Rolling wooded pasture
Location
The Rolling Wooded Pasture landscape type is found around the margins of the Poole Basin and along the northern slopes of the Purbeck ridge.
Key Characteristics
- undulating, low and rolling hills with an irregular patchwork of
pasture, woods and hedgerows
- small scale, intimate and enclosed mosaic landscape
- situated between the chalk and the heathland landscapes
- dense small woods of oak, ash and birch and hazel coppice
- mainly a pastoral landscape with some arable on flatter land
- many small villages linked by winding hedge lined lanes
- small patches of heath and/or unimproved grassland
- views limited by dense hedgerows and many small woods and copses
The Poole Basin is a low-lying area enclosed by the chalk to the
north, west and south. The eroded dip slope fringes of the chalk are
overlain by a mix of clays and poor acidic sands which produce the
characteristic low rolling landform of this type with an irregular
mosaic of hedgerows, woodland and pasture. There is therefore a
gradual transition to chalk along the northwestern edges of this area.
Across the type it is a small scale well wooded landscape of pastures,
scattered trees and dense well treed hedgerows helping to shape and
create a varied, intimate and rural landscape which contrasts with the
more open broader scale of the chalk landscapes nearby. Remnant heathy
patches are found in the Poole Basin areas where there is a gradual
transition to less fertile agriculture associated with the heathland
landscapes and small patches of unimproved grassland are found in the
Purbeck hills area. This is often seen in the patches of regenerating
wood in the corners of fields. It is a predominantly a pastoral
landscape with larger arable fields on flatter land and there is a
significant amount of common land compared with the rest of the
county. The marginal farmland on urban edges is often the location for
pony paddocks and its associated ‘clutter’. There are many small and
picturesque villages, farms and hamlets scattered along the network of
narrow and twisting hedge lined lanes. Many of the rural buildings and
structures are traditionally constructed using local materials.
Management Objectives
The overall management objective for the Rolling Wooded Pasture
Landscape Type should be to conserve its diverse intimate wooded
pastoral character. Key features that unify the landscape must be
conserved such as the woodland blocks, dense hedgerows and the presence
of scattered trees. Enhancement of the many key features such as
hedgerows, characteristic rural winding lanes and traditionally built
structures and buildings is also required to conserve the sense of
continuity across the landscape.
Key land management guidance notes
- restore important patches of heathland through phased conifer
felling and introduction of grazing regimes
- conserve the ancient pattern of small irregular fields and narrow
lanes interspersed with irregular patches of woodland
- enhance the management of permanent grassland to prevent loss to
agricultural improvement and damage to wildlife and historic features
- encourage and promote grazing management
- maintain and conserve common land
- tree, woodland, hedgerow/hedgerow tree planting and hedgebank
management noting that further conifer planting is not an objective
- link woodland blocks and hedgerows for example via land management
initiatives and conserve the pattern of enclosed woodlands and open pastures
- enhance woodland management, particularly restoration of coppice,
with small scale planting to connect existing woodlands and plant
further scattered trees
- control and manage urban fringe uses such as ‘horsiculture’ to
reduce their landscape and visual impacts e.g. through careful
design & site planning, planning policy development and/or
voluntary codes of practice
- identify, protect and conserve key public views e.g. via Parish
Action Plans, Village Design Statements and other Settlement Appraisals
- promote recreational trails especially away from areas of
ecological sensitivity through zoning, and relate to tourism and
transport plans
- provide open space areas as physical barriers on edge of heathland
areas as part of a wider Green Infrastructure initiative
- conserve parkland landscapes, associated features of interest and
their setting especially those with no management plan
- promote/encourage the production of a comprehensive Landscape
Design/Management Restoration Masterplan for Lulworth Camp
Landscape Character Assessment Map
View a map of all the Landscape Character Areas in Dorset, or view a list