General Description

Mixed Farmland and Woodland – Medium Scale has a pattern of a small to medium areas of pasture with arable farmland, woodland, shelter belts and hedgerows. In some areas, large swathes of connected woodland dominate the landscape, with forestry plantations, alongside semi-natural woodland. Other areas are dominated by arable farmland providing large open fields, sometimes with thin gappy hedgerows or no hedgerows at all, which are further enclosed by adjacent woodlands, shelter belts or thick hedgerows.

Parklands are a feature of this landscape type with landscape features such as woodlands and shelterbelts, scattered trees, rows of trees, wood pasture (in the case old deer parks) exotic trees, ancient pollard trees and veteran trees. The character type has a low density of small nucleated and linear settlements, with scattered farmsteads and large houses with areas of parklands. A high density of rural lanes criss-cross the valleys and ridges.

Ridge deposits of sand and gravel are found in the southern areas of the Borough, giving rise to past and present mineral workings.

Location

The type forms a part of the more complex and varied landscapes (which include LCT4) that separate the heathlands (LCT1) and pasture and woodlands associated with heathlands (LCT2) to the south and the chalk and clay wooded farmland (LCT6 and 7) and chalk downlands (LCT10) to the north. There are three areas of this landscape character type found within the Borough, as follows:

• LCA3A Baddesley Mixed Farmland and Woodland

• LCA3B Melchet and Awbridge Wooded Farmland

• LCA3C Tytherley and Mottisfont Wooded Farmland

Physical Influences

Geology and soils: London Clay and Reading Beds with areas of Higher Terrace Gravel and Plateau Gravel.

Landform: The topography of this landscape type is irregular and provides a mix of small valleys, local knolls, ridges and depressions.

Drainage: The type includes part of the lower slopes of the River Test catchment area.

Biodiversity and Vegetation Pattern

Mixed Farmland and Woodland – Medium scale has a high proportion of woodland cover and is characterised by extensive ancient semi-natural woodland and semi-natural woodland with active coppice linked by hedgerows. There is a wide range of biodiversity associated with this type which includes hedgerows with banks and large standard trees as well as streams and meadows. Occasional pockets of heathland remain. The majority of species found are typical of neutral to calcareous soils and include Oak, Ash and Field Maple. Pastoral farmland is the dominant land use. Arable and rotational grassland is abundant although not co-dominating.

Notable habitats

• Unimproved neutral grassland

• Heathland

• Semi-improved grassland

Historical Influences

The landscape is characterised by a mixed historic landscape with several historic field systems indicating 18th and 19th century development present throughout this type. This process included the formal and informal enclosure of earlier field systems and the development of substantial parklands particularly close to the valley floor of the River Test.

The historic development of such a landscape may demonstrate the development of agricultural based wealth within the Test Valley. This prosperity during this period often resulted in the purchase of larger farming estate and the development of formal parkland environments. This would then lead to areas of exclusion and social control.

Also present are areas of landscape that demonstrate substantial assarting of a previously wooded environment which result from an increased intensification during the later medieval and post-medieval periods. With the small and medium assarted field system displaying irregular boundaries, it can be presumed that this clearance occurred between the early medieval to early post medieval period. The larger assarted fields, with their straight boundaries and more regular shapes, suggest that either the small and medium sized fields lost their boundaries or medieval to 18th/19th century clearance took place. The final style of assarting present is the regular assart with straight boundaries. These date to the 19th and 20th centuries indicating either the alteration of previous assarting or further clearance.

Settlement Pattern

The settlements present within character type are generally dominated by their proximity to a good supply of water. Examples of Chalk River Valley, Clay River Valley and Chalk/Clay Spring Line settlements can be identified. These settlements tend to retain one or more historic cores, dating to the later medieval and early post-medieval period, as well as evidence for the presence of an early medieval church foundation.

Such settlements tend to develop in a linear pattern and, where a significantly sized river is present, can often be found upon suitable bridging or fording points. These settlements are often located at nodal points within the road network and the main settlements are surrounded by smaller subsidiary groupings and farmsteads.

Communication Network

Running throughout this character type are numerous droveways, woodland tracks and park pales, indicating a heavily developed landscape.

Key Natural and Cultural Landscape Issues

• Impact of mineral workings and long term restoration

• Potential change in farming practices, with increased areas managed as ‘hobby farms’ or as horse paddocks, characterized by rank weedy grassland and poorly managed boundaries

• Potential loss of parkland features

• Deterioration and further loss of hedgerows

• Poor woodland management

• Loss of unimproved mesotrophic grassland to arable or through application of fertilisers

• Declining farmland bird populations

• Enrichment of water bodies through fertiliser run off

• Loss of woodlands to development or to arable or pasture

• Lack of coppice management leading to a reduction of specialised species such as butterflies