©Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Hertfordshire County Council, LA 076678, 2001
| Landscape Character Assessment | HertsDirect | Environment | |||
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©Crown
Copyright. All rights reserved. Hertfordshire County Council, LA 076678, 2001
Wormley West End, bounded to west by Wormley Wood and to east by Park Lane Paradise. A relic area of similar character remains to the south, squeezed between the increasing housing development around Hammond Street and Goff's Oak.
©Crown
Copyright. All rights reserved. Hertfordshire County Council, LA 076678, 2001
Very rural area dominated by wave-like landform and opportunity for extensive long-range views. A small-scale mixture of woodland and pasture with limited 19th and 20th-century development. From the northern edge of Hammond Street a distinctive pattern of fields and strip woodland can be seen at Wormley West End. South of Hammond Street new housing development is rapidly obliterating a similar relic field pattern.
View west of co-axial field system north of Hammond Street (Environmental Land
Management Service (Rural Estates) HCC )
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Geology and soils. A mix of seasonally waterlogged poorly drained clay soils over Tertiary clay (Windsor series) or plateau and river terrace drift (Essendon series).
Topography. Strongly undulating series of east-west ridges and valleys.
Degree of slope. 1 in 12.
Altitude range. 50m to 95m.
Hydrology. Rags Brook, Turnford Brook and Wormleybury Brook all flow eastwards towards the Lea valley.
Land cover and land use. A distinctive mix of treed pasture and woodland in small parcels. These fields are grazed mainly by horses, but there are some cattle. There are also a few large glasshouses for nursery production, and significant housing development around Hammond Street. This area was formerly a focus of nursery production, most of which is now disused and derelict or given over to new housing.
Vegetation and wildlife. The woodland is entirely broadleaf ancient semi-natural oak/hornbeam and birch/bracken woodland, with nature reserves to the east and north west. The dominant woodland species are oak and ash, with field maple and elm. There are important networks of old hedges (hornbeam and blackthorn) and old lanes along the ancient boundaries. Field boundaries are most often very tall (elm) on the higher ground or medium height without standards, or overgrown, usually of hawthorn and field maple. Acid grassland - former cattle pasture - is found in the valleys to either side of the important stream complexes.
The pre-20th century landscape pattern of this area is widespread and apparent in the northern half, but is being eroded and engulfed in the southern half by housing development. It is likely that this co-axial landscape pattern is both extensive (to the north a similar pattern can be traced within the Wormleywood/Hoddesdonpark Wood complex) and ancient, dating possibly from the Iron Age
Field pattern. Each field forms a narrow north-south rectangle, its consistent pattern reinforced by the broad treed field boundaries, which are generally prominent but variable, consisting of treed hedgerows, medium to high hedgerows without trees, fences, and hedge banks with no verges. These lines of consistently equal fields are bounded to north and south by a series of parallel east-west lanes or brooks, forming a very distinctive small-scale regular but sinuous pattern.
Transport pattern. The road pattern is regular and unusual, consisting of east-west lines on the ridgetop or in the valley, linked by densely-hedged acutely right-angled lanes down the slopes. Park Lane Paradise/Holy Cross Hill marks the eastern boundary of this area, formed by that of a medieval deer park and therefore curved, while Bread and Cheese Lane is extremely angular, possibly denoting later enclosure. Verges, where present, are generally very narrow.
Settlements and built form. In this area settlements take the form of isolated farmhouses or linear bands of houses along the few lanes. Wormley West End is an old settlement with buildings in black weatherboard or brick and tile, now a 17th to 20th-century mix of farms and bungalows, plus several large 18th / 19th century houses in large gardens. Beaumont Road is a linear settlement of mainly 20th-century houses and some earlier/larger with extensive grounds. The relic area to the south was formerly home to an immigrant Italian community, allied to the nursery business, but most of this has been lost to housing development of the late 20th century.
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From high points on roads and footpaths within the area it is extremely visible and extensive views north and east to Hoddeson are available. Within the valleys views are contained by the topography and vegetation. The scale of landscape elements is mixed, with small fields and large blocks of woodland combining to give a sense of coherent visual unity in the northern part of this area, which has been lost further south. There is a sense of enclosure within the valleys, while the ridges are open. There is little intrusion from traffic or aircraft and it is a tranquil area to the north, while to the south the accumulation of unrelated housing development is visually jarring. North of Hammond Street extensive views can be obtained over this area and the Lea valley to the north east.
Rarity and distinctiveness. The very distinctive northern half of this area is the only clearly visible example in southern Hertfordshire of a traditional co-axial field system. It is possible that this system is very old - there are examples elsewhere in the country that are known to be pre-Roman - and is of significant historic value, the more so because it is still in traditional use. it is probably unique in the county and most unusual nationally. It seems likely that the area to the south was very similar, but much of this has now been lost to housing.
the small field pattern carved out of the woodland and the shaws (linear tree belts) at Wormley West End. There is localised impact from built development on a significant scale. This links the southern part of the area to the very urban areas adjoining, and makes the rarity of the northern part more apparent. Pylons are visible within the area, matching the scale of the woodland. There is also localised impact from structures such as glasshouses for nursery production.
Noted recreational land uses are riding and walking. There are several footpaths within the area, but fewer bridleways. However, the condition of the footpaths is poor - they tend to be narrow, muddy, of variable width and poorly maintained, with a mud or grass surface.
This area has some distinctive aspects, particularly the more wooded northern end (D).
| CONDITION | |
|---|---|
| Land cover change: | localised |
| Age structure of tree cover: | mature |
| Extent of semi-natural habitat survival: | widespread |
| Management of semi-natural habitat: | good |
| Survival of cultural pattern: | declining |
| Impact of built development: | high |
| Impact of land-use change: | low |
| ROBUSTNESS | |
| Impact of landform: | prominent |
| Impact of land cover: | prominent |
| Impact of historic pattern: | interrupted |
| Visibility from outside: | locally visible |
| Sense of enclosure: | partial |
| Visual unity: | incoherent |
| Distinctiveness/rarity: | unique |
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Thunderfield Ridge from Gammon Farm (HCC Landscape Unit)
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