8.1 Introduction
8.1.1 The character of the landscape has evolved and been
influenced by developments in agriculture, communications and
industry and by settlement within the landscape. There have been
periods when change has been particularly rapid and periods where
there has been little change. The purpose of this chapter is to
summarise the changes that have generally taken place across the
area as a whole and to assess the current issues now facing the
landscape.
8.1.2 Historically mining and quarrying and the development of
the transport infrastructure have been important influences in the
area particularly towards the end of the 19th century. They have
left their legacies in different ways. The most significant changes
in recent times have occurred since the start of World War II.
These changes can broadly be summarised under three headings as
follows:
-
Agricultural changes
-
Natural processes
-
Development
8.2 Agricultural and Other Changes
8.2.1 The wartime and post-war drive to
improve agricultural yields aided by new crop varieties, larger
machines and increased use of pesticides and inorganic fertilisers
has resulted in a raft of changes; some very obvious and others
more subtle and longer term.
Field Enlargement
8.2.2 Many hedges were removed in order to
improve efficiency and to accommodate larger machines. This has
occurred fairly consistently across the area but only rarely has
resulted in the complete loss of the historic grain or character of
the landscape. The rate of hedge removal has progressively declined
over the last 15 years or so culminating in the introduction of
controls through the Hedgerow Regulations in 1997. Hedgerow removal
has usually also involved removal of trees though occasionally
trees have been left within the enlarged fields.
Loss of Orchards
8.2.3 Historically most settlements and farms
had orchards nearby for cider production. These are no longer
required and as a result orchards have often been ploughed up, left
to deteriorate or in several cases because of their position at the
edges of villages have been developed for housing. Remaining
orchards are a link to the past and are a reminder of the historic
character which was once typical across the area.
Loss of Historic Parkland
8.2.4 Parkland was an important part of the
working landscape in the 17th and 18th centuries. Many of these
have declined in area or disappeared as more land was ploughed up
for arable production or short-term pasture.
Loss of Trees and Habitats
8.2.5 The impact of greater agricultural
intensification on the landscape has included both loss of diverse
habitats and loss of trees. The decline of herb–rich limestone
grassland has been particularly marked. Likewise the number of
trees within fields and along field boundaries has declined. Trees
lost through disease or old age are often not replaced.
Reduced Diversity
8.2.6 The emphasis on greater efficiency and
increased production has also tended to create a less diverse
landscape. There is a tendency for larger areas of single crops in
contrast to the diverse landscape of different crops in adjoining
fields described by author H.V. Morton(1) in 1927 as a ‘squared
patchwork of gold, sage-green, apple-green and red’.
Management of Field Boundaries
8.2.7 The high cost of traditional intensive
hedge maintenance has resulted in the widespread use of mechanical
hedge trimming. This is a convenient method and achieves a neat
result relatively quickly. The downside has been the tendency for
hedges to become ‘gappy’ over time. They cease to be stock proof
and as a result fences are often erected against hedges to deter
the escape of stock particularly sheep. Conversely in places hedges
have been allowed to grow tall and also tend to become ‘gappy’.
8.2.8 Where walls mark the field boundaries
there has also been a tendency for them to deteriorate,
particularly where arable crops are grown and where they are no
longer required to contain stock.
Modern Barns
8.2.9 The requirements of modern farming to
over winter large numbers of stock, store their feed-stuffs and
store and maintain a variety of large machinery has led to a
proliferation of large, modern barns. Inevitably there has also
been deterioration of traditional, smaller barns or their
conversion to residential use.
8.2.10 The large, modern barns are often very
prominent and unsightly in the countryside. Prominent
locations are part of the problem but modern materials,
pre-fabrication techniques, unsympathetic industrial design and
earth modelling are the key factors.
8.2.12 Traditionally barns are built using
local materials and locally distinctive designs and even when sited
in prominent locations away from the main farm complex, they sit
sympathetically in the landscape.
Horse Paddocks
8.2.13 Horse ownership has increased
enormously since the 1970s resulting in constant demand for horse
paddocks particularly on the edges of settlements. Horse paddocks
are distinctive in appearance with fields often being sub-divided
into smaller units by a variety of forms of fencing. The most
common form of fencing today appears to be white tape which is
particularly visible and discordant. In addition paddocks are
frequently over-grazed resulting in unsightly weedy or churned up
ground and loss of ecological value.
Woodland Planting
8.2.14 There are significant opportunities for
tree planting. This is generally desirable given the existing low
percentage of woodland across the area as a whole and can
contribute significantly to landscape character provided the
location and species planted are appropriate. Conversely tree
planting carried out inappropriately can have a negative impact on
landscape character.
Verge Maintenance
8.2.15 Reduced or lack of cutting of wider
verges has locally had significant nature conservation impacts and
has affected the character of some roads resulting from
colonisation by scrub. Likewise timing of cuts within the one metre
strip adjacent to the road surface can be significant if for
example it involves cutting of characteristic species such as cow
parsley or meadow crane’s-bill when flowering is at a
peak.
Archaeology
8.2.16 Archaeological remains whether buried
or surviving as structures and earthworks are an important aspect
of landscape character and are highly vulnerable to agricultural
change. Both earthworks and buried sites can be irreversibly
damaged or destroyed through tree planting, ploughing of ancient
pasture and the creation of fishing lakes and even wildlife ponds.
Much of this will be the result of farm diversification through
organic reversion and afforestation. The English Heritage Monuments
at Risk Programme published in 1995 recognised that agriculture was
the biggest threat to the continued survival of archaeological
remains outside the urban environment.
8.3 Natural Processes
Dutch Elm Disease
8.3.1 The disease has affected the area since
the late 1960s with the resultant loss of a large number of very
prominent field and hedgerow trees which epitomised the enclosed
rural English landscape. Even today the disease continues to affect
suckering elms which start to die out when they grow large enough
to become infected. The loss of elms has had a dramatic effect on
views both within villages and across the open agricultural
landscape. The loss of elms and the impact of dead and dying trees
has been referred to in some character areas where particularly
evident as part of the survey and analysis. However elms appear to
have been fairly well distributed in all but the higher plateau
areas and therefore these references should not be taken to
indicate either the only areas of elms or the most heavily affected
areas.
Phytophthora Disease in Alders
8.3.2 This water-born fungal disease has
spread rapidly in recent years killing many riverside alders. This
is having a significant impact affecting many river valley
landscapes.
Storm Damage
8.3.3 The loss of trees through the 1986 and
1990 storms has had a more localised effect noticeable in
particular where trees have been lost on exposed ridges, leaving a
ragged skyline with scattered remaining mature trees.
Invasive Species
8.3.4 The introduction in Victorian times of
ornamental exotic species has resulted in the spread of invasive
species such as Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam. These crowd
out native species affecting biodiversity as well as impacting on
the visual characteristics of the landscape.
8.4 Development
Chew Valley Lake
8.4.1 One of the most dramatic changes has
been the damming of the River Chew in the 1950s to create the Chew
Valley Lake to supply water for Bristol. This is now a major scenic
and recreational resource and is also important for its nature
conservation value.
New Housing and associated works
8.4.2 Post-war housing development has taken
place at the edges of many settlements. Use of modern materials,
housing density and layout and the constraints placed upon design
by building and highway standards as well as the homogenising
effect of volume housing have resulted in the loss of precious
local distinctiveness. In addition these developments tend to have
a very poorly designed interface with the countryside and their
appearance is often jarring in views from the countryside. There
are few examples where modern housing has enhanced or reflected
local distinctiveness or local character. Likewise extensions, new
boundaries and other works to existing properties are often
implemented without reference to the local character in the design
or materials used.
8.4.3 Perhaps the most recent example of
visually significant large-scale housing is the 1990s development
on the south side of Peasedown St John. As with a number of other
developments this is very prominent in the landscape by virtue of
its siting on a ridge-top, its density which has allowed virtually
no space for large trees and green space amongst the housing and
the combination of factors outlined above.
Commercial Development
8.4.4 Likewise office buildings, industry and
industrial units are often located at prominent locations at the
edges of settlements causing extensive intrusion into the wider
landscape as at Old Mills Midsomer Norton, the northern edge of
Paulton and the Westfield Industrial Estate at Radstock.
Telecommunication Masts
8.4.5 The rapid rise in the use of mobile
phones has necessitated an ever-increasing demand for masts by a
number of cell phone companies. They are located in prominent
places to maximise coverage and therefore are inevitably widely
visible and can have a significant detrimental impact on views. The
pressure is likely to continue as the new generation of phones are
introduced requiring ever greater numbers of masts.
Increased Traffic
8.4.6 This is evidenced through not only the
building of new sections of road such as the Peasedown St John
bypass but also through more diffuse changes. These include removal
of traditional hedges and widening of verges to improve sight lines
and widening of roads, either planned or by default, resulting in
the narrowing or removal of grass verges. Traffic jams are now a
regular occurrence on previously quiet country lanes especially at
morning and evening rush hour and at school pick-up times. A knock
on effect of increased traffic is the effect of traffic noise which
impacts on the tranquility of the countryside and unsightly muddy
unplanned passing places on narrow lanes.
Increased Light Spillage
8.4.7 With increased development has come
increased light spillage from settlements, from road junctions and
street lighting and from floodlighting of sport pitches. The park
and ride car park on the sky-line at Odd Down is a recent
example.
Recreation
8.4.8 Recreational use of the countryside has
mixed blessings for landscape character. At least in theory more
people using the countryside for leisure activities brings much
needed income to the countryside and increases awareness of the
value of landscape encouraging sensitive conservation and
management practices to protect and enhance the landscape.
8.4.9 Problems can occur where visitor
pressure results in over-use. Countryside “honey-pots” in the area
include Chew Valley Lake, the River Avon at Saltford, the Kennet
and Avon Canal, the Cotswolds and the Mendips. Visitor and
landscape management occurs actively at all these places.
8.4.10 Some leisure activities can cause
significant problems in the landscape. In the late 1980s and early
1990s there was a national boom in proposals for golf courses.
Because of their large size, very particular layout and need for
ancillary buildings and car parking, golf courses can have a high
negative impact on landscape character in the countryside. Within
the area there are currently only four courses, Stockwood being the
most rural and prominent in the countryside. Likewise demands for
playing fields, particularly at the edge of developed areas, can
have a significant impact on landscape character through for
example regrading of the landform and provision of ancillary
equipment and buildings.
8.4.11 In recent years mountain biking and
other activities such as trail biking and off-road driving have
done significant damage to green lanes and other tracks and paths
and areas of open countryside. These are also often very noisy and
can therefore conflict with other activities in otherwise quiet
countryside. Whilst some of these off-road activities have
organisations which issue guidelines for responsible behaviour,
others do not, or individuals choose not to join.
8.4.12 Horse riding can also have a
detrimental effect on landscape character. The area has relatively
few bridleways. This coupled with the ongoing increase in horse
ownership puts enormous pressure on existing bridleways and often
results in problems of erosion.
