summary

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

LOCATION

Discrete oval west of A10 at Wormley and Turnford, extending northwards between Broxbourne Woods and urban settlements to B1197.

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

LANDSCAPE CHARACTER

A palimpsest, with modified remains of ancient oak/hornbeam woodlands in parkland settings with 18th and 19th-century mixed plantations added. A complex mixture of land uses almost masks this area's history, but clear traces of a medieval deer park and later parklands are evident. These are now covered by arable farmland, pasture with parkland and recreational uses.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS

• * boundary woodland planting
• * relic parkland planting
• * planned arable farmland in north west corner
• * New River forms strong boundary to urban development in east
• * parkland features (lake, etc) mainly concealed
• * mineral extraction not visible

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

• * two moats (inaccessible)
• * reservoir
• * golf course
• * former parkland bisected by A10
• * distinct settlement pattern along northern edge, nibbling into parkland edge
• * country park on former parkland

View north east from Holy Cross Hill (HCC Landscape Unit)

assessment

PHYSICAL INFLUENCES

Geology and soils. The western part of this area has slowly permeable seasonally waterlogged clay soils over Tertiary clay (Windsor series), while the eastern part has deep stoneless well-drained silty soils over silty drift (Hamble 2 series).

Topography. Gently tilted towards the east, with undulations along the western side, becoming flatter to the east.

Degree of slope. 1 in 32.

Altitude range. 35m to 75m.

Hydrology. Several streams flow eastwards towards the river Lea. Some have been dammed to form lakes within parkland.

Land cover and land use. This area consists of a mix of wooded farmland and parkland, with recreational and utilities land uses at the southern end. Most of the parkland is used for grazing (sheep) while the farmland is in arable cultivation. The former parkland to the south (Cheshunt Park) now forms a country park and golf course, using the existing framework of hedges, parkland trees and woodland to create a well-integrated informal facility. There is evidence of mineral extraction within Wormleybury Park.

Vegetation and wildlife. Very densely wooded in part, with interlocking parkland boundary plantings of broadleaf woodland to screen views. There are also parkland standard trees, young plantations of silver birch and screening planting along the A10. Within the arable farmland hedges are generally low to medium, either young hawthorn or older (oak, ash, sycamore and field maple). Oak, hornbeam and ash are the dominant woodland species. Within Cheshunt Park there are some fairly extensive acid and neutral grasslands. At Wormleybury there is an old but important artificial waterbody, important for wildlife, especially bats. Wormley and Hoddesdon Great Park is important for its collection of pollards and their importance for invertebrates. Wormley West End Meadows are designated SSSI as acid grassland and are important as neutral grassland, too.

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES

The historic pattern of this are is now discontinous but still visible, with several historic layers apparent within the present landscape.

• * Wormley retains the long rectangular shape of a Saxon village, rising from the river Lee to high ground.
• * The boundaries of a medieval deer park (first recorded in 1226) can be clearly seen in the shape of Park Lane Paradise, Park Lane and Holy Cross Hill.
• * There are two Scheduled Ancient Monuments, Perrier's manor moat and fishpond and Hell Wood moat and enclosure, within the parkland in Spring Wood and Hell Wood.
• * Cheshunt Great House was purchased in 1519 by Cardinal Wolsey and was used by Elizabeth I on hunting visits. The house burnt down in 1970.
• * Cheshunt Park occupied the southern part of the former deer park, and is now a golf course and country park.
• * Wormleybury is in the northern part, set within a landscape park of 57ha, developed in the 1770s from an earlier scheme. The relic early 19th-century gardens were famed as a plant collection, with many plant introductions between 1785-1825.
• * The New River is a canal constructed in 1614 to transport fresh water to London and a unique local feature, linked by footpaths to the urban edge.

Field pattern. The field pattern is unsurprisingly fragmented and discontinous, with a strong medium to large-scale regular pattern in the arable farmland to the west.

Transport pattern. A historic road network delineates the boundaries of the parks, except to the east, where the A10 cuts through the relic parkland. The New River acts as a strong boundary to the urban edge to the east and is a notable feature in its own right.

Settlements and built form. The only settlement in this area is along the northern edge of Wormleybury, whose buildings are either mansions or farmhouses. Wormleybury mansion is a square block of brownish-yellow brick, built 1767-69 on the site of a previous house, with a giant stone portico. The Lodge at Park Lane (late 18th century) was attached to Cheshunt Park and is a small thatched building faced with shells.

OTHER SOURCES OF AREA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION

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

English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens

A Biodiversity Action Plan for Hertfordshire, pp.82, 102

evaluation

VISUAL AND SENSORY PERCEPTION

Views of area from outside are so restricted by boundary woodland that it is very difficult to get any views in. Views within the area are similarly limited by blocks of woodland and topographical variation, and to some extent by lack of access. The scale of landscape elements is small to medium within this contained landscape, but it has an incoherent quality due to the varied current land uses. Away from the A10 it is tranquil; close to a constant low hum is apparent.

Rarity and distinctiveness. The ancient parkland and veteran pollard trees in this area are important, and it is unusual to have such a clear deer park boundary still extant. The New River is unique and of national interest.

VISUAL IMPACT

There is significant but localised impact from built development in the form of the A10 and poor farm buildings. Land-use change from parkland to arable or amenity is also prominent locally, although mineral extraction is not visible. Distinctive features within the area are the parkland pasture and the New River, the latter very accessible by footpath from the urban edge.

ACCESSIBILITY

Noted recreational land uses are golf, walking and informal play. Footpaths are localised and few, chiefly along the urban edge, with waymarked routes along the boundary. The footpath along the New River is discontinuous and mainly over a grass surface.

COMMUNITY VIEWS

The 'Friends of Cheshunt Park' are conducting a veteran tree survey within the park which will increase awareness of veteran trees and pinpoint some of the veterans of the future.

Cheshunt Park is of significant value (C).

LANDSCAPE RELATED DESIGNATIONS

SSSI at Wormley Wood Meadows

 

CONDITION
Land cover change:	localised
Age structure of tree cover:	mixed
Extent of semi-natural habitat survival:	fragmented
Management of semi-natural habitat:	good
Survival of cultural pattern:	interrupted
Impact of built development:	low
Impact of land-use change:	high
ROBUSTNESS
Impact of landform:	apparent
Impact of land cover:	prominent
Impact of historic pattern:	discontinuous
Visibility from outside:	concealed
Sense of enclosure:	contained
Visual unity:	incoherent
Distinctiveness/rarity:	very rare

guidelines

STRATEGY AND GUIDELINES FOR MANAGING CHANGE: IMPROVE AND CONSERVE

• * ensure that landowners are aware of the importance of the parklands and veteran trees and of the need to avoid potentially destructive activities, such as ploughing, mineral extraction, drainage, agricultural spraying, air pollution, over-grazing and pasture improvement
• * encourage the increasing co-operation between landowners and nature conservation bodies and the opportunities this affords to define and refine management techniques for safeguarding veteran, parkland and pollard trees
• * ensure that landowners are made aware of funding opportunities for safeguarding these habitats
• * encourage the continuation of pastoral and wood pasture land management within the parklands and encourage the reversion of arable to pasture where possible
• * sheep and cattle grazing is more beneficial ecologically than horse grazing. Encourage a change to the former where this is economically viable
• * encourage the management of woodland to create mixed-age plantings with a species-rich ground flora and a distinction between different management techniques: high forest, coppice, coppice-with-standards and woodpasture
• * encourage the restoration of hedges within arable areas, where they have been lost or damaged, along historic field boundaries only
• * promote the continuing management of Cheshunt Park as informal open space within its historic context, working to maintain historic features such as trees and hedgerows and to increase the biodiversity of grasslands by appropriate low-intervention management. This approach is also suitable for the golf course
• * encourage increased access to the parklands via improved signage and surfacing
• * improve the footpaths along the New River by ensuring sufficient maintenance to keep the footpath accessible and the provision of additional links to make it a long-distance path

Swans and cygnets on Broxbourne New River (J. Crew)