©Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Hertfordshire County Council, LA 076678, 2001
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©Crown
Copyright. All rights reserved. Hertfordshire County Council, LA 076678, 2001
North of Broxbourne Woods, east of the Bayfordbury and Balls Parklands and west of Great Amwell.
©Crown
Copyright. All rights reserved. Hertfordshire County Council, LA 076678, 2001
An area of gently undulating wooded farmland, much of it pasture, with extensive areas of woodland and heath. At the heart of this rural area lies Haileybury College, which also influences the only settlement in the area, from which it takes its name. The damp acid grasslands and relic heath are ecologically and visually important.
Goldings Wood, Hertford Heath (HCC Landscape Unit)
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Geology and soils. Slowly permeable seasonally waterlogged fine loam and clay soils over chalky till (Beccles 3 series) with some similar Windsor series and Hallsworth 1 series soils.
Topography. Slight plateau sloping gently eastwards.
Degree of slope. 1 in 25.
Altitude range. 75m to 90m.
Hydrology. There are many ponds within the woodland in this area, and several minor watercourses flowing north-eastwards to the river Lea.
Land cover and land use. This area is wooded farmland, mainly under pasture. Forestry is the dominant land use, with recreational use as a secondary feature.
Vegetation and wildlife. This is predominantly a relatively flat de-calcified boulder clay plateau, dominated ecologically by damp acid grasslands, mostly improved but with important remaining old pastures at Dalmonds and by Balls Wood. Several ancient and old secondary woodland blocks are basically acidic/damp oak/hornbeam, botanically rich with herb Paris, orchids and a range of sedges. Balls Wood is partly replanted mixed woodland. The other main feature of the area is the relic wet heath at The Roundings, now largely scrubbed with oak/birch/aspen, with open areas maintained as a nature reserve. Old acidic ponds here are highly important for invertebrates and amphibians. The other half of the heath (Goldingtons) is largely secondary oak/hornbeam. Wild service trees are a feature of many old hedges.
The historic pattern of this area is both apparent and widespread, a mixture of ancient woodland, an old settlement and an early 19th-century educational establishment. Haileybury College was designed in 1806 by William Wilkins (who designed Downing College, Cambridge and University College, London) as a training school for the East India Company. Repton visited in 1808, the year before it opened. He skilfully adapted three rectangular brick pits to form two sinuous pools and an island, and visually combined the two pools by careful planting to give the impression of a wide, meandering river through the park.
Field pattern. The field pattern is irregular and small to medium in scale, with grazing sheep. Adjacent to Balls Wood the field size is larger, where fields are subdivided by fencing for horse pasture.
Transport pattern. Elbow Lane is part of Ermine Street and contributes its Roman strictness of line, despite the modern surfacing. Roads in this area are narrow and sinuous, except for the A10(T) which curves around the eastern boundary; verges are variable and not notable.
Settlements and built form. Hertford Heath is a sizeable village, the only settlement within this area, and linked to the educational establishment of Haileybury College. There are also some isolated farms.
A Biodiversity Action Plan for Hertfordshire, p.82.
English Nature SSSI notification.
Pevsner, N. rev. Cherry, B., Hertfordshire, Penguin (2000).
HHC data on historic parks and gardens.
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There are few views into this area, due to the density of woodland and the lack of roads. From within views are limited by hedgerows and woodland. This is a small to medium scale contained landscape, with large woodland blocks balanced by small to medium fields. It is in many ways a simple landscape, coherent, ancient and tranquil, save for the constant hum of vehicles on the A10(T).
Rarity and distinctiveness. Although the farmland is not unusual, the architecture of the college is notable. Hertford Heath SSSI is important as a fine example of a threatened habitat in southern England, now rare in the county.
There appears to have been little land-use change in this area, possibly minor changes from pasture to arable. The main impact is that of the high embankments of the transport corridor (A10(T)), which is limited to the eastern side of the area. Hertford Heath appears to have accommodated 20th-century housing within its envelope, rather than on its edge, and it has no significant impact on the wider landscape
No recreational land uses were noted during hte survey, although there is a limited network of footpaths. Ermine Street forms part of a north-south route but its character has been eroded by transformation to a gravelled/tarmac access road. Equestrian activity is widespread.
This area is regarded as distinctive, largely on account of its woodlands (D).
Mainly Landscape Development Area; part Landscape Conservation Area.
SSSI: Hertford Heath
| CONDITION | |
|---|---|
| Land cover change: | insignificant |
| Age structure of tree cover: | mature |
| Extent of semi-natural habitat survival: | fragmented |
| 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: | apparent |
| Impact of land cover: | prominent |
| Impact of historic pattern: | continuous |
| Visibility from outside: | concealed |
| Sense of enclosure: | partial |
| Visual unity: | coherent |
| Distinctiveness/rarity: | unusual |
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View north from Goldings Wood (HCC Landscape Unit)
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