of a racetrack in York and the move to its current location. The racecourse continues to attract a large number of visitors to the area.

In the 16th century the Vale began to feature extensive areas of parkland and designed landscapes, such as the deer parks at Sheriff Hutton and Beningbrough Hall. The dissolution of the monasteries and ‘gifting’ of land to nobles also saw the establishment of notable country houses and estates in the NCA. Until the 17th century the Royal Forest of Galtres contained some larger areas of woodland in the north of the Vale of York. The forest at this time extended further into North Yorkshire, although it had been declining since its peak in the 12th century. Woodland within the Vale continued to become scattered and piecemeal until large areas of sandy soil were planted with conifer plantations in the late 19th century, aided by the enclosure of common land on sandy soils.

In earlier centuries wheat and rye were the main crops grown, and large areas of grassland remained. Root crops such as potatoes and carrots were introduced early in the 20th century and remain common today. Noticeable intensification of agriculture occurred during the Second World War and continued in the decades afterwards. Throughout the 20th century sugar beet was a common crop around the City of York, as farmers supplied the York sugar beet factory. Since its closure in 2007, sugar beet production has been replaced by a range of other crops, notably oil seed rape.