140 - Yeovil Scarplands : Summary and Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity

Summary

The Yeovil Scarplands run, in an arc, from the Mendip Hills around the southern edge of the Mid Somerset Hills and the Somerset Levels and Moors to the fringes of the Blackdowns. This remote, rural landscape comprises a series of broad ridges and steep scarps separating sheltered clay vales. Less than 5 per cent of the area is urban, though Yeovil, lying in the south of the area, has grown to become a sizeable town with a busy industrial zone.

The area has a long history of settlement reflected through the archaeology, from Neolithic hill forts, through Roman villas, to remnant medieval open fields – along with many Listed Buildings. The area is known for its collection of fine manor houses and associated parklands.

The area also boasts a variety of limestones and sandstones from which distinctive local settlement character is derived. Foremost among these is the Ham Hill stone: Stoke-sub-Hamdon, South Petherton and the notable Elizabethan Montacute House are all constructed principally from this stone.

Approximately 85 per cent of the National Character Area (NCA) is farmed and, away from the towns, this sets the rural landscape character; indeed, in some places the NCA is intensely rural. The south-west of the area features arable systems with a tradition of growing soft fruit and vegetables, as well as a remnant scattering of orchards. The rest of the NCA is mainly pastoral in nature, though in some of the clay vales between the scarps mixed farming brings a variation of character.

Woodland, covering 4 per cent of the area, is relatively scattered, though where it sits on steep scarp slopes or fills the steep goyles cut into the scarps it can be a strong local feature.

The NCA’s biodiversity is scattered and fragmented, though important grassland assemblages and ancient woodlands do occur. The southern extreme of the area is one of the most intensely rural parts, and it is here that the 12 per cent of the area lying within the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty can be found.

Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity (SEO)

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

SEO 1

Work with the local farming and land management community to adapt to evolving funding mechanisms and climate change, encouraging business choices that balance food production with provision of a range of ecosystem services.

SEO 2

Protect, manage and enhance the diverse but coherent pastoral and mixed farming landscape character of the clay vales and limestone and sandstone scarps, their semi-natural grasslands and woodland and their characteristic wildlife. Manage the simple patterns of land use maintained by the long history of agriculture.

SEO 3

Protect and manage the National Character Area’s rich cultural inheritance, including its historic environment and geodiversity. Raise the profile of the Yeovil Scarplands as a landscape of distinction and, in many places, great beauty.

SEO 4

Manage and plan for growth in the area around Yeovil and the other towns in this part of the National Character Area as they expand as employment and housing centres, ensuring that landscape character is used as a framework for future growth and enhancement.