Wooded hills
Location
The Wooded Hills landscape type is found over a significant part of the western end of Dorset.
Key Characteristics
- very varied and undulating pastoral farmland scenery with broad
rolling hills, steep greensand ridges, some steep incised valleys
and a dramatic coastline.
- wooded valley side slopes interspersed within a patchwork of
fields and hedges which become more irregular and smaller scale on
steeper land.
- distinctive steep greensand summits with heathland vegetation cover.
- many of the summits are key local landmarks.
- distinctive and popular coastal landscape of headlands, eroding
cliffs and undercliffs, landslips and small beaches.
- narrow twisting hedge lined lanes.
- many scattered farmsteads and small villages.
The variable, undulating farmland scenery of the Wooded Hills
landscape continues over the border into Devon and Somerset and has a
diverse structure from steep greensand ridges, incised valleys, broad
rolling hills and distinctive conical shaped hills. Several clusters
of these conical shaped hills are found around and define the
Marshwood and Powerstock Vales and help create an enclosed and
intimate landscape. Pilsden Pen is part of the curved ridge which
divides the Marshwood Vale from the hills to the north. Typically the
woodland is found on the valley sides with a network of dense
hedgerows, winding lanes and small clustered settlements dotted
throughout this predominantly pastoral landscape. The patchwork of
fields, dense hedges and woods becomes more irregular and smaller on
the steeper land where the pattern is broken on the greensand summits
by a mosaic of heathland vegetation. There some elevated mainly
greensand ridges/hills such as Pilsden Pen, Leweston Hill, Langdon
Hill, Lamberts Castle, Conegar Hill and Golden Cap which all form key
landmarks across the area. The popular, dramatic and varied coastline
has a number of key features such as the South West Coast Path, the
tumbling landslips around Lyme Regis and Charmouth as well as the
prominent headlands of Golden Cap and Thorncombe Beacon. Seaton is a
picturesque coastal village in a small valley between the headlands.
There are several visually prominent campsites along this coastline
which impact on landscape character. The market and coastal towns and
villages in and around the area such as Powerstock, Symondsbury,
Marshwood, Broadwindsor and Wotton Fitzpaine support a long tradition
of artistic interpretation of the landscape and local cultural
traditions. The villages and scattered farmsteads are found along the
dense network of narrow lanes which often have steep hedgebanks.
Management Objectives
The overall management objective for the Wooded Hills Landscape Type
should be to conserve the intimate, undeveloped and pastoral appearance
and protect the wooded character. Ongoing protection of hedgerows, rural
lanes, small scale pastures, open skylines and settlement character are
also important considerations.
Key land management guidance notes
- conserve the ancient pattern of small irregular piecemeal
enclosures, assarts and strip fields.
- protect the wooded character and enhance woodland management with
small scale planting of broadleaves along valley sides. Protect the
character of important open skylines from future planting.
- protect the character of elevated woodlands on key ridges.
- buffer woodland edges with graded scrub to enhance biodiversity
and ameliorate wind buffering to exposed woodland.
- protect wet flushes and spring lines where these appear.
- conserve and enhance permanent grassland and prevent loss to
agricultural improvement and damage to wildlife and archaeological
features. Promote low impact grassland management.
- conserve existing orchards and promote new establishment.
- encourage maintenance of species rich hedgerows and trees,
particularly along the valley floors and replant any gaps where
necessary. Resist use of post and wire.
- manage the retreat of coastal landscapes and associated coastal
corridor and manage the coastal corridor to minimise erosion pressures.
- restore important patches of heathland through phased conifer
felling and introduce grazing regimes.
- prevent further expansion of caravan parks in sensitive locations
and promote enhanced management of existing sites to help integrate
them and enhance their appearance.
- maintain undeveloped character and resist intrusive developments
on sensitive hillside locations.
- consider screening views of intrusive agricultural buildings
and/or settlement edges through planting new small-scale native
broadleaved copses/woodlands.
- conserve the ancient pattern of small irregular piecemeal
enclosures, assarts and strip fields e.g. by the careful
consideration of new development design and positioning.
- protect patterns of strip lynchets and their landscape setting
e.g. by the careful consideration of new development design and positioning.
Landscape Character Assessment Map
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