summary

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

LOCATION

Small plateau south the of the Lea Valley West, surrounded by steep slopes.

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

LANDSCAPE CHARACTER

A small settled plateau of several very narrow 'finger' ridges, each of which has a settlement at its extreme end, with extensive views out over wooded valleys and the Lea valley to the north, where vegetation permits. Around each settlement pasture gives way to arable and views out are frequently screened by small blocks of woodland or hedges.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

• gently undulating narrow plateau
• settlements at extreme end of each 'finger'
• some older buildings, but mainly 19th and 20th-century in style
• limited views out due to density of vegetation
• pasture around settlements gives way to small to medium arable fields

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

• Bedwell Park house and lodges
• Stratton's Folly
• settlement at ridge ends

Transmitter near Little Berkhamsted (C. Bailey)

assessment

PHYSICAL INFLUENCES

Geology and soils. Slowly permeable seasonally waterlogged coarse loamy over clayey soils, over plateau and river terrace drift (Essendon series).Variable London clay with Reading gravels and boulder clay over.

Topography. Gently undulating plateau.

Degree of slope. 1 in 80 to 1 in 120.

Altitude range. 89m to 126m.

Hydrology. Only artificial ponds and lakes, but this is a wet plateau because of the poor drainage through the London clay and there are many ponds.

Land cover and land use. This is a lightly wooded and very settled area, with mixed farmland, chiefly small pasture fields and odd small copses. Some woodland appears to be poorly managed.

Vegetation and wildlife. Locally tall elm hedges around the villages, elsewhere medium hawthorn hedges with oak, ash and sycamore, often untended, and hybrid Midland thorn, hazel and hornbeam, with some holly. Tree rows. Lime avenues associated with parkland. Brickendon Green is a key acid grassland site and Dalmonds Farm Meadows is a key neutral grassland site, with additional species-rich heathy grasslands around Bayford and at Ashendene and Claypits, where butcher's broom is a rare indicator of wood pasture origins.

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES

The pre-20th century pattern of this area is apparent throughout, in the settlements and field pattern and the density of tree cover. There is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, Coldharbour Moat, in woodland at the junction of Tyler's Causeway and Woodfield Lane and a deer park is recorded at Little Berkhamsted in 1337and at Bedwell in 1406. The county's Record Office holds a record dating from 1475 about the export of 62 loads of charcoal from Little Berkhamsted to London.

Field pattern. Field sizes are mixed - medium to large arable, often lacking field boundaries, plus small pasture fields around settlements, usually well hedged or fenced.

Transport pattern. The villages in this area are linked by narrow winding lanes on the plateau and to the wider landscape by straight roads which plunge off the plateau into the dense woodland below.

Settlements and built form. The settlements in this area, Essendon, Little Berkhamsted and Bayford, occupy a position at the extreme end of each finger of the plateau, overlooking the valley below, while Brickendon occupies a wider upland area.

• Brickendon is an archetypal English village, with black-painted weatherboard farm buildings and red brick cottages clustered around a large village green, on which five oaks have been planted to celebrate each sovereign from Victoria to Elizabeth II. Some buildings date from the 17th century, and there are many examples of black weatherboard, clay tile and red brick, plus 20th-century non-vernacular design and materials.
• Essendon is a medieval settlement at the ridge end with vernacular building styles and extensive use of vernacular materials, such as white and black weatherboard and some flint, as in the church.
• Bayford village also occupies a ridge end position and extends slightly downhill, with red-brick estate cottages with large dormer windows and some mid-18th century red brick private houses of substance.
• Little Berkhamsted has several large red-brick Georgian houses near the church and a red brick Folly Tower erected in 1789 by John Stratton, with classical cornices and battlements. It has the appearance of a lookout and is visible over a wide area.

OTHER SOURCES OF AREA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION

A Biodiversity Action Plan for Hertfordshire, p.82.

Pevsner, N., rev. Cherry, B., Hertfordshire, Penguin (2000).

evaluation

VISUAL AND SENSORY PERCEPTION

There are many views up to but not into the plateau, while from within there are occasional extensive views over the valley to the north, but by no means from every point. This makes it quite a contained landscape, despite its open character. It is tranquil, unified by the pattern of settlement, the topography and the land cover, and is of small to medium scale.

Rarity and distinctiveness. There are other areas within the county which have this pattern of ridge-top settlements, but they lack both the historic character of this area and the surrounding belt of dense vegetation on the upper slopes.

VISUAL IMPACT

The settlements make an important contribution to the local landscape but are generally not very visible from outside. There is a clear distinction in land cover and scale between the pastoral and the arable farmland, with a gradual increase in scale with increasing distance from each settlement

ACCESSIBILITY

Some Chain Walks and byways are linked to the local road system, providing good access to all the settlements.

Condition: fair to poor - often impassable to pedestrians in wet weather due to equine use

COMMUNITY VIEWS

Of Essendon: 'in a pocket of deeply rural country almost unique in south Hertfordshire' (W. Branch Johnson); 'In Essendon itself, with its views all ways where the trees part...' (Herts. Countryside, Vol. 119, No. 77).

This large area is recognised a having various locations of value for their distinctiveness, especially the villages (D).

LANDSCAPE RELATED DESIGNATIONS

Landscape Conservation Areas

 

CONDITION
Land cover change:	insignificant
Age structure of tree cover:	mature
Extent of semi-natural habitat survival:	widespread
Management of semi-natural habitat:	not obvious
Survival of cultural pattern:	intact
Impact of built development:	low
Impact of land-use change:	low
ROBUSTNESS
Impact of landform:	prominent
Impact of land cover:	apparent
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

• proposed development within the settlements will need careful consideration to ensure that local landscape character is not compromised by a change of scale or inappropriate non-vernacular design
• encourage the planting of woodland on poor quality agricultural land, using locally native species of local provenance, where this is on the site of former woodland or can provide a link to other woodlands or habitat. Do not encourage woodland planting on former grassland areas, rather encourage their reversion to heathy grassland
• ensure that any proposed woodland planting will contribute to the local landscape rather than impoverishing or destroying an existing and valued habitat or historic artefact
• consider clearing some of the secondary woodland from common edges, especially the narrow bands frequently found on the edge of settlements, and encourage their reversion to heathland/acidic grassland and possible use for recreational purposes. Cut timber could be sold to local inhabitants and the cleared areas managed by grazing. Issues of animal safety/welfare would have to be addressed near public highways
• ensure that any proposed improvements to the landscape within Landscape Conservation Areas will reinforce and contribute to the distinctiveness of local landscape character
• promote the retention of mixed farming in this area
• establish realistic and attractive countryside management schemes for all sites with heathland and acid grassland/scrub communities

Walking near The Folly (Stratton's Tower) at Little Berkhamsted (C. Bailey)