This chapter refers to the National Character Area context for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse, to county-level assessments, to the current district landscape character assessments (that it will replace), to neighbouring authorities’ character assessments, and to any other studies that are used to inform our analysis.

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Relationship to Published Landscape Studies

Landscape Character Assessment can be undertaken at a variety of scales and levels of detail. This Landscape Character Assessment is part of a hierarchy of landscape character assessment information cascading down from the national to the local level.

National level

National Character Areas

At a national level, England is divided into 159 distinct National Character Areas (NCAs). Each is defined by a unique combination of landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity, history, and cultural and economic activity. There are descriptive profiles available for each NCA setting out information on landscape character, changes in the landscape and an assessment of ecosystem services delivered (Natural England, 2014).

The study area lies within the following NCAs:

• NCA 108 Upper Thames Clay Vales extends east-west across both the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire in two bands, split by the Midvale Ridge NCA. It contains around 5,000 ha of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape formerly the North Wessex Downs AONB) and smaller areas of the Chilterns National Landscape and the Cotswolds National Landscape (both formerly AONBs). The NCA is summarised as follows:

“… a broad belt of open, gently undulating lowland farmland on predominantly Jurassic and Cretaceous clays … There are contrasting landscapes, including enclosed pastures of the claylands with wet valleys, mixed farming, hedges, hedge trees and field trees and more settled, open, arable lands. Mature field oaks give a parkland feel in many places… The area is dominated by watercourses, including the Thames and its tributaries, and there are also lakes associated with mineral extraction areas … Watercourses and lakes provide important areas for wildlife and recreation. There are a number of major transport routes and patches of intensive industrial influence, including Didcot Power Station. There is little woodland cover (around 3 per cent) but hedgerows and mature field and hedgerow trees are a feature, and many watercourses are fringed with willow or poplar…”.

• NCA 109 Midvale Ridge stretches east–west from the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire to Swindon and covers the northern part of the study area, encircled by the Upper Thames clay vales.

“… a band of low-lying limestone hills … It is surrounded by the flat lands of the Oxfordshire clay vales, giving extensive views across the surrounding countryside. It is a predominantly agricultural area with a mixed arable/ pastoral farming landscape … The main towns are Swindon, at the western end, and Oxford, which lies across the centre of the area, but otherwise the settlement pattern is characterised by small nucleated villages along the top of the ridge and along the springline. The soils types are a mix of heavy rendzinas, stagnogleys and lighter sandy brown earths with small patches of sandy soils …The unusual geology gives rise to habitats that are uncommon in the south of England, such as calcareous flushes and fens, calcareous heath and calcareous grassland … The NCA is notably more wooded in character than the surrounding Upper Thames Clay Vales NCA with about 9 per cent woodland coverage … The continued expansion of Swindon and Oxford will present challenges for preserving the landscape character and biodiversity of the ridge but also opportunities for improving the provision of green infrastructure and access…”

• NCA 110 Chilterns extends north-east to south-west and covers the eastern part of the study area. Approximately half the National Character Area (NCA) is designated as part of the Chilterns National Landscape and, a small area south of the River Thames, as part of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape.
  

“The extensively wooded and farmed Chilterns landscape is underlain by chalk bedrock that rises up from the London Basin to form a north-west facing escarpment offering long views over the adjacent vales. From the vales, the River Thames breaches the escarpment in the south at the Goring Gap and flows on past riverside towns such as Henley. Small streams flow on chalk down some of the dip slope valleys or from the scarp foot, passing through numerous settlements… The countryside is a patchwork of mixed agriculture with woodland, set within hedged boundaries … Outside the AONBs there are major settlements that incorporate extensive urban fringe and growth areas, including Luton, Hemel Hempstead and High Wycombe… Opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy the outdoors are wide-ranging, including extensive rights of way; open access commons, woods and downland; Registered Parks and Gardens open to the public … Arable farming is concentrated on deep, welldrained soils found in the valleys, along the scarp foot and beneath the hills in the north. Nucleated settlements, often featuring historic buildings dating back to medieval times, are found in the valleys and along the scarp foot, as are the major routes …”

• NCA 116 Berkshire and Marlborough Downs extends east to west and covers the south and south-west part of the study area. The natural beauty and special scenic qualities of the area lead to the majority of the area (97 percent) being included in the North Wessex Downs National Landscape.
  

“Vast arable fields stretch across the sparsely settled, rolling Chalk hills of the Berkshire and Marlborough Downs National Character Area (NCA). There are extensive views from the escarpment in particular, punctuated by landmarks including chalk-cut horse figures, beech clumps and ancient monuments … Historic routeways, including the Ridgeway National Trail, provide public access across this landscape.…Heritage features are at risk from damage by cultivation and animal burrowing. Along the escarpment and steep slopes, limited tracts of hanging woodlands and species-rich chalk grassland can be found. In the valleys, woodlands are found on steep slopes, and settlements cluster along the valley bottoms … Meadow and pasture in the valleys combine with arable farming and small woods to create a mixed agricultural landscape, defined by hedgerow boundaries.

The NCAs within the study area are illustrated on the figure below.

 

 

National Character Areas - View the map full screen in a new tab

County level

Oxfordshire Wildlife and Landscape Study

At a county level the Oxfordshire Wildlife & Landscape Study (OWLS) is the current landscape character assessment for Oxfordshire. This divides the county into twenty-four separate landscape types, made up of individual landscape description units with a similar pattern of geology, topography, land use and settlements. Their names reflect their characteristic land cover. The following LCTs are identified within the study area:

• Alluvial Lowlands;
• Chalk Downland and Slopes;
• Clay Vale;
• Estate Farmlands;
• Farmland Hills;
• Farmland Slopes and Valley Sides;
• Lowland Village Farmlands;
• River Meadowlands;
• Rolling Clayland;
• Rolling Farmland;
• Terrace Farmland;
• Vale Farmland;
• Wooded Downlands;
• Wooded Estatelands;
• Wooded Estate Slopes and Valley Sides;
• Wooded Farmland;
• Wooded Hills;
• Wooded Pasture Valleys and Slopes; and
• Wooded Plateau.

 

Local level

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse

The current study for South Oxfordshire is the ‘Landscape Character Assessment for the Local Plan 2033’ (2017) and the current study for the Vale of White Horse is the ‘Vale of White Horse Landscape Character Assessment’ (2017). The two studies use differing approaches: the former defines 11 broad LCAs, within which localised variations in LCT (24 in total) are identified; whilst the latter identifies 12 broad LCTs which are split into a larger number of LCAs (84 in total). The 1998 South Oxfordshire Landscape Assessment, forerunner of the 2017 study, still retains the status of Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG), having been adopted as such in 2003.

This landscape character assessment replaces the current studies including the SPG and aims to reconcile the different approaches by applying a consistent approach across both districts.

Neighbouring Authorities

Landscape does not stop at administrative boundaries but continues seamlessly into surrounding local authority areas. This assessment therefore sits alongside Landscape Character Assessments for adjacent authorities.

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National Landscapes

The study area contains sizeable parts of two National Landscapes (formerly known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or AONBs): the Chilterns and the North Wessex Downs. The locations of these are shown on the Natural influences interactive map in Chapter 4.

The Chilterns National Landscape

The management plan for the Chilterns National Landscape describes the area as being “a landscape of remarkable beauty and distinctive character with a unique interaction of geological, ecological and cultural heritage features” that was “designated to protect its special qualities which include the steep chalk escarpment with flower-rich downland, woodlands, commons, tranquil valleys, ancient routes, villages with brick and flint houses, chalk streams and a rich historic environment of hillforts and chalk figures”.

There is no single Landscape Character Assessment for the Chilterns National Landscape, rather a number of county and district-based LCAs cover the whole of the designated area. The Chilterns AONB Management Plan identifies four broad types of landscape in the Chilterns:

• Scarp Foothills and Vale Fringes – “Gently undulating chalk slopes with chalk springs between the base of the scarp and the clay vale to the west. Mainly managed within intensive agriculture with large fields and relatively few hedgerows, this landscape forms a narrow band only a few fields wide, towards the north of the AONB, but widens as it approaches the Thames in the south”.
• Chalk Scarp – “The ‘spine’ of the Chilterns is the chalk scarp that runs roughly north-east to south-west along the western side of the AONB. A spectacular ridge rises high above the vale to the west and dominates views over a wide area. Combes and prominent hills, often locations for chalk figures, monuments, burial mounds or hillforts, form a deeply convoluted steep scarp edge which supports a mosaic of chalk grassland, woodland and scrub”.
• River Valleys – “The Chilterns contains a series of larger river valleys that cut through the scarp and dipslope. Arterial valleys run north west to south east and, create dramatic ‘wind gaps’ where they cut through the scarp, as at Tring and Wendover. Often asymmetrical in shape these valleys contain the internationally rare, aquifer-fed chalk streams. As natural corridors through the Chiltern Hills, there is a long history of travel from ancient drovers routes, turnpikes and canals to modern day road and rail links. A number of large historic houses presiding over estates and parkland, are scattered throughout the valleys while settlements have grown up associated with the water supply, woodland industry, farming trade and transport links to London”.
• Plateau and Dipslope – “A large proportion of the AONB is covered by plateau and dipslope as the land gradually falls away to the east and Greater London. Though less visible and striking than the scarp, this landscape forms a key part of the classic Chilterns landscape. The topography is complex, with areas of plateau dissected by long, narrow, often dry valleys. Extensive woodlands and arable fields interspersed with commons, villages, scattered farmsteads (often dating from medieval times) and designed parklands characterise the plateau. Commons, heaths and greens would once have been far more extensive. Many Chilterns commons are wooded or former wood pasture, with areas of heathland, acid grassland, ponds and other open habitats. Grazed fields can still be found on the steeper valley sides and valley bottoms where settlements often formed around water sources or stretched out along the valley roads”.

The North Wessex Downs National Landscape

The management plan for the North Wessex Downs National Landscape describes this area as being “a visibly ancient landscape of great beauty, diversity and size. It embraces the high, open arable sweeps of the chalk downs and dramatic scarp slopes with their prehistoric monuments and beech knolls, the moulded dip slopes, sheltered chalk river valleys, intimate and secluded wooded areas and low-lying heaths with a rich mosaic of woodland, pasture, heath and commons.”

The North Wessex Downs AONB Landscape Character Assessment Report (2002) identifies 4 Landscape Character Types that are within the study area:

• Open Downlands – “… the remote heart and core of the North Wessex Downs, with the dramatic landscapes created by the underlying chalk rocks being one of the defining features of the AONB. The subtle curves and undulations of the landform are revealed by the uniform clothing of cropped grass or cereals creating a landscape with a simple and elemental quality, accentuated by vast skies. The open, expansive views are punctuated by distinctive beech clumps crowning the downland summits, forming prominent and highly visible landmarks”.
• Downland with woodland – “… encompasses the downlands found in the east and southern part of the AONB, where extensive deposits of Clay-with-Flint overlie the Chalk. This is a landscape defined by contrast; of open rolling downland and enclosed woodland … The landform is typical of chalk scenery with a strongly rolling topography, rising to gently domed hilltops and dissected by dry valleys. Sinuous woodlands cling to the steep slopes and, with the interconnected hedgerow network, create a strong framework and sense of enclosure in some areas. Ridge top woods are a particular feature, and form dark wooded horizons providing containment to the views. These enclosed areas are juxtaposed with contrasting more open arable and pastoral summits, and those areas where remnant chalk grassland survives on the steep slopes of the dry valleys and scarps. The Bronze Age and Iron Age hill forts, strategically located on high summits are a notable feature of the landscape type and command panoramic views over the surrounding countryside”.
  
• Downs plain and scarp – “… extends along the entire northern edge of the North Wessex Downs. It is defined by geology with the plain formed by the eroded surface of the Lower Chalk, creating a low, level surface extending as a ledge at the foot of the high downs, linked to a distinctive steep escarpment. The scarp slope descends abruptly to the adjacent Vale, except in the north eastern part of the AONB where the slope curves to the south and forms the backdrop to the plain. It is characterised by two of the most emblematic features of the North Wessex Downs: the prehistoric route of the Ridgeway running along the scarp top; and Avebury World Heritage Site with its unique concentration of Neolithic monuments.”
  
• Vales – “… defined topographically, and are distinct areas of lowland, almost always below 130m AOD. The transition to these low lying landscapes is often dramatic, marked by a steep scarp slope…The towering slopes of the adjacent chalk scarps forming a dominant ‘borrowed’ landscape setting that contains and encloses the Vales…Rich loamy and alluvial soils create a productive agricultural landscape, with a mix of both arable and pasture in fields bound by thick, tall hedgerows. Views are constrained and framed by the topography, rising scarp slopes of the downs and low hedgerows, producing a strong sense of enclosure. Woodland cover is sparse, except where linear belts of willow, alder and scrub accentuate the line of the watercourses that thread across the Vales. The streams, remnant waterside pastures and riparian woodlands form a lush ‘wetland’ landscape of considerable ecological value… The concentration of settlement is one of the defining features of the vale landscapes. Settlement includes compact nucleated villages and hamlets, with widespread scattered farmsteads, using characteristic materials of timber frame, brick and flints, sometimes with thatched roofs”.