Summary of Landscape Character
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Lias Limestone on ridge line and Mercia
Mudstones on the lower land
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Low ridge forms backbone to area with
slopes down to the Avon valley and Stockwood Vale
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Urban fringe elements such as golf course,
‘horsiculture’, and presence of litter
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A diverse and discordant landscape heavily
influenced by busy roads and adjacent urban areas
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Small or medium sized fields of irregular
shape surrounded by hedges of varying condition
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Hedges generally trimmed on higher ground
and unclipped on lower slopes
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Open landscape with broad views to distant
areas
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Very little woodland
Context
Introduction
7.10.1 This small character area covering just
1.8sq km is located at the far north-western edge of the area. It
consists of rising ground and a ridge above Stockwood Vale and the
Avon Valley. It is heavily influenced by the built up areas of
Keynsham and Bristol and the A4 trunk road that connects the two
and contains many features typical of urban fringe landscapes. It
adjoins the character areas of Stockwood Vale to the south, Avon
Valley to the east and the Bickley Wood Gorge to the north.
Geology, Soils and Drainage
7.10.2 The highest part of the ridge is topped
with a layer of Lower Lias Clay but most of the area of the ridges
is Blue Lias Limestone. This is the stone most commonly used for
building in the area and has a distinctive dark grey-blue colour.
This limestone band sits on top of a belt of Penarth Group clays
and shales that run around the slopes of the ridge. The lowest part
of the area consists of Mercia Mudstones that extend south into
Charlton Bottom and north into the Avon Valley.
7.10.3 The soils of the Blue Lias Limestone
and the Lias Clay are shallow, brashy, calcareous clays that are
freely draining. They support arable farming on the areas above the
Blue Lias and more pastoral farming on the Lias Clays that tend to
be less freely draining. The soils of the Penarth Group clays and
shales are non-calcareous clays and tend to be slowly permeable.
They support mainly permanent and short-term pasture. The Mercia
Mudstones give rise to a thick reddish coloured slowly permeable
clayey soil. Here the farming is pastoral, both short term and
permanent.
Major Planning Designations
7.10.4 The whole of the undeveloped area is
within the Bristol/Bath Green Belt and the whole area is within the
Forest of Avon Community Forest.
Description
Landform and Drainage
7.10.5 The principal feature is a low ridge
which extends in an east-north-easterly direction from Stockwood at
the western boundary of the area. The area incorporates the slopes
of the western part of the Avon Valley and the upper slopes of
Stockwood Vale. The lowest point is 20m at the eastern end and
rises to 80m at the western end.
7.10.6 A tributary of the River Avon
passes along the edge of the area along Scotland Bottom and
continues past Hicks Gate to join the Avon at the eastern end of
the area.
Land-uses
7.10.7 Part of the area is taken up by a golf
course to the south of the lane leading to Stockwood. The remainder
is mainly arable and pastoral farmland with arable and grassland on
the ridge top and grassland on the lower slopes. Some of the land
around Oakleaze Farm is used for horses. There is also a
horticultural business to the north of the lane.
Fields, Boundaries and Trees
7.10.8 This area features a mix of small and
medium sized fields. They are mostly of an irregular pattern and
are nearly always bounded by hedges. The hedges on the higher
ground tend to be well clipped to about 1.5-2.0m in height. On the
lower slopes by contrast the hedges are taller. Most of these
hedges are reinforced by post and wire fencing. The golf course
still retains the original hedgerow lines but much has been removed
to allow for the fairways and greens.
7.10.9 There is very little woodland in the
area and relatively few hedgerow trees and this creates a very open
landscape. The woodland is narrow and little more than a very thick
hedgerow, however it does help to create structure in the
landscape. The golf course has supplemented the existing vegetation
with ornamental trees and shrubs and some new tree planting on the
periphery of the course.
Settlement and Communications
7.10.10 There are pockets of settlement and
other varied buildings including offices at Durley Park and a small
industrial estate on the flatter land beside the River Avon,
accessed via a single-track road. There are also isolated farms and
groups of properties at Stockwood Farm, Oakleaze Farm and Hicks
Gate and wooden club buildings at the golf course. Stockwood Farm
has recently been converted into a number of separate dwellings.
The buildings of Stockwood Farm date back to the 19th century.
Oakleaze Farm is post 1881.
7.10.11 The area is crossed by the busy
and widely visible A4 Bristol to Bath trunk road, the A4175 linking
to Keynsham and the A4174 Bristol ring road. They meet at a large
roundabout junction at Hicks Gate. The only other road through the
area is a lane along the ridge line connecting Keynsham to
Stockwood and Whitchurch on the outskirts of Bristol. It is a
narrow and generally straight lane with occasional twists. It has a
mature hedge on both sides. There are also a number of public
rights of way to the north of the area towards the Avon Valley.
Landscape Characteristics
7.10.12 The landscape is very open with
extensive views taking in other character areas such as the Hinton
Blewett and Newton St Loe Plateau Lands, the Cotswolds Plateaux and
Valleys and the Chew Valley. There are also views to the harsh
urban edge at Keynsham.
7.10.13 The area is dominated by the sound of
heavy traffic from the A4 trunk road which is also very visible.
Visible too is the main Bristol to London railway line and the
frequent aircraft using Bristol Airport. The golf course is
prominent because of the artificial mounding, tall fencing, bunkers
and the bright fresh green colour of the highly manicured fairways
and green. Horse grazing around Oakleaze Farm has resulted in the
characteristic features of ‘horsiculture’ such as fencing around
paddocks. The narrow lane east of Stockwood is well used by car
traffic and there are significant amounts of litter in the road
verges. The influence of the urban edge is felt throughout much of
the area both from the discordant assortment of uses, the presence
of litter and views across to the urban edge.
Landscape Change and Condition
7.10.14 There has been relatively little
change in the field and hedgerow pattern since the 1st edition OS
map. In the northern part only a small amount of hedge has been
removed and all of the woodland has developed since then. The
number of hedgerow trees has declined dramatically. Dutch elm
disease has left a legacy of many dead or dying trees within the
hedgerows. Stockwood Farm had two large orchards which no longer
exist and more recently the farm buildings have been converted to a
number of dwellings.
7.10.15 The most obvious change in the recent
past has been the creation of the golf course from farmland. It has
meant the removal of sections of hedgerow and the creation of a
landscape that is more formal and manicured than the previous one.
The fairways and greens tend to be a bright green. Tall fencing and
in some cases the bunkers are discordant elements and the
ornamental trees are arranged in smaller clumps that do not fit
with the original grain of the area. The agricultural land to the
north is generally well maintained. The pasture on the highest part
of the slopes is used mainly for grazing horses and has become
visually discordant.
7.10.16 The designation as Green Belt has
clearly helped maintain the open countryside but inevitably the two
large adjacent urban areas are a significant influence.
‘Horsiculture’ and golf are examples of land uses of these urban
fringe influences.
