summary

 
©Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Hertfordshire County Council, LA 076678, 2001

LOCATION

This area is located between the settlements of Northwood, South Oxhey and Pinner Green.

 
©Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Hertfordshire County Council, LA 076678, 2001

LANDSCAPE CHARACTER

An oasis of woodland in the middle of suburbia. A combination of ancient woodlands, including Oxhey Wood and Old Hangings, and more recent plantations. The woodland landscape provides a strong vegetated skyline from many surrounding areas.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

• dense woodland cover
• Pinnerwood Park golf course to the south
• sloping landform up to ridge in the west
• strong vegetated skyline
• wide range of woodland habitats and botanical interest

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

• distinctive tree forms including the 'Gremlin'

Clearing in Oxhey Wood (HCC Landscape Unit)

assessment

PHYSICAL INFLUENCES

Geology and soils. The underlying geology comprises Tertiary clay overlaid by slowly permeable and seasonally waterlogged soils with some brown subsoils (Windsor series). There are locally areas of fine loamy and silty soils over the clays including areas of periglacial outwash gravels

Topography. The woods are located on a local area of high ground that slopes in all directions.

Degree of slope. Slopes typically range between 1 in 10 and 1 in 15.

Altitude range. 68m at Pinnerwood House to the south-east up to a maximum elevation of 132m.

Hydrology. A number of streams flow off the clay soils in a radiating pattern towards the tributaries of the river Colne. A few water features are to be found within the grounds of the Pinnerwood golf course.

Land cover and land use. The area comprises a mix of woodland habitats. There are areas of recreation and limited residential development. Pinnerwood Park golf course occupies the southern part of the character area, successfully set among the mature woodland areas.

Vegetation and wildlife. There is a variety of woodland cover including ancient, semi-natural, scrub and some ornamental planting. There is evidence of wood pasture and the woods were one of the last sites in the county where bilberry was recorded in the 19th century. There are a great variety of trees and shrubs within the woods, ranging from towering oaks to elegantly twisted hornbeam and more unusual species such as the wild service tree and the Midland hawthorn. More recently, areas have been planted with commercial crops, including larch. On the woodland floor there is a range of plant life: in the clearings there is natural regeneration of birch, and bluebells, violets, foxgloves and remnant areas of heather survive.

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES

Woodland management practices of coppicing, to provide timber for hurdles, charcoal and firewood, and pollarding, to indicate woodland boundaries and to provide wood pasture, have taken place for centuries but are not much in evidence now.

Field pattern. There is no field pattern in this area as it was until recently 100% woodland cover.

Transport pattern. There are two secondary roads through the woods; these have some urbanising features.

Settlements and built form. There are a few individual houses within the woodland and the area is almost entirely enclosed by residential development. The former Oxhey Place has been lost. All that remains is the brick and flint chapel of 1612, repaired and restored by the Victorians.

evaluation

VISUAL AND SENSORY PERCEPTION

The area is visible from surrounding areas for some distance, e.g. from the open Bushey Hill to the east and South Oxhey playing fields. There is a marked sense of confinement in the wood.

Rarity and distinctiveness. The landscape type is unusual in the county. The mature and elevated woodland setting, surrounded by suburban development, is the most distinctive element.

VISUAL IMPACT

There is limited built development within the wood; however residential, educational and commercial development surround the area.

ACCESSIBILITY

There is public access through the woods and information boards and picnic facilities are provided. Facilities for visitors arriving by car are restricted, poor and uninviting. There is probably a major fear of public safety when walking in the woods in an otherwise 'urban' environment, not helped by the lack of sensitive management in some areas.

COMMUNITY VIEWS

There is currently little evidence that those Hertfordshire residents surveyed value this site as a distinctive landscape, but the sample did not include the neighbouring North London population (D).

LANDSCAPE RELATED DESIGNATIONS

Local Nature Reserve.

 

CONDITION
Land cover change:	insignificant
Age structure of tree cover:	mixed
Extent of semi-natural habitat survival:	widespread
Management of semi-natural habitat:	variable
Survival of cultural pattern:	intact
Impact of built development:	low
Impact of land-use change:	low
ROBUSTNESS
Impact of landform:	apparent
Impact of land cover:	prominent
Impact of historic pattern:	continuous
Visibility from outside:	locally visible
Sense of enclosure:	contained
Visual unity:	unified
Distinctiveness/rarity:	unusual

guidelines

STRATEGY AND GUIDELINES FOR MANAGING CHANGE: IMPROVE AND CONSERVE

• promote management plans for the woodland to restore a mix of habitat types and a balance between wildlife and public access. Promote local initiatives for traditional management where appropriate
• in existing plantations encourage the replacement of softwoods with indigenous deciduous communities
• improve public access arrangements to woodlands from surrounding residential areas with enhanced car park provision and design
• woods to be managed along roads and rights of way to create a more open and safe environment
• clearings to be created to benefit indigenous heathland plant communities
• promote the appropriate management of woodland in order to maintain a rich ground flora and the distinction between different management systems, such as high forest, coppice, coppice-with-standards and wood pasture
• promote through education and access the multiple uses of ancient woodland
• encourage the dissemination of information about the historic importance and appropriate management of woodland features such as banks and ditches
• seek to resolve conflicts arising from competing uses and activities in woodland
• prevention of the spread of invasive species such as Rhododendron ponticum
• survey and manage veteran trees for biodiversity value
• promote both the creation of new ponds and the retention/enhancement for wildlife of existing ponds
• ensure Pinner Wood golf course includes appropriate measures to manage and enhance the existing landscape setting and historical and ecological value. Particular attention should be given to earthwork proposals and developing a diverse and botanically rich range of habitats
• promote the use of sympathetic materials for roads that pass through the wood

Oxhey Woods from the south (HCC Landscape Unit)