Section 1: Physical and human influences
Section 2: Visual character of the landscape
Section 3: Landscape evolution and change
Section 4: Landscape strategies and key recommendations
Section 5: Landscape guidelines
Section 1: Physical and human influences
Introduction
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The Sherwood region is characterised by a wide and diverse range of landscapes including the heartland of the historic Sherwood Forest and the extensive parklands and large estates of the Dukeries. The area, rich with historical, ecological and landscape features, is intrinsically linked to a number of historical themes; these include Newstead Abbey and Lord Byron, and the internationally renowned Robin Hood legend. The region runs northwards from Nottingham to the lowlands of the River Idle. It is located between the heavily populated Magnesian Limestone Ridge and Nottinghamshire Coalfield regions to the west, and the more rural areas of the Mid-Nottinghamshire Farmlands region to the east. The region is entirely confined within Nottinghamshire, occupying nearly 23% of the land area. |
The shape of the land
The region is closely associated with a broad belt of Permo-Triassic sandstones which, like the adjoining mudstones, run northwards through the length of the County from Nottingham to Harworth and beyond into South Yorkshire. This belt of country, which averages 10-12 kilometres in width, narrows at its southern extremity where the outcrop thins and is faulted out along the Trent Valley between Nottingham and Stapleford. Towards the northern end of the outcrop, where the region passes into the Idle Lowlands, the Permo-Triassic bedrock is largely overlain by alluvial and fluvio-glacial drift. Within Sherwood itself the sandstones rise as a line of low hills along the eastern edge of the Magnesian Limestone Ridge. These hills dip gently eastwards, but due to the softness of the underlying rock they seldom assume the character of a bold escarpment. The hills that rise to the east of the Leen Valley are a notable exception. In contrast, the overlying Triassic Mudstones form a prominent escarpment along the eastern edge of the region, although this is breached at its southern end by the headwaters of the Greet and the Dover Beck.
The outcrop of Permo-Triassic sandstones covers nearly a quarter of the County and comprises two recognisable formations. The lower of these is the Lenton formation (formerly the Lower Mottled Sandstone) consisting of bright red, fine-grained sandstone with local clayey bands. The upper division, now called the Sherwood Sandstone formation (formerly the Bunter Pebble Beds), comprises a much greater thickness of brownish-red, coarse-grained sandstones with extensive beds of quartzite pebbles. These pebble beds and red sandstones, often showing well-developed current bedding, are frequently exposed in cuttings, sandpits and natural bluffs throughout the region. The loose-textured nature of both sandstones also makes them highly porous and as a consequence the land surface is prevailingly dry. The lower sandstone rests on an impervious bed of Permian Marl, however, and this forms the base of an extensive aquifer which has, since the mid-19th century, provided a major source of water supply. The western fringe of the region extends on to Permian Marl in the vicinity of Welbeck.
The Sherwood Sandstone typically gives rise to a markedly undulating topography, which, apart from a few larger rivers, is characterised by a general absence of surface drainage. Most of these rivers, including the Ryton, Poulter, Meden and Maun, rise on the Magnesian Limestone Ridge and flow across the region in a general south-west to north-east direction before turning northwards into the River Idle. The reason these rivers maintain their flow is that their valleys lie just below the water table. All of these valleys are defined by narrow alluvial corridors, which in places open out into wide marshy flats. The latter are particularly well-developed below the confluence of the Meden and Maun, while long narrow man-made lakes are a feature at Clumber and Welbeck. These wetland and water features contrast strongly with the dryness of the broad stretches of plateau-like country that separate the river valleys. The flanks of these low, rounded hills are nearly everywhere sculptured by numerous dry valleys, thought to have been formed by the melting of snow at a time when the climate was much colder.
To the south of Mansfield the Sherwood Sandstone culminates in an elevated tableland known locally as the Robin Hood Hills. These hills rise to almost 200 metres and form some of the highest ground in the County. The tableland falls off steeply along its southern edge, except where a spur of high ground projects southwards at Annesley, separating the western summit of the Magnesian Limestone Ridge from the dip slope occupied by the Leen Valley to the east.
Soils
A range of soil types has developed within the region, the majority being well-drained sandy soils. Well-drained coarse loamy soils are found on the lower slopes of the dry valleys in accumulations of head (recent colluvium or wind-blown material). Podzolised soils are found locally, particularly under woodland around the Clumber area. Very acidic well-drained sandy soils are also found under woodland and lowland heath to the south and east of Mansfield.
On the eastern boundary of the region there are pockets of Mercia Mudstone; in these areas the soils are surface and ground water gleys. The soils have very slightly stoney clay loam surface horizons, and cropping limitations are imposed by the heavy texture and soil wetness.
Landscape history
The present landscape of the Sherwood region is dominated by the artefacts of aristocratic estates and agricultural reform, largely laid down in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and by those of late 19th and 20th century industry, particularly coal mining. This has been an area in which changes in land use, however long they took to effect, have been radical and clear cut, in contrast to the piecemeal evolution evident in other regions in Nottinghamshire. Underlying the long history of the Sherwood region, and a key determinant in the pattern of stability and change within it, is the essential character of its geology and resulting soils. The porosity of the Sherwood Sandstones and consequent fragility of the soils in general have placed limits upon the sustainability of farming here. Advances in agricultural methods from the 18th century until today may appear to have pushed out those limits but the qualities of the land continue to present agricultural challenges which can be overcome only at a cost, financial and environmental. It remains to be seen if this cost can be both supported and mitigated or if within the vastly complex modern economic structures there will be a reversion to land uses which respect the basic qualities of this region.
Traditionally, the Sherwood region has been regarded as an area where settlement and land use were restricted by poor soils, woodland and forest law. While these restraints must be acknowledged, this is anything but the full story which is far more interesting and complex.
As in the rest of Nottinghamshire, a forest landscape will have developed here after the end of the Ice Ages. There is as yet scant direct evidence for the composition of this primeval forest but it may be surmised, on the basis of later millennia, to have been mixed birch and oak with a greater variety of species in the river valleys and on the less arid soils of its margins. The presence of early prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups is demonstrated by the occasional finding of stone tools on the surface of ploughed fields. With the exception of a possible burial mound at Haywood Oaks there is no evidence of the funerary and other ritual monuments which characterise the Neolithic and Bronze Age landscapes elsewhere. Again, occasional finds of objects, such as Beaker pottery at Thoresby, or of stone tools and stone axeheads, these latter being interestingly high in frequency in this region, testify to a continuing but sparse human presence, perhaps focused on the river valleys. Even this, however, could have had some locally substantial effect upon the woodland cover, through slash and burn agriculture and more particularly the grazing of domestic animals, to produce thinnings and clearings and the establishment of pieces of heath.
While clearance of woodland and the development of agriculture and settlement proceeded apace elsewhere, particularly in the Trent Valley and the regions adjacent to it, the Sherwood region appears to have been relatively unoccupied during most of the late prehistoric period. Indeed, it is possible that it constituted a border zone between the political, social and economic organisation of tribes. This does not mean that it was untouched, however. As woodland diminished elsewhere, its timber resource may have become more attractive, and its use as a source for animal fodder and for grazing, perhaps involving transhumance as place names hint in the post-Roman period, is likely to have increased with resulting local, and perhaps not so local, changes in woodland composition and extending clearance. As earlier, settlement in the river valleys should not be discounted.
This picture changes dramatically with the Roman period. In the mid 1970s, aerial reconnaissance and photography over the north of the region suddenly revealed an integrated landscape of field boundaries, trackways and settlements, long since levelled. Subsequent research has shown that this landscape is substantially Roman in date, although Late Iron Age origins are possible. North of a line between Warsop and Bevercotes, this landscape is largely coherent and evidently planned, with more than one phase evident in some localities. Covering an area in excess of 100 sq miles, it extends into South Yorkshire. The social structure and economy represented by these remains is still under debate. Evidence from field walking and a limited number of excavations at Dunstan’s Clump, Menagerie Wood near Worksop, and Chainbridge Road in Lound, indicates that most of the settlements were of low status, in contrast to those on its eastern margins in the Idle Valley or the villas known on the Magnesian Limestone to the west. Only one site producing objects of types normally associated with Roman villas has been identified so far in this area. As to the function of the fields, understanding is hampered by the acidity of the sandy soils which normally destroys bone so that evidence about livestock is largely lacking. Given the experience of both mediaeval and modern farmers in this region, long term arable cultivation may not have been sustainable despite the possibility of an almost virgin soil and a slightly warmer climate. An equally striking analogy, however, is the similarity in size between the fields of this Roman landscape and those of 16th and 17th century enclosure in the south of Nottinghamshire. Perhaps this, together with the mediaeval and more modern history in this region of grazing, particularly of sheep, may suggest a mixed agricultural regime of rotating crops, grasses and animal husbandry.
Whatever the social and economic interpretation of this landscape may be, the evidence of the aerial photographs shows that the woodland of this area was substantially cleared by early in the Roman period. This clearance was not necessarily entire, however. The presence of coppiced hazel at Menagerie Wood, if not imported from another region such as the Magnesian Limestone Ridge immediately to the west, may hint at surviving pockets of wood which, on this evidence, are likely to have been carefully managed resources.
Woodland survival may have been somewhat greater in the more southerly areas of the Sherwood region. As one progresses south, the cropmarks of this Roman landscape become more disjointed until, as Nottingham is approached, they consist of occasional settlements and patches of fields. How far this is a valid observation, or if it is the product of variables in survey and modern land use or of post-Roman soil erosion, awaits further research. Pending this, it is still possible that this difference in cropmark density could reflect a difference in the intensity of Roman settlement and land use between the north and south of the region, with more woodland and presumably more heath produced by rough grazing surviving in the south.
The end of the Roman period was marked by another great turning of the landscape, in which the region became again relatively unpopulated and the Roman field systems largely abandoned. The date of this change and the reasons and processes involved are as yet unclear. General population decline and changes in social organisation and economy beginning in the later Roman period and continuing and developing in the 5th and 6th centuries are perhaps explanation enough. Soil exhaustion and erosion, contributing to the late Roman deposition of alluvium in the Trent Valley, may also have played a part. In all events the early Roman level of settlement and land use clearly became unsustainable. Settlement moved out of the region, probably relocating on the more fertile soils on its margins and beyond, and otherwise contracted to favourable sites in the river valleys. In consequence, woodland regenerated by expanding out from existing pockets and by establishing itself anew. The region was not given up, however. Apart from such farms as may have continued or developed in river valley locations, the communities around its margins used it as a grazing resource in balance with their arable on the clays and other soils of adjacent regions. This use explains the siting of many communities around the margins of the region where settlement is poised between the differing agricultural resources of contrasting geologies.
Thus it was that, in the centuries around and after the end of the Roman period, the landscape developed which is now thought of as characteristically Sherwood Forest. Low in population, with space enough to attract Scandinavian settlement in the late 9th and early 10th centuries, identifiable by place names ending in by, this was a countryside of large and smaller areas of dense and not so dense oak and birch wood and of large and small tracts of sandland heath with gorse, ferns and grass. The woods served as game reserves, sources of timber and smallwood, and as fodder and grazing, and were in smaller or greater part managed to these ends. Much of the heath originated in areas of Roman woodland clearance, particularly around the margins of the south of the region where place names incorporating the element feld, e.g. Mansfield, Ashfield, Farnsfield, may indicate open country at an early date, that was kept open by grazing and temporary small areas of cultivation.
It was to this landscape, and more particularly to the area south of the Meden, that the term Sherwood was applied. Assuming the “shire” of “Shire-wood” to equate with the County, this name can be little or no older than its first written appearance in the 10th century, when Nottinghamshire was first created. The meaning of this name remains uncertain. It may mean no more than the woodland on the border of the Shire, the woodland which distinguishes being within from being without the Shire. Alternatively, it may refer to much more ancient rights, to woodland resources held by the king, nobility, or communities within the County.
In 1086, the Sherwood region was the most sparsely settled area of Nottinghamshire, low in arable, with much woodland almost wholly recorded as wood pasture, exploited by larger settlements around its rim and fewer smaller ones within it. Such was its emptiness that Norman kings soon brought it under Forest Law, probably consolidating existing royal rights, to maintain its stocks of deer and other game. Under Henry II, Forest Law was extended across all of Nottinghamshire north of the Trent, but this was cut back by Henry III to embrace only the countryside of woods and heaths on the Magnesian Limestone and the Sherwood Sandstones south of the Meden. However, extensive royal woods and game preserves north of the Meden and elsewhere remained subject to the Forest officials, effectively maintaining Forest Law over most of the region throughout the Middle Ages and later.
Henry III‘s redefinition and reaffirmation of the traditional Forest was in part a response to the effects of rising population in generating new settlement and expanding arable agriculture. Initially, the emptiness of the Magnesian Limestone and Sherwood Sandstones and the low value of the profits there made these suitable areas for the creation of hunting parks, most famously by the king at Nottingham and Clipstone, and to be donated for the establishment of monasteries. Of the twelve monasteries and nunneries founded in Nottinghamshire, eight were within or immediately adjacent to this area, where sufficient unencumbered land was available to endow them without significant damage to the financial interest of their benefactors. Considerable blocks of land in the Sherwood region thus passed into monastic control. The 12th and 13th centuries also saw the expansion of existing settlements and the creation of new ones, often marked by the epithet of Woodhouse, or less frequently in this region, Moorhouse. By 1300, while the region remained thinly settled and more apparently untamed than the rest of the County, there was little land which was not locked into the economies of royal or monastic estates or of local manors and communities.
Indeed, however it may appear to modern communities, this was a highly managed environment in which the central dynamic was the sustainability of one economic regime, the maintenance of the traditional woodland and heathland resource, against the pressures of another, demanding land to till and grazing for animals. This tension is typified in the emparking of the largest of the royal parks in the County, at Bestwood, in 1350. Here from the first, as had developed in other royal and aristocratic parks, the enclosure encompassed a number of functions and land managements. There was woodland for timber and game, heath and grassland for grazing stock and deer, and rabbit warrens and arable fields for foodstuffs and fodder. Resources and activities which might be scattered through widely separated estates elsewhere were brought together in one locality created out of a single area of royal woodland and heath and held in balance by management. Even with positive management, much less without it, the woodland could not be maintained against the economic pressures towards clearance by felling, tillage and grazing.
Despite recovering from an apparent failure to replace trees felled in the 12th century, which led to a dearth of timber dating to the 14th century in buildings, and despite strict control of felling in the Royal woods of Birklands and Bilhaugh, royal interest in the maintenance of woods and heaths of the region was spasmodic. It was at best undermined by the private interests of the local nobility, who supplied the principal officials of the Forest, or by the ancient rights of communities to common pasture, and at worst negated by royal indifference or distraction by other concerns. Royal woods and lands were leased out or granted away, and the application of Forest Law became more a process of raising rents on lands long cleared by individuals and communities than a means of habitat conservation. Throughout the later 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, documentary references paint a picture of continual piecemeal enclosure, assarting and illegal encroachment by the great and the small, individuals and whole communities. Tree by tree almost, the woodland was gradually eroded. By the 16th century virtually only the core woods of the surviving royal estates and parks, Birklands, Bilhaugh, Roumwood, Mansfield, Clipstone, Bestwood, and a few others on monastic estates and elsewhere, remained. By the later 17th century, when royal rights in the Forest had been largely appropriated by the great landowners and after the best trees on the royal estates had been sold off by the Commonwealth, it was difficult to find useful timber in the surviving woods.
With so few settlements and so little permanent arable lying within the region, there is little trace of the social and economic changes of the period 1350 to 1600. The area did not remain untouched, however. It may be that the reduced demand for tillage from the reduced population in the 15th and early 16th centuries slowed the degradation of the woods by increasing grazing land outside the area and by decreasing any pressure to change the traditional land uses within it. Equally, the growing importance of animal husbandry in this period could well have been met by the traditional common pasturage owned by communities within and adjacent to the region. Further, animal husbandry, particularly sheep raising, was already well established as a major enterprise on some monastic estates, Rufford Abbey’s sheepwalk at Morton Grange in Babworth being the classic example.
Common pasture meant there was no need to enclose for animal husbandry, but the region shared in the trend towards farm engrossment and piecemeal enclosures nevertheless. Traditional agricultural practice had long involved supplementing the sometimes small areas of permanent arable, the infield, with temporary enclosures in the Forest. Within these, cultivation was allowed for a limited number of years after which the enclosure was thrown down, the fields levelled and the exhausted soil allowed to revert to scrub, heath and grass. This “Breck” system was to continue unchanged until formal enclosures arrived in the 18th and 19th centuries. For now, portions or all of the permanent arable were enclosed, primarily to allow for improved crop rotation and closer stock management. This produced the pattern of relatively small, hedged fields found close into villages bordering the region, particularly on the east, where enclosure was limited. Within the region, however, all or most of the comparatively small open arable fields might be enclosed. All the infield of Carburton, for example, had been enclosed by 1619 and was largely under grass. The region was not isolated from, nor unaffected by, the economic trends and changing agricultural practices of the day, therefore. Rather, both traditional land uses and an ability to adapt predisposed it to meet the changing economic order, when social organisation, agricultural knowledge and techniques developed so as to overcome the inherent difficulties presented by the land.
The foundation for economic growth and changes in the landscape was the dissolution of the monasteries. Grants or sales of the monastic sites and estates to leading members of the aristocracy and gentry gave power and influence in the region to a handful of families. For some 200 years these concentrated on converting or replacing monastic buildings, building and rebuilding, to produce great country houses and developing extensive parklands around them for ornament, sport and animal husbandry. The creation of a virtual chain of these properties through the region, from Wollaton, Annesley, Newstead, Rufford, Clumber, and Thoresby to Worksop, gave much of it a new name, “The Dukeries”. After the Reformation the aristocratic landowners here began investing in new building and reordering and restocking their parks, and the 18th century in particular saw much new development. Many of the aristocratic landowners of this period became progressive agriculturists. They saw profit in timber and undertook large-scale plantation schemes both within their parks, where new species were also introduced and the woods served also as ornamentation, and on their estates at large. The legacy of this is still with us in the well-wooded aspect of significant parts of the region, for which these 18th century plantations were the foundation. They also invested in the development of agriculture on the sandlands, building upon the mixed farming regimes and diversification of crops, particularly root crops which had been introduced into the area by the beginning of the 17th century, and experimenting with fertilisers and crop rotations. Most importantly, they encouraged their tenant farmers to follow.
The result was the enclosure, through a succession of private Acts of Parliament, of most of the open heath and commons in the region and the creation of new farms outside the villages. With few existing land divisions to consider, much of this enclosure was geometrically laid out in field sizes considerably larger than those of earlier enclosed areas. Defined by fences or hedges, dominated by “quickset” hawthorn, this new “surveyor’s” landscape is still a striking feature of the region, on the map and on the ground.
The region thus underwent a veritable “Agrarian Revolution” in the later 18th century. This was based on the intensification of animal husbandry, particularly sheep rearing, which was sustained by the cultivation of root crops and rotational grass, the fertility of the land being maintained by manure and early artificial fertilisers. As a consequence, in the early 19th century the Sherwood region was the most advanced farming area of the County.
The physical framework of this region’s landscape, established at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, has been essentially maintained through today. There have been significant alterations, however, and none more marked than the appearance of industry, particularly coal mining. The earliest modern industrial development was the Chesterfield Canal, cut across the region in the 1770s. But it was the advent of deep mining in the 1850s which brought the major impacts. Throughout the later 19th and 20th centuries coal mines were sunk progressively eastwards across the region, introducing often lofty pithead buildings and structures, and large-scale waste heaps, into the landscape. To house the miners and those who serviced them new villages were built and new estates which have virtually swallowed the original villages to which they were appended. Infrastructure was developed, initially railways and more latterly roads; Worksop and Mansfield developed as commercial centres. Such has been the extent and scale of mining and its associated development that much of the region has become synonymous with the coal industry.
In parallel with industrial development, the agricultural countryside remained relatively prosperous, responding to economic circumstances by changing balances in production. The basic reliance on animal husbandry saw the area through the 19th century. The First World War put emphasis on corn growing and, close to Nottingham and other towns, potatoes, followed by a reversion to livestock after the War. From the 1920s sugar beet began to replace turnips; by 1950 these had all but disappeared from the rotational repertoire. The Second World War again returned the emphasis to corn growing, but this time there was no substantial return to livestock. Government and European policies and the introduction of modern fertilisers have maintained the region’s farmlands almost wholly under arable since. In many places this has brought alterations to the enclosed landscape through the demolition of hedgerows and boundaries to create wide open spaces suited to manoeuvring large machinery.
The industrial development and agricultural changes of the last 125 years are the latest additions to a long history of landscapes in this area. The combination of these with the landscapes created in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the parks, the woods, the Forestry Commission plantations and the enclosure fields, leaves a distinct impression on the modern visitor. Indeed, the Sherwood region has always been the most distinctive region of Nottinghamshire.
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Section 2: Visual character of the landscape
Introduction
| The character of the Sherwood region is strongly influenced by a number of factors. The high level of woodland cover and strong heathy character provide a reminder of the formerly extensive areas of forest and “waste”. A range of features combine to produce a distinctive and sometimes unified landscape; these include rolling landform, scattered areas of grass, bracken and heather heathland, excellent examples of lowland oak/birch woodland, large mature coniferous forests, enclosed arable farmlands, narrow river corridors and ornamental parklands. |
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The undulating landform ensures views of varying distance. Frequently these are of well-wooded skylines; however, in the more open arable areas they are often confined to the crests of the dry valleys. The arable farmlands are, in places, totally devoid of tree cover with the geometric patterns of low hawthorn hedgerows imparting a distinctive, but rather uniform character to the landscape. To the north of the region, farmland becomes the most dominant landscape element; the extent and pattern of woodland cover is markedly different from the landscapes located further south. Scattered pockets of parkland add diversity to the landscape, creating a strong historical sense of place.
The coal industry has had a major impact upon the region; large pit heaps, winding towers, surface developments and railway lines are widely imprinted upon the landscape.
The Sherwood region can be sub-divided into six distinct landscape types. These have been classified generically which means, that theoretically, the landscape types could occur at any location within the country where there are similar physical resources and historical patterns of land use. In reality the landscape types possess a distinctively local character, because they share the broad characteristics of the regional character area, or represent a particular aspect of that character.
Forest sandlands
An undulating, well-wooded and in places industrialised landscape characterised by large arable fields, pine plantations and remnants of semi-natural woodland and heath
 | Characteristic features
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Landscape description
| This is the most extensive landscape type in the region. It emerges from the northern edge of Nottingham City, encompasses the heartland of the historic Sherwood Forest and stretches as far north as the eastern fringe of the Dukeries. The landscape has a distinctively rolling and undulating landform and an intensively farmed, well-wooded and strongly heathy character. Industrial influences associated with the coal industry are widely and sometimes indelibly imprinted upon the landscape. |
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The undulating nature of the landform provides views of varying distance: towards the bottom of the dry valleys, views are relatively confined; on the crests, views are of longer distance. They can sometimes be panoramic.
Despite the impact of the coal industry, there is still a strong sense of continuity in the landscape imparted by the rolling landform, the large area of woodland cover, heathy vegetation and the regular enclosure pattern of hedged fields.
The farmland of this landscape is almost entirely arable, with a regular geometric field pattern constructed from low, trimmed and predominantly hawthorn hedgerows. The rectilinear hedgerows are rarely tall enough to obscure views and the straight lines give an impression of conformity and order which is, however, “softened” by the rolling nature of the landform; this gives a curvilinear appearance to the otherwise regimented hedgerows. The absence of hedgerow trees in the landscape is particularly pronounced.
The widespread presence of bracken, gorse and broom species in hedgerows creates an impression of a somewhat arid landscape, particularly apparent in the spring and autumn when the light-coloured soils are in full view.
Extensive coniferous plantations, mixed woodlands and smaller-scale broad-leaved woodlands are distributed throughout the landscape. The woodlands are of variable size and structure, collectively producing a landscape with a well-wooded character. The woodlands often have long sinuous edges that enclose and frame the open farmland areas. The strong sense of wooded enclosure is enhanced by the rolling landform which creates frequent views of wooded skylines, of rolling pine forests and of other woodlands. The general pattern, therefore, is that of a patchwork of alternating areas of dense woodland and open farmland.
Large coniferous plantations dominated by Corsican and Scots pine have been established throughout the landscape, the largest of which is Clipstone Forest. Much of the woodland is now high forest and reaching economic maturity. Attempts were made in the past to soften harsh coniferous edges by the establishment of hardwood belts along woodland edges and rides; oak, birch, sweet chestnut, beech and sycamore are the more common species planted, with birch predominating. This practice has allowed acidic grassland, bracken, gorse, broom and in parts heather understoreys to establish along edges and rides. This contributes to the dry heathy character of the landscape, particularly along the farmland margins. There are, however, still many harsh coniferous edges to be found, particularly along the eastern sides of the main plantations. The extensive Forest Enterprise woodlands are currently being restructured to create more ecologically and visually diverse landscapes, so this effect will be mitigated over the coming years.
Broad-leaved woodlands generally occur on a smaller-scale. Oak and birch are the principal species, although sweet chestnut, ash, beech and sycamore are also found. The largest concentration of broad-leaved woodlands is located to the eastern side of Newstead Abbey and in the Birklands and Bilhaugh area. The Newstead Abbey woodlands contain oak, birch and beech with some Scots pine and yew. Open areas of bracken heath create a diverse, well-wooded and intimate landscape. The Birklands and Bilhaugh area represents the last vestige of the historic Sherwood Forest. It consists of sessile and pedunculate oak, birch and pine species. The open canopy forest is closely associated with extensive mosaics of grass, bracken and heather heathland. Ancient stag-headed oaks are a particular feature of interest within the forest area.
Budby Forest represents the largest area of heather-dominated heath on the sandlands, although significant concentrations are also found at Strawberry Hill, Rainworth Heath, Oaktree Lane Heath, Walesby Forest and a number of golf courses. Heather-dominated heaths are not extensive in other parts of the landscape though they are found locally. Grass and bracken heathlands are more common. The presence of bracken, gorse and broom species is instrumental in producing the strong heathy character of the landscape. These species are found widely on roadside verges, woodland edges, railway embankments, derelict land sites and old sand quarries, and in many hedgerows.
The impact of the coal industry on the landscape cannot be over-emphasised. This is not only evident along the urban fringes of the larger towns but also throughout many of the more rural areas. The impact of each pit site varies in relation to local factors such as topography and screening. A number of pits are reasonably well screened by mature coniferous woodland. However, others are much more prominent, especially where mining villages have been established adjacent to the pitheads. The winding gear, processing plants, railway lines and pit heaps impose a strongly urban/industrial character on otherwise rural areas.
The pit heaps are the most visible legacy of the coal industry. Restoration standards are variable, with many pit heaps displaying unnatural and engineered landforms. The sheer size of many of the heaps means that they often loom over surrounding landscapes, dominating skylines for some distance. As the surrounding farmland areas are almost exclusively arable, the restoration of pit heaps to grassland after uses can sometimes make these features even more visible. The pit heaps often have a very stark and barren appearance. Restoration to woodland after uses has also been carried out widely but at present few plantings have reached sufficient maturity to improve local landscapes. Areas of heathland have regenerated naturally on certain pit heaps, usually where they are adjacent to existing areas of heathland.
Urban influences in the form of residential edges, industrial estates, mine sites and pit heaps are experienced along the urban fringes of the main towns on the western side of the region, which include Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield and Mansfield.
There are areas within the landscape that, whilst showing the common feature of the Forest Sandlands, do have their own distinctive characters. These include the country parks at Newstead Abbey, Rufford Abbey and Burntstump. This is also true for the settlement at Ravenshead; built within an area of former “waste”, it has now evolved into a relatively large commuter settlement. It is characterised by large houses set within well-wooded grounds in an area that has a very strong heathy character. The affluence of the area stands in marked contrast to that of the neighbouring mining settlements.
The area to the south of Blidworth is the only significant pastoral area. Situated on steeply sloping ground, it has an intimate and varied character composed of enclosed, small-scale irregular-shaped fields containing unimproved grassland fields. Hedgerows are fuller than in the surrounding arable areas and are species-rich. The presence of bracken, gorse and broom in hedgerows and roadside verges gives the area a distinct heathy character.
Forest estatelands
A heavily wooded and sparsely settled landscape characterised by ornamental parklands, lakes and large fields framed by woodland edges
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Characterstic features
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Landscape description
The landscape has a unified and intact character composed of a number of landscape elements, including extensive coniferous and broad-leaved woodland, ornamental parklands with man-made lakes, commercially managed agricultural estatelands and an undulating landform. The area is centred on the parklands and estatelands of Thoresby, Welbeck, Clumber and Welbeck Manor. It is situated between Budby in the south and the urban edge of Worksop in the north. The area is approximately 10km in width, its eastern edge formed by the A614 and its western edge by the county boundary.
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The landscape shares a number of common attributes with the Forest Sandlands landscape type, particularly in terms of its heavily wooded and heathy character. However, its emparkation in the 18th century, and subsequent management as large parkland and estate units, has ensured the development of a very distinctive and special landscape character. |
The Forest Estatelands have an undeveloped character with few roads and a very low resident population. The only built developments to be found are located at the estate villages of Perlethorpe and Hardwick, the large houses and associated buildings at Welbeck Abbey, Thoresby Hall, Worksop Manor and Clumber Park, and also a number of scattered farm buildings and lodge houses. The area has escaped the impact of the coal industry and other major forms of development and as a result, has a unified and unfragmented character.
The Forest Estatelands are situated on two distinct geologies, the majority of the area falling within the Sherwood Sandstone whilst the western fringe forms part of the Permian Marls. The underlying geology has an impact on landscape character marked by a decline in heathy character towards the west of the area.
The strong heathy character of the sandstone is a major component of the landscape imparted by relatively extensive areas of grass and bracken heath and the widespread occurrence of acidic grassland, bracken, broom and gorse along woodland edges, rides and roadside verges. The most substantial areas of heathland are located in Clumber Park where the grass and bracken heaths are open in nature, although there is encroachment from surrounding woodland by birch, oak and pine species. The open nature of the heaths is reinforced by the unfenced character of minor roads in the area. Smaller areas of heath also occur as clearings within the more densely planted woodland. Heather-dominated heath is limited in extent. Other areas of heath occur in Thoresby Park, Budby Forest North, and at the Hagg Hill and Manor Hills areas.
Extensive coniferous and mixed species plantations form an important component of the landscape. These take the form of ornamental plantings and larger-scale infill plantations established in the 1920s and 1930s, which are mainly Corsican and Scots pine. There are extensive areas of broad-leaved woodland of oak, birch, sweet chestnut and beech which become more extensive towards the western side of the landscape type, dominating the gently rolling agricultural estatelands of Welbeck and Worksop Manor. In these areas medium to large-scale arable fields are defined by long sinuous and irregular broad-leaved woodland edges; views are generally of medium distance with frequent wooded skylines and a strong sense of wooded enclosure.
Most of the open areas are characterised by arable farming. Fields are generally defined by woodland edges although there are areas with enclosed rectilinear field patterns to be found locally, particularly to the north of Carburton and to the south of Worksop College. The rolling landform enhances the strong sense of wooded enclosure in these areas. Although pastoral landscapes are not widespread they are found locally; the most significant area is located at the estate village of Perlethorpe, where a relatively extensive undulating pastoral landscape of improved sheep pasture is enclosed by blocks of coniferous and broad-leaved woodlands. Perlethorpe, with its red brick and black tile buildings, imprints a distinctive character on the area, enhanced by the river Meden which flows immediately to the north of the village.
There are four ornamental parkland areas, at Clumber Park, Thoresby Hall, Welbeck Abbey and Worksop Manor. The parkland areas are characterised by mature lime, sycamore, yew, Scots pine, Wellingtonia, sweet chestnut, beech and ancient oak trees. The parkland landscapes represent areas of historic importance that add interest to an already diverse landscape. With the exception of Worksop Manor, the parklands are closely associated with ornamental man-made lakes, which have a particularly strong and unified character when associated with adjoining parkland and woodland. There are, however, substantial lakeside areas often directly abutted by arable land, with little marginal vegetation or riparian species. The sense of place is significantly diminished in these areas.
On the western fringe of the Dukeries, roadside hedgerows tend to become more species-rich. Lime tree avenues surrounding the Welbeck Abbey area reinforce the somewhat managed and manicured appearance of the estatelands. Towards Worksop Manor the landscape is characterised by smaller-scale broad-leaved woodlands set within an enclosed agricultural landscape, still fringed by extensive woodland edges to the east.
River meadowlands
Narrow pastoral river corridor landscapes, confined in places by riparian trees and woodlands
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Characteristic features
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Landscape description
| These landscapes are formed by the river corridors of the Maun, Meden, Poulter, Ryton, parts of the Idle, and Rainworth Water. The river valleys are defined by narrow alluvial deposits. Surrounding landscapes often have a large impact on the river corridors due to their very narrow and linear nature. Land to the south of Bothamsall and west of Milton is the only area with a relatively broad flood plain. |
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Significant areas of river corridor have been retained under grassland; in these areas the unity of the landscape is at its greatest. Permanent grasslands and flood meadows are characteristic features of river valley landscapes, providing a strong sense of place and feeling of naturalness, particularly where they are associated with fringing alders, willows and scrub. Areas of pasture are found along all of the river corridors with the most extensive along sections of the Ryton, at Perlethorpe along the Meden, and on stretches of the Idle close to Eaton.
Arable cultivation has encroached to riverside edges in all of the river corridors, particularly along the Maun where almost 60% of its reach is flanked by arable land. The character of these areas has been severely fragmented, especially where there is little bankside vegetation. In places the narrow river channels exist as solitary features providing the only evidence of the river corridor. The river channels become more dominant landscape features when fringed by well-defined lines of alder, willow and riparian scrub.
The river channels flow through closed canopy woodland in a number of places, particularly along stretches of the Leen, Meden, Maun and Poulter. The woodlands are mainly broad-leaved, although Rainworth Water flows through dense coniferous plantation at Clipstone Forest. Many of the rivers have woodland running along one side of the channel, in places on relatively steep banks. The presence of bankside woodland often helps define the river channel, especially in the more open arable areas.
Alder and willow carrs are found at a number of locations, the largest established along the Maun, Meden and Poulter. Associated with areas of marshy vegetation, these features impart a strong, unspoilt, and unified character to the river corridors. A notable feature of the Ryton is the numerous ash holts located along its course.
The river corridors are integral and central elements of many of the parkland landscapes. The moving water combines with ornamental tree plantings and permanent pastures to create unified, tranquil landscapes. The Meden and Poulter flow through the heart of the Forest Estatelands landscape, feeding the man-made lakes at Clumber, Thoresby and Welbeck. The Ryton forms a major component of the Osberton and Blyth parkland landscapes.
The Maun, Meden, and Poulter rivers flow across the central areas of the Sherwood Sandstone, passing through landscapes that are essentially heathy in character. In places this character extends into the river corridors, reflected in the presence of acidic grassland, gorse, broom and birch scrub. The New England/Robin Hood Cave area is the most extensive of such landscapes.
Urban and industrial influences are experienced along parts of all of the river corridors, with the exception of the Poulter. These influences often result in a fragmented character, particularly along the main urban fringes, and in areas adjacent to colliery sites. Although there is little built development within the river valleys themselves, they are susceptible to the impact of surrounding developments due to their narrow linear form.
Settled sandlands
An open, markedly undulating landscape characterised by a rectilinear pattern of fields and roads bounded by neatly trimmed hawthorn hedges
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Characteristic features
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Landscape description
This landscape is centred on the area between Rainworth and Farnsfield. The markedly undulating landform and geometric, treeless field pattern of low trimmed hedgerows gives the area a distinctive character.
| The landscape has virtually no internal tree cover, which ensures that the alternating dry valleys and crests are particularly pronounced. This is especially so in the White Post area. Long sinuous woodland edges lie along the boundaries of this landscape and the rolling landform ensures that these can be viewed from some distance. The regimented pattern of even-sized rectilinear fields creates a landscape with a very planned character and little feeling of naturalness. |
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The intensively managed farmlands are almost exclusively arable and the light-coloured sandy soils give an impression of a somewhat “arid” landscape, particularly in the spring and autumn. This impression is reinforced by the heathy character of the landscape, imparted by the presence of bracken, gorse and broom in hedgerows and roadside verges.
The only buildings in the landscape are associated with the dispersed pattern of farmsteads; there are no villages or other settlements.
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Village farmlands
A gently rolling, in places industrialised agricultural landscape characterised by a traditional pattern of small villages and farms
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Landscape description
These landscapes are located along the eastern margin of the Sherwood region, straddling the geological boundary between the Sherwood Sandstone and the lower part of the Mercia Mudstones group (formerly the Keuper Waterstones). The landscapes have a transitional character, sharing attributes of both the Sherwood region and the Mid-Nottinghamshire Farmlands. The division between the two regions is marked by the rising Mudstone escarpment which provides a visual frame to the east. The clay soils of this landscape have prevented the colonisation of hedgerows and roadside verges by bracken, gorse and broom species. The heathy character associated with other parts of the Sherwood region is therefore absent from the Village Farmlands.
| These are enclosed, predominantly arable farmland landscapes with medium to large-scale field patterns, set upon a generally undulating but locally level landform. The woodland pattern is relatively varied. A large mixed plantation is located at New Park Wood; elsewhere there is a dispersed pattern of small-scale deciduous and mixed species woodlands. Although woodland is an important feature, there is not generally a strong sense of wooded enclosure, farmland being the dominant component of this landscape. Longer-distance views are, however, framed by woodland edges to the west. The principal woodland species are oak, beech, sweet chestnut, Scots pine and sycamore. |
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Hedgerows are low, trimmed and predominantly hawthorn. They are mostly intact but are gappy in parts. There are few mature trees within the hedgerows. Hedgerows become more mixed towards the foot of the clay escarpment along the eastern boundary of the landscape, which also coincides with a slight increase in the number of hedgerow trees.
Small nucleated red brick villages form an important component of the landscape’s overall character. Most have retained their traditional rural character although suburban influences are now quite strong in Walesby. Urban and industrial developments associated with the coal mining industry also have had an impact, with active and derelict sites located at Bevercotes, Ollerton and Bilsthorpe. The influence of the mining industry creates a strong link with the character of the wider areas of the Sherwood region.
Sandstone estatelands
An enclosed, gently rolling estate landscape characterised by an ordered pattern of fields, roads and woodlands
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Landscape description
The Sandstone Estatelands is a planned estate landscape in the northernmost part of the region between Worksop and Retford. This roughly triangular-shaped area, which extends northwards from Clumber Park to Blyth, is divided into two parts by the narrow alluvial corridor of the river Ryton. Although there are many similarities with the Forest Sandlands, this landscape has a more gently rolling topography and lacks the extensive tracts of forest that are so characteristic of some of the other Sherwood landscapes. The Sandstone Estatelands is instead characterised by discrete blocks of woodland ranging in size from small coverts to larger field-sized plantations. These woodlands are a dominant and unifying element, defining both the scale and pattern of the landscape. Most have been planted with a mixture of broad-leaved and coniferous species, including ash, oak, sycamore, Scots pine and larch. In places, more particularly around Osberton Park, the larger plantations are linked by belts of trees. Together with the associated areas of parkland, these trees have the effect of creating a sequence of large spaces framed by woodland edges. Middle-distance views are nearly everywhere enclosed by wooded skylines, an impression reinforced by the relatively subdued nature of the underlying topography.
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Like the rest of Sherwood, the Sandstone Estatelands are characterised by sandy, free-draining soils which originally supported a dry heathland habitat, until this was enclosed and improved for agriculture during the 18th and 19th centuries. |
Enclosure of this waste resulted in the distinctive pattern of large geometric fields and straight roads that can be seen today. The large-scale pattern of hedged fields generally complements the scale and pattern of woodland cover, creating a well-ordered and visually unified landscape. Field boundaries are nearly everywhere defined by low-cut hawthorn hedges, while most of the roads are bounded by wide grass verges. In places these verges retain a remnant heathy vegetation, reflected in the occurrence of roadside bracken and gorse. For the most part, however, unlike the wilder Forest Sandlands landscapes to the south, the Sandstone Estatelands does not have a particularly strong heathy character. Nevertheless, the pre-enclosure land use pattern is still in evidence and is reflected in the sparsely settled, and in places inaccessible, character of the present day landscape. Settlement is mainly restricted to estate houses such as Babworth Hall, Ranby Hall, Osberton Hall and Hodsock Priory. These are important historic features of this landscape, but apart from Ranby - a small estate village - there are no historical village settlements. At Ranby, as elsewhere in the Sandstone Estatelands, most of the older buildings are of red brick construction and date from the time that the surrounding land was enclosed.
Section 3: Landscape evolution and change
Introduction
This section examines the main forces that have brought about change and evolution within the Sherwood region over recent decades. It does this by discussing how the current structure and pattern of land use has developed, paying particular regard to agriculture, woodland, transport, urban/industrial development, mineral extraction and tourism. It also considers the trends and pressures that may produce landscape change in the future.
Agriculture
Historically, agriculture on the sandlands of the Sherwood region has had a more tenuous hold than in other parts of the County. Poor quality soils, with limited moisture retention properties, have created a relatively unstable base to the agricultural economy and this has, over the years, produced wide variations in the pattern and nature of land use. These instabilities have continued into the present century and, to an extent, are still present in the current agricultural system.
The sandstone areas are not generally capable of sustaining high quality pasture, and as a consequence most agriculturally productive land has been put to arable use. Before the Second World War arable land was mostly under fodder crops. The sandy soils, highly permeable parent rock and low rainfall averages meant that the chief management aim was to increase the water-holding capacity of the soil. This was done through liberal applications of farmyard manure, the turning in of green crops and the traditional practice of folding sheep in fields. Economic hardships experienced in the 1920s and 1930s led to the abandonment of many sandland farms. Many areas of present heathland originate from these abandoned landholdings.
Since the 1940s, technological innovations in agriculture have led to the development of intensive, high input agricultural systems. These systems have overcome many of the traditional constraints to agriculture and have, for the last few decades at least, placed the agricultural economy on a more secure footing. The widespread use of irrigation, coupled with heavy dressings of lime, potassium and phosphorus and also frequent seasonal applications of nitrogen, has ensured consistent yields at levels that were previously unobtainable.
The principal crops of the region are cereals, particularly barley and wheat, with potatoes, sugar beet, oilseed rape, field beans, dry peas, carrots and linseed also being grown. In some places root crops, including carrots, are more dominant than cereals. Livestock operations are found within most of the parishes of the region and there has, in certain areas, been a strong tradition of intensive pig and poultry farming. There has been a general reduction in the pig sector in recent years although extensive pig farming operations have become more apparent. The last ten years have also seen a decline in the number of dairy herds.
As already noted, there are a number of constraints to agricultural production, the severity of these constraints varying widely in response to physical factors such as soil type. Much of the arable land is easily worked; however, compaction and panning can occur if soils are worked too soon after heavy rain. There is also a danger of wind erosion, especially during spring and autumn. The generally low available water capacities of the sandland soils and relatively low rainfall average mean that yields are often lowered by drought. Although the soils are irrigated widely, the limited supply of water results in the practice being restricted to the more responsive and higher value crops such as potatoes.
The majority of agricultural land within the region is classified by MAFF as having moderate limitations to agricultural use. The higher quality soils, with sandy loam or loamy sand textures, have better moisture retention capacities and occur in the northern areas of the region. The lower quality agricultural land occurs extensively to the south of the Maun Valley where limitations are imposed by the susceptibility of soil to drought and the presence of pebbles.
The heavy reliance on fertiliser and irrigation inputs has created problems that now place a question mark over the long-term sustainability of the current agricultural system. The Sherwood Sandstone outcrop overlies an extensive aquifer that is utilised as a public drinking water supply. There are concerns about the capacity of the aquifer to supply water for irrigation purposes and this is reflected in the limited availability of water abstraction licences. A more severe problem than this has been associated with the high inputs of nitrogenous fertiliser. Nitrate contamination of the aquifer has now exceeded statutory limits at a number of boreholes.
The problems associated with contamination of the aquifer have led to much of the region being designated as a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ). The NVZ scheme aims to reduce nitrate levels by encouraging farmers to restrict applications of both organic and inorganic fertilisers. In addition, four Nitrate Sensitive Areas (NSAs) have been designated within Sherwood: at Amen Corner, Far Baulker, Barnby Moor and Chequer House. The NSA scheme is a voluntary agreement whereby landowners can receive financial payments for reducing nitrate leaching by changing their farming practices. Some or all of their fields falling within the NSA boundary can be entered into the scheme.
The overall effect of the NSA scheme has been a reduction in fertiliser and manure applications for certain crops. This has given rise to a reduction in the area of potatoes grown within the NSAs, but has been compensated for by increases elsewhere. With regard to the NVZ scheme, it is doubtful that farming in the future will be significantly affected. There may, however, be little expansion in the area devoted to sheep and pigs because of reduced limits on organic manure.
Trees and woodland
The woodland cover of Sherwood is higher now than for many centuries. In 1086 the greatest concentration of woodlands in the County lay within the Mid-Nottinghamshire Farmlands region, to the east. The Sherwood Sandstones were of secondary importance despite the presence of Sherwood Forest. The lowest levels of woodland cover are thought to have occurred in the 18th century largely as a result of clearance in the preceding centuries.
Landscape improvement, game preservation, timber production and fuel supply were the main reasons for increases in woodland cover during the 18th and 19th centuries. Landscape considerations were particularly influential, with many of the houses, parks and great estates being established on the agriculturally poor sandland soils. Planting was very elaborate and on a large scale, and preceded the laying out of the modern agricultural landscapes that we see today.
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Today the Sherwood region is the most wooded part of the County with approximately 22% of its area covered by woodland, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of the total woodland in the County. Of the total amount of woodland found within the region, 50% is coniferous, 32% broad-leaved, 16% mixed and 2% new plantations. The coniferous woodland within the Sherwood region accounts for over 80% of the County’s resource. |
There are significant variations in the distribution and pattern of woodland across the region. These variations are one of the most important factors in determining its landscape character. Large pine plantations dominate the area to the south and east of Mansfield although there are numerous smaller-scale woodlands of broad-leaved and mixed species. The area between the Maun Valley and Worksop represents the most densely wooded area of the County. This contains the remnants of the historic Sherwood Forest, the emparked lands of the Dukeries, the broad-leaved estate lands and the coniferous infill plantations established in the last 60 years.
The main sources of land for post-1920 woodland planting have come from agriculture and waste, the light sandy soils being easily converted to woodland. Plantations were established as large management units by both the Forestry Commission and private estates. Large-scale planting by the Forestry Commission began in the late 1920s and a fivefold increase in the area of predominantly pine woodland has occurred since that time. Many of these early plantations are now reaching economic maturity and will be progressively felled in a way that restructures the forest blocks to create greater ecological and visual diversity. There have been significant increases in woodland cover within the parkland areas, with the planting up and extension of existing parkland trees and plantations. Smaller-scale gains in woodland cover have been made from the planting up of former industrial areas and coal tips.
Three ancient woodlands, as identified by the 1990 English Nature Inventory of Ancient Woodlands, are found within the region. The areas identified as ancient woodland at Birklands, Bilhaugh and Buck Gates are remnants of the historic Sherwood Forest and contain the best examples of oak-birch woodland in the County. Designated as SSSIs, these extensive woodlands account for nearly 16% of the total ancient woodland in the County.
The Ministry of Defence leases a large area of woodland and heathland from the Thoresby Estates, and this is managed in association with English Nature and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
Transportation
A number of major roads have had an impact upon the region, the most prominent being the A614, which runs in a north-south direction through the area. The A60 also runs north-south, whilst the A617 and A620 cut across the region in an east-west direction. The A1 runs through the northern part of Sherwood. Two bypasses have been proposed for the region: at Rainworth and to the south of Mansfield.
A dense network of railway lines was been developed to serve the needs of the coal industry, many of these operated on a “merry-go-round system” serving power stations in the Trent Valley. Contraction of this industry in recent decades has led to many of these becoming derelict.
Urban and industrial development
The main urban areas are located along the southern and western fringes of the region and include the urban edge of Nottingham, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Sutton-in-Ashfield, Mansfield, Warsop and Worksop. Along the eastern fringe of the region are Ollerton and East Retford.
Both the Structure Plan for Nottinghamshire and the Local Plans emphasise that future housing development should be concentrated in the larger urban areas, particularly East Retford, Worksop, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Sutton-in-Ashfield. Limited residential development will be permitted in selected villages identified by individual Local Plans. This approach reflects Government guidance encouraging sustainable development, whereby full and effective use is made of existing land and infrastructure, along with the protection of the countryside.
The coal industry has played a central role in the economic life of large parts of the region, with much of the area traditionally dependent upon mining employment. This includes the larger towns of Mansfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Worksop as well as the numerous mining villages. However, the last 20 years have seen a significant contraction of the coal mining industry, a process which has accelerated since 1991 with the privatisation of the electricity supply industry. This contraction has had a major impact on the economy, with the loss of thousands of jobs. The decline in the coal mining industry has been echoed by the decline of support industries which serve the collieries. Other local businesses have also suffered as the spending power of local residents has declined.
In order to provide new job opportunities and to encourage the economic regeneration of the mining areas, both the Structure and Local Plans encourage the redevelopment of redundant collieries for employment purposes.
Many mining areas suffer from a poor physical environment with large areas of derelict land and a history of housing neglect. Some mining villages to the east of Mansfield have additional problems because of their isolation from services and facilities offered in Mansfield. The needs of such villages have been recognised in the designation of a Coalfield Rural Development Area, whereby assistance is given to new and existing businesses as well as a range of social and community projects. Parts of the Sherwood region also have “Assisted Area” status and are thus eligible for regional assistance. A large part of the region falls within the East Midlands Regional Operational Programme (EMROP) whereby it is eligible for European assistance from the European Regional Development Fund. This fund provides financial assistance for schemes which enhance the economic potential of the area and help alleviate economic problems caused by the decline in traditional industries. The region is also eligible for a special scheme, the RECHAR programme, which has been set up by the EC to help coalfield areas. As a result, the region is likely to be a focus for future economic development and environmental improvement schemes.
The prospect of further pit closures will increase the social, economic and environmental problems and add to the legacy left by the accumulated effects of decades of coal mining. Derelict colliery sites are likely to play a key role in the future economic development of the region. Green after uses, including agriculture, forestry and recreation, are to be the preferred options for certain rural collieries and spoil tips.
A major constraint on development in the south of the region comes from the application of Green Belt policies to the urban fringes of Nottingham, Hucknall and the eastern edge of Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
Mineral extraction
The principal mineral resources exploited in the region are deep-mined coal and Sherwood Sandstone. Both forms of extraction have had a considerable impact on the economy and environment of the region, particularly coal extraction.
Many of the pits in the region were established during the first half of the 20th century when technical advances in the mining industry enabled wider exploitation of the deep coal resource. A number of the pits were located next to existing villages and on green field sites in the more rural areas away from the main centres of population. This led to the enlargement of the existing villages and the creation of a number of isolated and free-standing mining communities. Examples of such colliery settlements include Calverton, Bilsthorpe, Blidworth, Edwinstowe, New Clipstone and Rainworth. These developments brought industrial landscapes into the heart of the region.
A number of environmental issues are associated with coal extraction, particularly that of visual intrusion. The visual impact of mine-head developments and spoil disposal is enormous, with many spoil heaps being established prior to current planning legislation when little attention was given to environmental considerations. More recent permissions seek to minimise the visual impact of tipping through attention to grading and shaping details and so reduce the “engineered” appearance of many pit heaps. The Sherwood region has a naturally rolling landform; the opportunities to integrate pit heaps into the landscape are therefore perhaps greater than in certain other parts of the County. Priority is therefore given to the early reclamation of the external visible faces of pit heaps.
The premature closure of pits has had major environmental consequences for reclamation, as existing programmes can no longer be achieved. The County Council, British Coal and the Forestry Commission are working together to develop new proposals to restore such spoil heaps to a mixture of forestry, heathland and public open space. The more recent spoil heaps of the remaining active mines are covered by similar schemes.
Sandstone extraction in the region accounts for nearly a quarter of the County’s sand and gravel production with recent outputs averaging 1 million tonnes per annum. Currently, six active and four dormant quarries are located within the region, the size and nature of which vary. The reclamation history of the sandstone quarries is poor with only 10% of the 600 hectares exploited having been reclaimed by 1988, compared to 60% for sand and gravel. A number of reclamation constraints are associated with these sites. Extraction generally leaves a moderately deep void and little on-site material, and the options for infilling are limited due to the need to protect the aquifer. Low-level reclamation may be feasible; however, the resulting landform may be unsuitable both visually and in management terms. The area is unsuitable for agricultural after uses because of inherently poor soil types. Woodland and nature conservation after uses are often the most appropriate. Reclamation conditions are favourable for the establishment of native oak and birch woodland and also for the re-creation of heathland habitats. Heathland creation is particularly appropriate to sites located to the east and south of Mansfield.
Tourism
Sherwood Forest is one of the major tourist attractions in Nottinghamshire, attracting over one million visitors a year. A number of tourist facilities have been provided, including a visitor centre at the Sherwood Forest Country Park, car parks and a number of surfaced footpaths. The Forestry Commission promotes public access within Sherwood Pines, a large block of woodland near Edwinstowe. Walking, cycling and horse-riding are the most popular activities. The presence of the Center Parcs holiday village, also near Edwinstowe, is also a major tourist attraction. This complex is one of the regions largest employers.
As a result of the increasing importance of tourism within the region, Nottinghamshire County Council is currently preparing a Management Plan for Sherwood Forest. The County Council have also published a County tourism strategy entitled Tourism in Robin Hood Country.
The tourism industry is likely to play an increasing role in the economy of the Sherwood region, particularly since the decline of the mining industry.
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Section 4: Landscape strategies and key recommendations
Introduction
When applied to the landscape, the notion of “character” is not a concept that merely concerns itself with aspects of scenic quality. The character of the landscape derives from a complex interaction of a wide range of physiological and historical phenomena. These include geology, topography, soils, ecology, archaeology, architecture, and local customs and culture, as well as the pattern of land use, settlement and fields. It is the varied interaction between these factors which produces the local and regional variations in character for which the English landscape is famous. The diversity of that character is a central part of our landscape heritage and vital to people’s appreciation and enjoyment of the countryside.
The landscape that we see today is a product of its historical evolution, reflecting the underlying physical resource and the changing nature of human exploitation of the land. The landscape will, of course, continue to change and evolve, reflecting the changing priorities and demands that society places on it. Over recent decades, however, these priorities and demands have often degraded rather than improved the fabric of the landscape. There is now a general consensus that positive action is needed to reverse this trend, and that this should place a high value on conserving and enhancing the inherent character and diversity of our landscapes.
A series of Landscape Strategies and Key Recommendations is set out in this section for each of the landscape types within the region. These should be read in conjunction with the Landscape Guidelines that appear in section 5. Collectively, these will provide the framework for conserving and strengthening the distinctive character and features of the Sherwood region. They will help to ensure that landscape character is reflected in the many decisions and actions that affect its continuing evolution. The intention is not to fossilise change, but to provide a context that will enable policy making, planning and landscape management decisions to be made which respect and sustain the diversity and character of our countryside.
Landscape Strategies |
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| These recognise the forces acting upon the landscape and set the broad vision for its future management. The Strategies provide the framework for conserving and enhancing the character and distinctiveness of the landscape. The Landscape Strategies are given in the form of a short summary title, followed by a reasoned justification of why it has been chosen. The strategy options defined for each landscape type generally relate to one, or more than one, of the following four courses of action: |
| A: Conservation, where the traditional landscape character and “sense of place” are strong, or where many landscape features are notable for their landscape, ecological or historical value. The Landscape Strategy will encourage the good management of the key features which characterise the landscape and recommend the avoidance of out-of-character development. |
| B: Enhancement, where landscape character is still reasonably strong, but the overall structure and individual features are in decline. The Landscape Strategy will relate to areas where landscape character is perceived to be under threat, and where positive action is required to strengthen the overall character and structure of the landscape. |
| C: Restoration, where landscape character or individual features have suffered significant decline or damage, but the underlying character and patterns within the landscape are still evident. The Landscape Strategy will seek to replace characteristic features and rebuild the character of the landscape. |
| D: Creation, where little of the original landscape character or landscape features remain. The Landscape Strategy will set a vision for a new landscape. This will either relate to the characteristics of a former landscape through a process of reconstruction, or aim to create a new and different landscape. |
Key recommendations |
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The Landscape Strategies are supported by a series of Key Recommendations. These develop and focus the overall strategy further by identifying the main actions and priorities for each landscape type. The Key Recommendations are presented as a series of aims, each followed by a justification describing the recommended course of action. The Landscape Strategies and Key Recommendations are summarised at the beginning of the description of each landscape type. |
Forest sandlands
Landscape strategy
Conserve and strengthen the distinctive heathy and well-wooded character of the landscape
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Key recommendations
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Landscape strategy
- Conserve and strengthen the distinctive heathy and well-wooded character of the landscape
Rolling landform, extensive pine plantations, large areas of broad-leaved woodland, intensively managed farmlands and widespread heathy character constitute the distinguishing features of this landscape. The overall structure is constructed from a patchwork of alternating areas of dense woodland and open farmland with a strong sense of wooded enclosure. Urban and industrial development associated with the mining industry, the legacy of its subsequent decline and the more general spread of towns into the countryside, have created pressures for change within the Forest Sandlands landscape. Character is particularly strong where associated with semi-natural woodland and areas of grass, bracken and heather heathland. These features are instrumental in retaining an historical sense of continuity in the landscape, providing a reminder of the formerly extensive areas of forest. The approach advocated in the strategy is therefore to conserve and strengthen the distinctive heathy and well-wooded character of the landscape. Priorities include conserving the region’s remote rural character and enhancing landscapes around urban edges, mine sites and industrial development.
Key Recommendations
- Identify opportunities for conserving and restoring areas of heathland and semi-natural oak woodland
The traditional character of the landscape is especially strong where oak-birch woodland and heathland habitats occur. The most extensive areas of heathland occur at Budby Forest and the longer-established golf courses; elsewhere it occurs as smaller patches within woodlands, railway embankments, old mine sites and abandoned sandstone quarries. Many of the pine plantations, now a dominant visual feature of the Forest Sandlands, were established on areas of former heath and still retain patches of remnant heathy vegetation. Elsewhere the presence of bracken, gorse and broom on roadside verges, disused and derelict sites, and woodland edges reinforces the strong heathy character. Alongside new woodland planting, therefore, opportunities should be sought for restoring, or re-creating, heathland habitats on suitable sites. With careful planning these could provide valuable areas of public open space next to urban settlements.
Of equal importance in enhancing the visual and ecological diversity of the landscape would be the creation of semi-natural broad-leaved woodlands. The largest extent of existing broad-leaved woodland occurs in the Birklands and Bilhaugh area. This semi-natural woodland with its ancient stag-headed oaks represents the last vestiges of the historic Forest and, as such, it is of tremendous conservation importance. Oak woodland was once the dominant vegetation type on the dry sandy soil of the Forest Sandlands. However, outside the historic Forest core only remnants now remain, often comprising much secondary birch woodland and scrub. Although regeneration of these remnant woodlands should be a priority, opportunities should also be identified for creating new areas of semi-natural oak woodland. The best areas to target would be those adjacent to existing sites. These would not only provide a valuable habitat for plants and animals, but would also help to diversify the appearance of the woodland resource.
- Conserve the integrity and remote rural character of the landscape by concentrating new development around existing settlements
Historically, settlement within Sherwood established itself along the margins of the region, with the central areas maintaining a sparsely settled and remote rural character. Although a number of these settlements have now grown into large urban areas and extended into the Forest Sandlands landscape, notably at Nottingham, Mansfield and Retford, the sparsely settled and undeveloped character is still one of the key factors that contribute to its special identity. The pattern of settlement and arrangement of fields and roads reflects the fact that much of the landscape was once covered by areas of unenclosed waste. In order to protect the integrity and remote rural character of the landscape, planning policies should seek to contain and concentrate new development in and around existing settlements, and discourage new development in open countryside.
- Promote large-scale woodland planting to contain and soften urban development
The well-wooded character of the Forest Sandlands is a dominant and unifying theme throughout this landscape. In places, however, especially around urban edges and mining settlements, the structure and visual integrity of the landscape has become fragmented. Mining settlements such as those at Blidworth, Rainworth and Bilsthorpe appear superimposed on the landscape, and typically have a harsh and abrupt boundary with the surrounding countryside. The urban fringes of the large settlements of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield and Mansfield are similarly dominated by industrial estates, mine sites and pit heaps. The discordant appearance of such areas is reinforced by the juxtaposition of different land uses, including urban development, mine workings, spoil heaps, open space, and arable farmland. The only practical way to enhance the visual amenity of these areas is to create a new woodland structure that will contain and soften this urban fringe environment. New planting that reflects the scale of the urban edge and which links strongly into the wider landscape pattern is likely to work best. The potential for large-scale woodland planting is therefore significant, although aesthetic and amenity considerations should guide the exact proportion of planted and open land in any given area.
Forest estatelands
Landscape strategy
Conserve and restore the visual integrity and historic, well-wooded estate character of the landscape
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Key Recommendations
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Landscape strategy
- Conserve and restore the visual integrity and historic, well-wooded estate character of the landscape
The Forest Estatelands, which contain the historic estates of the Dukeries, have escaped the impact of major forms of built development and represent the most extensive area of unspoilt countryside within the region. They are characterised by large country houses set in ornamental grounds, extensive plantation woodlands, lakes, rolling landform and well-wooded agricultural estates. These features combine to produce distinctive, unified and peaceful landscapes of great historical interest. Although the estates have survived as cohesive units, in places the historic integrity of the landscape has begun to break down. This is primarily due to changes in the traditional pastoral land use of the parklands, with a growing trend towards arable cropping evident throughout the landscape. In order to maintain the visual integrity of these historic estatelands, each will need to be subject to a long-term renewal management plan involving a phased programme of tree felling and replacement planting and, where possible, the restoration of traditional forms of land use. The strategy should therefore aim to conserve and restore the visual integrity and historic well-wooded estate character of the landscape.
Key Recommendations
- Protect the sparsely settled and undeveloped character of the landscape
The historical evolution of the Forest Estatelands since their emparkment in the 18th century has created an area with few roads and a very low resident population. The powerful landowners have traditionally kept out urban and industrial influences, and the area as a result has a unified and unfragmented character. This pattern of large managed wooded estates and ornamental parklands is vulnerable to change if new development is allowed in the countryside. Planning policies should thus seek to protect the undeveloped character of the landscape by restricting built and other development.
- Conserve all areas of historic parkland and seek opportunities for restoring parkland character
The historic Dukeries landscapes, with their avenues, mature parkland trees and woodlands, contain many fine specimens of mature forest trees, as well as more ornamental species. The parklands support large areas of mixed habitat including deciduous and mixed woodland, heathland, scrub, marsh, stream side and lake. These, in turn, support a wide range of fauna and flora. The parklands are therefore a priority habitat for nature conservation in addition to their importance as historic landscapes. The traditional character of these landscapes has, in places, been fragmented by the ploughing up of pasture and acidic grassland communities. Where parklands are used for arable cropping, the historic integrity and visual unity of the landscape is greatly disrupted. Measures should be taken to address these issues through the preparation and implementation of landscape masterplans for individual parkland areas. These masterplans should respect the historical and visual integrity of the landscape within each area. This may involve bringing together a number of landowners where the whole area is no longer in single ownership. Priority should be given to the phased renewal of estate woodlands and clumps of trees, and to the restoration of parkland that has been converted to arable cultivation.
- Identify opportunities for conserving and restoring areas of heathland and semi-natural oak woodland
The Forest Estatelands share a number of common attributes with the Forest Sandlands landscape type, particularly its heavily wooded and heathy nature.
On the Sherwood Sandstone outcrop the heathy character is evident, whilst on the western fringe the underlying Permian Marls do not sustain heathland. Where the combination of sandy soils and less intensive management occurs, for example in Clumber Park, the acidic grassland, bracken and heath appear in substantial areas. Where there are opportunities for a less intensive agricultural regime on the sandstone, the option of heathland creation or restoration should be considered, especially where these areas abut existing established heathlands with a local seed source. The well-wooded estatelands are locally very distinctive, and whilst in many cases the woodlands enclose extensive arable land, it is particularly the broad-leaved oak and birch woods which create the distinctive character. It is therefore important to conserve existing, and where appropriate restore, oak woodland by positive management. In contrast to the heathland, the broad-leaved woodlands are more extensive towards the western side of the landscape type on the Welbeck and Worksop Manor estatelands. The typical form of the broad-leaved woodlands is in long sinuous belts, which enclose views and create a sense of a densely wooded landscape. Locally distinctive patterns of woodland should be conserved and managed positively for landscape and nature conservation interests.
River meadowlands
Landscape strategy
Conserve and restore the continuity and distinctive riparian character of the landscape
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Key Recommendations
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Landscape strategy
- Conserve and restore the continuity and distinctive riparian character of the landscape
These landscapes are defined by the narrow river corridors of the Maun, Meden, Poulter, Ryton, parts of the Idle and Rainworth Water. Permanent grasslands, flood meadows, fringing alder and willow, broad-leaved woodlands, alder and willow carrs and localised marshy vegetation are the most distinctive features of these landscapes. Where these features occur, they impart a strong “sense of place” and feeling of naturalness and their conservation is vitally important. However, arable cultivation has encroached to riverside edges within all river corridors and led to a fragmentation of character and loss of continuity in certain areas. The re-creation of characteristic river corridor landscapes should be promoted, through the re-establishment of riverside pasture and the planting and regeneration of riparian trees and woodland. The overall approach advocated in this strategy is therefore one of conservation and restoration - to conserve areas where this traditional riverine character is still strong, and elsewhere to strengthen the continuity of the river corridors by restoring pastoral character and other landscape features and habitats.
Key Recommendations
- Conserve pastoral character and promote measures for enhancing the ecological diversity of alluvial grasslands
The River Meadowlands landscape is defined by the narrow alluvial deposits which were traditionally characterised by a continuous ribbon of pasture. These grasslands helped to define the river corridors and distinguish them from surrounding sandland landscapes, where pastoral land uses are rare. Arable encroachment has led to the disappearance of large areas of alluvial meadowland within some river corridors and a consequent fragmentation in their visual and ecological continuity. Permanent pastures within riverine landscapes provide a strong sense of place and naturalness and it is therefore vital to conserve the remaining areas. The meadows were traditionally used for haymaking and summer grazing using low-input forms of management which ensured that the aesthetic and ecological value was high. This value has now declined markedly with the introduction of more intensive forms of management. Flood plains are ideal locations for a return to traditional forms of grassland management, given the need to reduce agricultural surpluses and nitrate leaching into watercourses. Landowners are now eligible to enter a range of schemes that promote sensitive, unintensive grassland management and a long-term increase in aesthetic and wildlife value.
- Consider options for converting arable land to permanent pasture
Where arable cultivation has encroached to the riverside edges, the narrow floodplain River Meadowlands landscape has become fragmented. Associated scrub, hedgerows and trees fringing the rivers are also vulnerable to more intense cultivation practice. Where possible, encouragement should be given to converting arable land back to pasture in the River Meadowlands. Other elements such as appropriate riverside trees and small plantations should be considered as part of any restoration proposals. The key to restoring the traditional pastoral character now lies with finding a mechanism and financial incentive for taking land out of arable production and returning it to permanent pasture and meadowland. It is unlikely that such measures would affect whole farms. However there may be opportunities to encourage landowners to consider adopting mixed farming regimes. Such schemes might be linked to European and national initiatives to reduce agricultural production and promote environmentally sensitive farming. Payments could be made to farmers to convert arable land to permanent pasture within those parts of their holding that lie within the River Meadowlands. Farmers could also be encouraged to manage the grasslands in a more traditional, environmentally sensitive way.
- Conserve and enhance the ecological diversity and character of riparian woodland
| Alder and willow carrs are characteristic features of the River Meadowlands, along with a number of small ash holts that occur along the Ryton. These are significant as landscape features as well as being a source of biodiversity; remnant riparian woodlands are important for invertebrates, birds and unusual sedges and ferns. Alder woodlands are a priority habitat in the European Habitats Directive. It is therefore important to promote the conservation and positive management of these features, using traditional coppicing and pollarding techniques as appropriate. |
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The visual unity of the landscape can also be enhanced by the planting and management of new woodland. The opportunities for establishing new, small-scale damp woodlands in areas where conditions are favourable should be investigated. Large-scale planting should be avoided, particularly where it will close off views down the river corridors or have the effect of filling in meanders.
- Retain and enhance river channel diversity and marginal riverside vegetation
The free-draining soils and pervious sandstones of much of the Sherwood region mean that river and water features are locally distinctive, adding much to the visual and ecological diversity of the landscape. In places the river valleys have been modified to form artificial lakes, such as those at Thoresby, Welbeck and Clumber. The River Meadowlands have traditionally contained a diverse range of wet habitats and riparian features including wet woodlands, reed beds, marshland, aquatic and marginal vegetation, fringing trees and shrubs, meanders, islands, and shallows. The high water quality supports a great diversity of wildlife and it is therefore important to retain, and where possible enhance river channel diversity where these features still exist. Flood alleviation schemes have in places reduced this diversity and created a more engineered channel, for example on the Idle at Gamston and Eaton. There may be opportunities for enhancing diversity by the use of new techniques being developed by the Environment Agency. An essential element of the riparian character of the River Meadowlands is also the presence of waterside trees and shrubs along river banks and tributary streams. The trees help define the course of the rivers, especially in the more open arable areas. In the stretches of river corridor where the trees and shrubs have been removed, visual continuity breaks down, the watercourses enjoy less landscape significance and the wildlife value decreases. In order to enhance these aspects it is vital that natural regeneration or the planting and maintenance of riparian trees is encouraged.
- Conserve the sparsely settled character of the river corridors
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Where urban and industrial influences are experienced along parts of the river corridors the impact is significant, as the landscape is by nature a narrow and relatively fragile system. The visual impact of colliery sites and associated spoil tips is particularly intrusive, as are pylons where these are routed along the valleys. In order to preserve the sparsely settled character of the landscape, built development should be restricted, where possible, to adjacent areas on higher ground. |
Settled sandlands
Landscape strategy
Restore “forest” character with large-scale woodland planting and heathland creation
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Key Recommendations
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Landscape Strategy
- Restore “forest” character with large-scale woodland planting and heathland creation
This landscape displays the characteristic features of a late enclosure, “surveyors” style landscape, dominated by a geometric layout of fields and roads. The principal features are the undulating landform and regimented pattern of treeless hawthorn hedgerows. The sparse settlement, closely trimmed hedgerows and almost total absence of tree cover produce open landscapes with a distinctively “empty” character. This character is reinforced by the rather uniform appearance of the arable farmland which leaves little space for plants and animals. The character of the Settled Sandlands stands in marked contrast to adjacent well-wooded landscapes, although its traditional heathy character is still reflected in the presence of bracken, gorse and broom species along hedgerows and roadside verges. This heathy character provides a strong link with surrounding landscapes, and the basis for the landscape strategy, which is to restore “forest” character with large-scale woodland planting and heathland creation. This will help to diversify the visual appearance and ecology of the area whilst ensuring continuity with the overall character of the Sherwood region.
Key Recommendations
- Promote large-scale woodland planting to create new well-wooded landscapes
The Settled Sandlands landscape is highly visible as it is crossed by two major roads (A614 and A617). The experience from driving through the open undulating countryside is in sharp contrast to the well-wooded Forest Sandlands landscape. This contrast is reinforced by the open and rather vacant character, with its uniform field pattern of low-trimmed hedges and intensive arable cropping. In order to restore a feeling of naturalness, the planting of new woodland should be promoted, so long as this matches the scale of the landscape. Its open, rolling nature means that it can absorb large-scale woodlands, which should be designed to soften the rectilinear pattern of fields and straight roads. In some places, it may be possible to create the impression of a well-wooded landscape by establishing long belts of trees around the edges of farms, especially those close to main roads. These woodlands could be designed to enhance the overall farm layout and complement the best of the arable land. Examples from the Forest Estatelands landscape type could be used as a model to promote the idea to landowners. The design of any new woodland should also maintain the prospect and easterly views towards the Mercia Mudstone escarpment.
- Identify opportunities for restoring areas of heathland and semi-natural oak woodland
Soils throughout the Settled Sandlands are light and sandy and have been cultivated in the past from heathland waste. There are remnant heathy indicators present in hedgerows and roadside verges in the form of bracken, gorse and broom. The cultivation of former heathland for arable cropping requires significant inputs. Those areas of land which cannot be irrigated may be potential sites for the restoration of heathland habitats, if encouragement and support is provided. Similarly, tree and woodland planting, and the restoration of remnant semi-natural oak woodland may fit into the overall pattern of farming in the area. Benefits such as shelter belts to reduce the risk of wind erosion and increase game cover may appeal to landowners who wish to modify their farming techniques.
- Conserve the sparsely settled character of the landscape by concentrating new development around existing settlements
The only buildings in this open arable landscape are associated with the dispersed pattern of farmsteads. There are no villages or other settlements except on the western and eastern edges at Farnsfield and Rainworth. Policies should reinforce this sparsely settled pattern by resisting any new development in the open countryside. The mining settlement of Rainworth has an abrupt edge onto the countryside. Any new development should be designed in a wooded framework which will help to soften the urban edge and protect the wider countryside from urban fringe pressures.
Village farmlands
Landscape strategy
Conserve and enhance the traditional character and overall unity of the landscape
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Key Recommendations
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Landscape Strategy
- Conserve and enhance the traditional character and overall unity of the landscape
These landscapes have a transitional character, sharing attributes of both the Sherwood and Mid-Nottinghamshire Farmlands regions. Existing character is strongest where associated with small red brick villages, medium-scale woodlands, intact field patterns, mixed hedgerows and mature hedgerow trees. Landscape enhancement measures should concentrate on reinforcing the landscape’s transitional character. This can be achieved by increasing woodland cover to provide a link with the overall character of the Sherwood region and through the enhancement of the traditional agricultural features of the landscape to provide a link with the overall character of the Mid-Nottinghamshire Farmlands. Recent changes in agricultural management, and expansion of rural villages have led to a dilution of the unity of this transitional landscape. The approach advocated in the landscape strategy is therefore to conserve and enhance the traditional character and overall unity of the landscape.
Key Recommendations
- Conserve and strengthen the pattern of field hedgerows and associated tree cover
A pattern of medium to large-scale fields enclosed by mainly hawthorn hedgerows has developed on the clay soils of the Village Farmlands. Where the field pattern is intact, and the hedgerows are well maintained with hedgerow trees, the locally distinctive character is clearly visible. Elsewhere, where hedgerows are gappy and low, the character is partly lost. The conservation and continued management of hedgerows are among the key priorities for achieving the landscape strategy. In the areas where field pattern has become fragmented it is especially important to conserve primary hedgerows, particularly along roadsides, footpaths, bridleways and parish boundaries. Hedgerow reinstatement initiatives should initially focus on replacing primary hedgerows and restoring the basic structure of the landscape in the more open areas. Hedgerows that are thin and gappy would benefit from being allowed to grow thicker and taller. Measures to conserve and enhance the structure of hedged fields should also focus on strengthening the level of hedgerow tree cover. The establishment of more hedgerow trees will help to emphasise the enclosure pattern and allow filtered views of the rising escarpment. This should form an important part of measures to increase tree cover, along with small to medium-scale woodland planting initiatives.
Conserve the distinctive character of rural villages
The Village Farmlands are characterised by a string of small villages sited on the narrow band of clay soils at the foot of the Mercia Mudstone escarpment. These nucleated villages have a traditional rural character and comprise many older buildings of red brick and pantile roofed construction, along with stone churches. They form one of the distinguishing features of the landscape. However, in some villages, modern suburban development and urban and industrial development associated with the coal mining industry has weakened the character and integrity of individual settlements. This has affected the traditional relationship between buildings, areas of open space and the historic bond with small-scale pastoral landscapes that fringe the village edges. Development which impinges on the historic village centres should be discouraged, and local planning policies should seek to balance the scale and layout of new development with measures to conserve the integrity, setting and distinctive character of rural settlement. It is important that new development is located, as far as possible, within existing settlement in order to conserve the nucleated pattern.
- Promote tree and woodland planting as a means of enhancing the structure and unity of the landscape
Tree and woodland planting can often be used to good effect to enhance the structure and unity of farmed landscapes, especially in those areas where the traditional pattern of hedged fields is in decline. The woodland pattern in this landscape is relatively varied in scale. New Park Wood is a large mixed plantation; elsewhere there is a dispersed pattern of small-scale deciduous and mixed-species woodlands. This variation reflects the transitional nature of the landscape and the changing soil types. Any new tree and woodland planting should therefore be small to medium in scale, respond to local conditions and utilise species which will enhance the structure and unity of the landscape. It should also be to a maximum of the general enclosure scale and be shaped and positioned to accord with the existing field pattern. There is also the opportunity for some mixed woodland planting, so long as attention is paid to edges and skylines. Woodland planting programmes should be combined with other initiatives to strengthen tree cover which focus on rural settlement, individual farmsteads and rural dwellings.
Sandstone estatelands
Landscape strategy
Conserve and enhance the distinctiveness and ecological diversity of the landscape
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Key Recommendations
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Landscape strategy
- Conserve and enhance the distinctiveness and ecological diversity of the landscape
The distinguishing characteristics of the Sandstone Estatelands are the pattern of settlement and the nature of the woodland cover. As in the rest of Sherwood, the impoverished sandy soils were un able to support traditional agricultural communities. Although the land is now enclosed the landscape still retains an “empty”, sparsely settled character that is reinforced by the planned layout of large fields and isolated farmsteads. Of equal importance, particularly in determining the visual character of the landscape, is the effect created by woodland cover. Although not a heavily forested landscape, the Sandstone Estatelands does have the appearance of being well-wooded. This is due mainly to the pattern of estate plantations and belts of trees, but also to the gently rolling nature of the underlying topography. The Sandstone Estatelands is thus a landscape of enclosed wooded spaces, which has a relatively high capacity for accepting change. It is important, however, that any such change respects the existing pattern of settlement and woodland cover. There are many opportunities for new woodland planting, while the creation of semi-natural woodland or heathland habitats would help to strengthen the ecological character of this landscape. The overall management strategy should thus involve a combination of conservation and enhancement - to conserve the distinctive pattern of settlement and woodland cover, whilst at the same time looking for opportunities to enhance the wooded character and ecological diversity of the landscape.
Key Recommendations
- Protect the sparsely settled and undeveloped character of the landscape
One of the key factors that contribute to the special identity of the Sandstone Estatelands is the sparse and undeveloped character of the landscape. Apart from the small estate village of Ranby, settlement is limited to isolated red brick farmstead and estate cottages. This pattern of settlement, which is closely associated with a planned layout of large fields and straight roads, reflects the fact that this landscape was once an area of unenclosed waste. Despite the fact that this is now enclosed and farmed, the association remains, and is reflected in the present-day landscape pattern. This pattern is vulnerable to change, however, particularly from new development in open countryside. Planning policies should thus seek to protect the undeveloped character of the landscape by restricting built and other development in this area.
- Identify opportunities for new tree and woodland planting on suitable sites
The well-wooded character of the Sandstone Estatelands is a dominant and unifying theme throughout this landscape. In places, especially where areas of former parkland have been taken into arable production, the structure and visual integrity of the landscape has become fragmented. Elsewhere, particularly around the eastern fringe of Worksop and in the area between Elkesley and Retford, there is scope for significant new woodland planting. The aim should be to design such planting in a way that builds on the existing pattern of field-sized plantations and belts of trees. Particular attention should be given to the location and shape of any new planting and to the space it encloses. In general, planting should never be so extensive as to close off views through the landscape.
- Promote measures for enhancing the ecological diversity of new and existing woodlands
The Sandstone Estatelands is an ordered, intensively farmed landscape, with little space for wildlife. Much of the farmland is under arable cultivation with some improved grassland, while most of the woodlands are managed as commercial forestry plantations. Some of these plantations retain patches of remnant heathy vegetation, but elsewhere patches of roadside bracken are about the only remaining indicator of the inherent ecological character of this landscape. Opportunities should thus be sought for restoring or re-creating semi-natural woodland or heathland on suitable sites. The creation of such habitats, in particular sessile oak woodland, which would once have been the dominant vegetation type, would not only provide a valuable habitat for plants and animals, but would also help to diversity the appearance of the woodland resource. With careful planning, the creation of woodland and heathland habitats could also provide valuable areas of public open space.
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Section 5: Landscape guidelines
Introduction
The Landscape Guidelines that follow act as the mechanism for implementing the aims of the Landscape Strategies and Key Recommendations by indicating how specific aspects of landscape character can be conserved, enhanced or restored. The Guidelines are design-based and relate to the management of all the individual features and components of the landscape, highlighting possible courses of action and mechanisms for implementation. The Guidelines provide the framework to place wider landscape considerations at the heart of the conception and design process for individual projects. They also recommend appropriate courses of action for integrating nature conservation measures into the process of change.
The Landscape Guidelines are presented in the form of a summary statement, followed by a justification for that course of action. The Guidelines are grouped under a number of topic headings, rather than by landscape type, as this better reflects the specific management issues and range of potential users of this manual. To aid clarity each topic area has been assigned a stylised symbol as follows.
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Rural villages |
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Parkland and ornamental grounds |
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Farmsteads and rural dwellings |
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Historic features |
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Urban development |
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Farmland |
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Woodland |
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Recreational land |
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Hedgerow trees |
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Highways and rural lanes |
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Hedgerows |
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Utilities and industrial sites |
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Meadowland and pasture |
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Development mitigation |
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Heathland |
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Mineral extraction |
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Rivers and stream lines |
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Promote measures to integrate the settlement edges of the urban fringe with the wider farmed landscape |
Settlement in Sherwood is typically of scattered farmsteads and estates reflecting the historical development from unenclosed waste. In contrast, recent urban and industrial development has been associated with deep mining, and the mining settlements typically have an abrupt boundary with the surrounding countryside. In order to integrate and soften the edges of urban development, large-scale woodland planting should be promoted in these areas. By integrating the edges of these settlements into the countryside, the pressures and conflicts ssociated with people and farming can be absorbed, with significant landscape and environmental benefits. New development should be designed to include new planting and open spaces to create a well-wooded transition between town and countryside. The aim should be to produce filtered views of the built edges, rather than attempt to mask the settlement altogether. It is important for localr esidents that views out from settlement are retained. Off-site woodland planting increases the opportunity to integrate modern developments with the surrounding countryside and tie in with the wider landscape structure. New developments should be carefully designed to avoid straight and densely built edges, allowing open green breaks and areas of new tree planting to run into developments.
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Conserve and enhance the local vernacular character of village settlements |
Generally in Sherwood it is difficult to identify a traditional vernacular style of building, as settlement is either dispersed farmsteads or recent industrial mining towns which lack local identity. However, in the Village Farmlands character area, the historic cores of the villages have a strong local style. The buildings in Eaton, Gamston, Elkesley and Walesby village centres are typically of local clay bricks, with pantile roofs. Where the villages have expanded from the historic core, a range of other styles is found, some of which appear out of place and have a suburban character which disrupts the sense of rural unity.The conservation of local vernacular styles is a priority. All new developments should seek to complement and harmonise with the local vernacular style.
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Protect and enhance the internal open spaces and irregular outline of village settlements |
Many of the villages in the region contain areas of open green land.These may be found internally within village centres, or as green breaks connecting the village with the openc ountryside. The spaces typically comprise pastureland, horse paddocks, allotments, gardens, village greens, small parks and play areas, and other areas of amenity land and open space. These open breaks between buildings create village forms that are essentially irregular and organic in outline, and which harmonise well with the surrounding farmed landscape. Open spaces within villages and irregular outlines provide a particularly strong sense of place in the Village Farmlands. Infill developments that would significantly disrupt or destroy the irregular pattern of village outlines should be resisted. New development should be designed and sited sympathetically to complement and reinforce the irregular nature of settlement edges, with adequate provision for internal open space and direct green links to surrounding farmlands. Village envelopes should therefore be drawn to avoid simplistic “squaring up” of boundaries on plans.
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Conserve the character of rural villages by retaining farmsteads within settlements |
Although in Sherwood the predominant pattern of agriculture is of dispersed farmsteads remote from village settlements, at Perlethorpe Estate village, and in the Village Farmlands, farms are integral with the village life and built environment. In these settlements, farm buildings are often the most significant mass of building apart from the church, and the vernacular style of barns, yards and farmhouses is locally distinctive. The presence of farm vehicles, animals and activity associated with farms adds to the life of villages, and without the working farms villages can become purely dormitory settlements serving the nearest large population centre. There has been a recent trend toward converting old farmhouses and associated buildings to residential use when farms are sold. The buildings are often sold separately from the rest of the agricultural holding. This weakens the historic ties between the village and the agricultural economy and leads to changes in the character of the village settlements. Planning policies should therefore seek to resist proposals for the residential development of farms and their associated buildings.
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Conserve and enhance tree cover in and around rural settlements |
The attractiveness of rural settlements is often enhanced by the presence of trees. These introduce colour, shape, texture and height variations into the built environment. They provide wildlife habitat and cultural and historical links for the village dwellers and help tie the built landscape and wider farmed landscape together. The retention of existing trees and the replacement of lost trees is essential for maintaining the character of rural settlement. Garden trees play an important role in linking settlement edges into the wider landscape. Property owners should therefore be encouraged to plant appropriate longer-lived trees rather than quick-growing non-native species. New planting should also be undertaken to soften the hard edges of more recent development and consolidate the well-treed character of the villages.
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Agricultural buildings should be sited, designed and landscaped to blen with the surrounding farmed landscape |
Farmsteads have traditionally been constructed using materials that conform with the vernacular style, particularly along the margins of the Sherwood region. The red brick and pantile roofed buildings are an important feature of the landscape fabric, contributing greatly to local sense of place. The older farmsteads are often surrounded by small pasture fields, hedgerows and mature trees. These features ensure that the red brick buildings are well integrated with the wider farmed landscape. At many locations new farm buildings have been built which are large and constructed from materials that do not complement or fit in with the vernacular style. When considering the siting and design of new agricultural buildings, careful consideration should be given to positioning and choice of building materials. Existing features such as hedgerows, woodlands and trees can be used in conjunction with landform to reduce the visual impact of large buildings. Darker colours will be less obtrusive and will harmonise better with the vernacular style. New landscape features can be created, using locally characteristic species to help blend agricultural buildings into the landscape. These should form an important part of the design process and not be used as a means of simply screening unsightly buildings.
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Conserve and enhance tree cover around farmsteads and rural dwellings |
Clumps of trees are an important feature around farmsteads and rural dwellings where they provide shelter and give a sense of proportion and balance to the built environment. Mature trees are particularly valuable as local landmarks where their presence often produces a strong sense of place. Trees can soften the hard edges of new buildings and help to link the new development into the wider farmed landscape. Tree planting, using locally occurring species, should be encouraged around farmsteads and rural dwellings. The intention is not to hide the buildings, but rather to integrate them into the landscape. Ornamental species planted as quick growing screens, particularly Leylandii, should be avoided.
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Ex-colliery sites and urban fringe areas should be targeted for new woodland planting, where appropriate |
The impact of coal mining activity throughout the Sherwood region has been significant, either directly at the colliery sites, or indirectly due to the appearance of industrial-style development in an otherwise relatively sparsely settled rural landscape. Now that large numbers of colliery sites have closed in the area, there is an opportunity to restore and integrate the colliery site and associated spoil tips into the Sherwood landscape. Where mines have closed prematurely, restoration schemes should consider reshaping the spoil tips in order to integrate elements of landform, woodland planting and possibly heathland creation, whilst taking into account key viewpoints. Mines and tips are closely associated with urban and urban fringe landscapes, and an integrated landscape creation or reconstruction plan should be drawn up for affected areas. The scale of solutions should closely reflect the scale, topography and character of the surrounding landscape.
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New planting should enhance the large-scale pattern of woodland cover |
Throughout Sherwood, extensive coniferous, and smaller-scale mixed and broad-leaved woodland have produced a landscape with a well-wooded character. The rolling landform enhances this impression, creating frequent views of long sinuous woodland edges and wooded skylines. New woodland plantings should aim to complement the scale of existing woodland. Consideration should be given in the design and siting of new woodland planting to the closing down of longer distance views within the farmland areas. This would increase the sense of wooded enclosure and extend the pattern of alternating areas of dense woodland and open land. The size and scale of new plantings should be appropriate to the landscape type. In the Forest Sandlands and Settled Sandlands, large-scale planting is preferable, whilst in the Village Farmlands and Sandstone Estatelands, small to medium planting is more appropriate. All new woodland plantings should avoid features of ecological or historical interest.
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Felling coupes should be designed to preserve and enhance the effect of wooded enclosure |
Over 80% of the County’s coniferous woodland is held within Sherwood. Commercial plantations are found widely throughout the landscape; the largest of these were established by the Forestry Commission, often on areas of former heath, to the south and east of Mansfield. These include Clipstone Forest, Thieves Wood/Harlow Wood and Blidworth/Samson Woods. Substantial plantations have also been established to the north of Clipstone, at the lings adjacent to the Birklands and Bilhaugh area, and as large “infill” plantation in the Clumber Park area. Elsewhere plantations are generally on a smaller scale, but still constitute significant landscape components. In line with Forestry Commission policy, commercial conifer plantations should not be developed at the expense of remaining areas of deciduous woodland.
As forest plantations reach maturity in Sherwood, the potential landscape impact of felling coupes needs to be carefully considered. Attention should be directed to the design of coupes to ensure that the existing sense of wooded enclosure is both preserved and enhanced. Enclosure and landscape scale should be maintained by selecting felling programmes that minimise change to “visually sensitive” sections of woodland. If possible the aim should be to prevent the creation of long distance views. Strategies might include: appropriately shaped and scaled retentions in front of felling coupes; the staggering of fellings over time; and the retention of drifts of trees along the perimeter of felling coupes. Rotational felling and replanting programmes should aim to improve both internal and external landscapes. Plantation edges should be contoured to produce irregular, rather than rectangular shapes. These measures should complement existing landscape structure whilst adding diversity to the landscape.
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Species selection along woodland edges and rides should favour oak and birch |
The character of the Forest Sandlands landscape is particularly strong where it is associated with oak and birch woodland. These species provide a strong reminder of the ancient Sherwood Forest. Species selection along woodland edges should therefore favour oak and birch species as a method of restoring traditional “forest” character. This is particularly important along coniferous edges. The visual “harshness” of these features can be reduced by the planting of oak and birch species, through low density edge retentions and through the natural regeneration of oak and birch.
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Consider options for restocking mixed and non-native broad-leaved woodlands to increase the proportion of native tree and shrub species |
Many woodlands in Sherwood contain both coniferous and non-native tree species such as sycamore and poplar. The use of appropriate species in well-designed mixes is important in determining how well tree planting will fit into the landscape. Selection of species will need to reflect a wide range of considerations, including the balance to be struck between nature conservation, landscape enhancement and timber production. It is important however that broad-leaved species appear to predominate if the traditional appearance of the landscape is to be enhanced. When considering management of these woodlands, opportunities may arise which would allow a shift towards a choice of native tree and shrub species.
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Conserve ancient and native deciduous woodland sites |
Four woodlands in Sherwood are classified as being of ancient origin. The most significant are located at Birklands, Bilhaugh and Buckgates. They represent the core of the historic Sherwood Forest. These woodlands, designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, are of considerable ecological and wildlife value. The highest priority must be afforded to the conservation and appropriate management of all ancient woodland sites. In nature conservation terms, native deciduous woodlands provide habitat for a much wider range of flora and fauna than do non-native woods. A special feature of the ancient woodlands is stag-headed oaks, which can often be seen from the roadside and on old woodland boundaries. The trees greatly enhance landscape character, and should be protected and conserved intact. Ancient woodlands which contain stag-headed oaks accommodate vast ranges of species, including invertebrates, fungi and flora which can only survive in the specialised conditions provided therein. Parts of the woodland have been planted with conifers and non-native deciduous species. The wildlife value of such woodlands is often less than that of native deciduous woodlands. Further use of non-native species in existing woodlands should be avoided and, wherever possible, restocking with appropriate native trees and shrubs should be the management priority.
Woodlands containing native deciduous species are widely distributed throughout the region. Oak and birch are the principal species. The landscape and conservation value of these woodlands should be fully recognised; emphasis should be placed on the retention and, where appropriate, additional planting of characteristic native tree and shrub species.
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Enhance the character of areas of wooded river corrdor by establishing belts of native trees and shrubs along river channel edges |
In certain areas large coniferous and mixed woodlands extend into the River Meadowlands, breaking up the structure and character of the river corridor. Where opportunities arise, for example through diversification programmes, it may be possible to establish belts of native tree and shrub species along riverside edges. Such measures should help to more clearly define the river corridors. Alder and willow should be the preferred tree species, along with a range of native shrubs.
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Encourage the establishment of alder and willow carrs as a means of enhancing river corridor character. Conserve all existing alder and willow carrs |
Alder and willow carrs are characteristic features in the River Meadowlands. These features help to create a strong sense of unity within the river corridors, particularly where associated with areas of permanent pasture. Existing alder and willow carrs should be conserved. Opportunities for the extension and creation of new carrs should be explored in areas where site conditions are favourable.
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Promote the establihsment of permanent and ephemeral heathland habitats as a principal objective of diversification programmes within commercial conifer plantations |
Many coniferous plantations in Sherwood were established on former heathland sites. As a consequence grass and heather heathland communities readily regenerate along roadside verges, woodland edges and rides and areas with open canopy. The heather seedbank remains viable after 50 years under a pine crop, and establishes relatively easily into scarified areas. Heather will sometimes regenerate when pine crops are restocked following clear felling, but regeneration is of a temporary nature, only found in plantations less than ten years old before being shaded out. Regeneration also occurs in lower-lying areas where frost has thinned out the pine crop, thereby preventing the development of a closed canopy. Diversification programmes should, where appropriate, aim to establish and maintain open permanent heathland sites within coniferous forest areas. Restructuring programmes should also aim to maintain a supply of ephemeral heathland habitats. Plantations are often established using bracken herbicide/ground scarification techniques. These practices assist the regeneration of heathy vegetation.
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Conserve all remaining heathland sites |
Lowland heath sites including those found in the Sherwood region are now widely recognised as being of international importance. Within Nottinghamshire, these often ancient landscapes are part of the last vestiges of the royal hunting forest of Sherwood; they also represent valuable wildlife habitats in their own right. Between 80% and 90% of the County’s heathlands have been lost since the 1920s, principally to agricultural intensification, coniferous afforestation, urban expansion and mineral extraction. Today only 40ha of heathland (heathland with more than 25% heather cover) and slightly over 140ha of acid grassland (less than 25% of heather cover) remain. These depleted areas of heathland now represent an extremely important landscape and wildlife resource. All remaining areas of heathland should therefore be conserved.
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Maintain and enhance existing healthland sites |
Many of the existing heathlands have been unmanaged since the end of the19th century. This has led to a number of problems including scrub invasion and bracken encroachment, with the shading out of many characteristic, specialised and scarce species. Other problems have included the loss of short grass areas and the development of even-aged heather stands. This has led to a reduction in the number of certain invertebrate and bird species. Heather cover has also been reduced by competition from grasses, because of a build up of nutrients and the accumulation of dead grass or “thatch”. Appropriate forms of management should be introduced on all remaining heathland sites to maximise the landscape and wildlife value of heathlands.
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Identify opportunities for the re-creation of heathland sites |
Widespread heathy character is one of the fundamental components of the Forest Sandlands and Forest Estatelands. The restoration of heathland vegetation to areas formerly occupied by heath presents the best opportunity to enhance and extend this heathy character. Through appropriate management it is often possible tor e-establish heathland in areas dominated by bracken and scrub, and also in areas now subject to arable cultivation. Widespread remnant heathy vegetation along hedges and roadside verges is also a distinctive feature of the Settled Sandlands. Future landscape creation o rrestructuring initiatives should seek to build upon and extend this heathy character by the conservation, restoration or creation of heathland habitats. Ideally, in the Settled Sandlands, heathland creation would be integrated into wider woodland planting schemes. Opportunities for heathland restoration may arise from future revisions to the Set-aside and Nitrate Sensitive Areas schemes.
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Conserve the traditional pattern of hedged fields |
The pattern of hedged fields is an important and distinctive feature of the Sherwood region. They help to emphasise the rolling character of the landform and are of historical importance. Hedgerows also act as linear habitats through the farmlands, providing linkages to a variety of habitats including woodlands, heathland and grasslands. The retention of field pattern is crucial if the character of the landscape is to be maintained. Agricultural intensification has led to the loss of hedgerows in some areas and an increase in field size. However, overall the field pattern has survived comparatively intact. In the areas where field pattern has become fragmented it is especially important to conserve primary hedgerows, particularly along roadsides, footpaths, bridleways and parish boundaries.
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Maintain and enhance the value of hedgerows as wildlife corridors |
Field hedgerows provide a valuable refuge for wildlife in the countryside. Hawthorn hedgerows predominate throughout much of Sherwood, although mixed species hedgerows become more prevalent on the margins of the region, as the clay lands are approached to the east, and the Permian Marl areas to the west. Most hedges in the Sherwood region are closely trimmed and many are gappy or dying out at the base. There is a need, therefore, for more appropriate management, in particular to move away from hedges being excessively tidy and low cut. All hedgerows would benefit from being allowed to grow thicker and taller, and where possible management should favour trimming at three to five-yearly intervals to improve wildlife interest. Consideration should also be given to traditional hedgelaying, or coppicing, where hedges have grown spindly or become gappy at the base. Existing incentives for hedgerow management and the replanting of individual gappy hedges should be more actively promoted. The creation of expanded field margins along primary hedgelines would also enhance farmland biodiversity. Options might include wildlife fallow margins, grassland margins and heath margins.
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New or replacement hedgerow planting should complement the existing structure and traditonal pattern of hedged fields |
Many of the farmland landscapes within Sherwood were enclosed by mono-species hawthorn hedgerows, often laid out into regular geometric patterns. Although field patterns in Sherwood are largely intact, a significant number of hedgerows have become gappy and, in parts, lost altogether. Landowners should be encouraged to replace or replant hedgerows in areas where the traditional pattern of hedged fields has become fragmented or lost. Priority should be given, where practicable, to the reinstatement of primary hedgerows such as those along parish boundaries, roads, and public footpaths. New or replacement planting should complement the existing pattern of hedged fields. The gapping up or reinstatement of hedgerows should seek to mimic the original species composition wherever possible.
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Maintain and enhance sinuous hedgerows where they define the river corridor |
In places the River Meadowlands are defined by long sinuous hedgerows; these help to define the narrow river corridors and mark the point between the river flood plains and the adjacent countryside. The hedgerows represent important features that should be conserved and replanted or replaced where they have become gappy or lost.
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Hedgerow trees should only be planted where they are locally characteristic |
Rectilinear field patterns of treeless hawthorn hedgerows define much of the Forest Sandlands. Hedgerow trees are not generally characteristic, allowing open views across rolling farmland to long sinuous woodland edges. Unless undertaken over large areas, attempts to establish hedgerow tree cover would disrupt these open views and be out of scale with the overall landscape pattern. Hedgerow tree planting is therefore not generally appropriate within the Forest Sandlands. However, hedgerow trees occur widely within the Village Farmlands and are also characteristic of the Sandstone Estatelands. Hedgerow trees help to reinforce the transitional character of the Village Farmlands and provide a link with the landscapes of the Mid-Nottinghamshire Farmlands to the east. Within the Sandstone Estatelands they occur at relatively low densities and are more common within the smaller-scale pasture fields, adjacent to settlement and roadside hedgerows. The planting of individual trees in gaps should therefore be encouraged to increase the overall level of tree cover and replace mature and over-mature trees which will eventually be lost. Oak and ash are the preferred species.
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Conserve the traditional pastoral character and diversity of river meadowland |
Riverside pasture and flood meadow are characteristic features of the River Meadowlands. The alluvial meadows, wet pastures and meandering river channels provide a valuable habitat for a wide range of plants and animals, as well as being the essential features of the river corridor landscapes. They provide a strong sense of place and feeling of naturalness, particularly where associated with fringing alder, willow and riparian scrub. Grassland land uses help to define the narrow river corridors, within adjacent larger-scale arable landscapes. In recent decades alluvial meadows have been lost, mainly through agricultural improvement. This has resulted in a fragmentation in the overall structure and unity of the river corridors. In order to arrest this process and prevent further fragmentation it is vital to conserve all remaining areas of river meadow and pasture.
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Manage grassland in a traditional manner and consider options for converting arable land to pasture particularly where it wil extend the continuity of river corridors |
Flood alleviation measures and agricultural improvement have led to a breakdown in the continuity of many of the river corridor landscapes. Prior to the 1940s the River Meadowlands were characterised by continuous ribbons of pasture and flood meadow, which clearly marked the course of the narrow river channels. Arable cultivation has now encroached to the riverside edges within all river corridors. The pastures of the River Meadowlands were traditionally used for haymaking and summer grazing using low-input forms of management. These methods created floristically diverse habitats of high nature conservation interest, supporting a wide variety of invertebrates and other animal life. Many of the pastures are now managed intensively, leading to a decline in their aesthetic and ecological value. Where opportunities arise, a return to traditional forms of management should be advocated. This will help to maintain and enhance the conservation value of these grasslands, improve their visual appeal and have the added benefit of reducing nitrate leaching into river channels. This may be achieved by the application of European and Government schemes that seek to reduce agricultural surpluses and promote environmentally sensitive forms of farming. The same incentives could also be used as a mechanism to take land out of arable production and return it to permanent pasture and meadowland. This should initially be directed towards extending the continuity of existing areas of pastoral river meadowland.
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Ehance the visual and ecological continuity of river and stream corridors |
Lines of fringing riparian trees and scrub are a characteristic feature of the River Meadowlands landscapes. These provide a sense of unity within the river corridors, particularly where associated with permanent pastures and flood meadows. In the more open arable areas the riparian trees and scrub are often the only visible features of the river corridors. Alder and willow are the principal tree species within these landscapes and they should be retained, managed and replaced as necessary. This is particularly important in areas where arable cultivation has encroached to the river bank. Significant stretches of river have limited tree cover and would benefit from a programme of tree and shrub establishment along the river bank. This should include natural regeneration and planting. The visual prominence and irregular form of more minor stream lines could also be greatly enhanced by such a programme, which should generally be restricted to the immediate waterside environment using locally native species such as willow, alder and ash. The watercourses should also be managed to provide maximum benefit for wildlife by maintaining a margin of seminatural vegetation on at least one side of the channel. This margin should be as wide as possible and ideally include trees and shrubs.
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Conserve and enhance the diversity of aquatic and marginal vegetation associated with river channels |
Marginal and aquatic vegetation along river channels contributes significantly to the visual interest of riverside environments as well as providing habitats of high wildlife value, supporting a range of flora and fauna. Much of this diversity has been lost because of modern farming methods and river engineering techniques. In some areas, these have created uniform steepsided channel edges with little space for emergent vegetation and little opportunity for colonisation by riverside trees and shrubs. In such areas opportunities should be sought to diversify the riverside environment. This might include reprofiling to create a more natural bank profile, or cutting a notch into the base of the bank to allow for colonisation by emergent plants. Identification of riverside enhancement opportunities should be based on detailed survey of individual river corridors.
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Conserve the pastoral character of traditional parkland landscapes |
Parkland landscapes are traditionally characterised by areas of permanent grassland with scattered mature trees. There are several such areas located within the Forest Estatelands and Sandstone Estatelands landscapes. These are closely associated with the large houses and estates and represent landscapes of historic importance. Parkland landscapes have great visual appeal, much of this arising from the permanent grasslands which have traditionally been grazed by a range of parkland animals. Parkland grasslands often contain a diversity of wild flora and fauna due to their antiquity and because the grasslands have tended to be managed in a traditional manner. The grasslands, therefore, are of historic, landscape and nature conservation importance. They should be conserved and, where possible, managed in a traditional manner.
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Consider opportunities to restore pastoral character to parkland areas |
Prior to post-war agricultural improvement, the majority of the agricultural land within the Forest Estatelands was set to grassland, but since that time there has been widespread conversion to arable cultivation. This has affected certain areas of ornamental parkland along with the more extensive agricultural areas. Grasslands were an important design component of the Forest Estateland landscapes. Therefore, where opportunities arise, consideration should be given to the restoration of former grassland areas. This is particularly important where scattered mature trees have been retained and in areas adjacent to the ornamental lakes. Such measures would help to increase the integrity of the parkland landscapes.
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Conserve and enhance all ornamental parkland planting and individual parkland trees |
Many of the plantation woodlands were established in the 18th and 19th centuries for their ornamental and aesthetic qualities. Economic, sporting and landscape considerations were fully integrated into the planning, design and development of the Dukeries landscapes. These woodlands represent features of great historical importance and are a major element of the designed landscapes along with water and grass. Any new woodland planting should seek to complement the original design intentions, and restructuring of existing woodlands should also take care to respect the design and species composition. Individual parkland trees which have grown into fine specimens are an extremely important component of the parkland landscapes and should be maintained to a clear management plan.
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Set-aside land should be managed postiviely to enhance its landscape and wildlife interest |
Throughout Sherwood, a variety of options are now available to farmers within the current set-aside scheme. These range from short-term rotations through to longer-term schemes where the same piece of land can be set aside over several years. Land managed under habitat and forestry schemes can now count as part of the set-aside obligation under the Arable Area Payments Scheme. There is now considerable scope for land to be managed positively to enhance landscape and wildlife interest. Both wildlife and landscape features can be restored or created at the field scale, or as conservation headlands, wildlife margins, grass margins or heath margins. Such areas are of greatest value where they provide linkages between existing features such as woodlands, hedgerows, heathlands, streams and ponds. The longer-term options allow the restoration and creation of a range of features such as wildflower meadows and damp lowland grasslands. Woodland establishment schemes are now eligible to be counted as setaside, offering significant opportunities to enhance landscape character.
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Conserve rural character by retaining existing features in all development schemes |
The suburbanising influences associated with new development are an increasing pressure on the rural character of the countryside. These influences are having a subtle, but cumulative impact, especially on all matters of design. Examples include: the external modernisation of buildings; the erection of corporate roadside signs; the replacement of roadside hedges with quick growing ornamental screens; the increased use of security fencing; and even standardised landscaping schemes. Much more discretion is needed when applying design standards in rural landscapes. In particular, original features such as walls, traditional gates and pillars, roadside hedges and mature trees should be retained if at all possible. Where this is not possible, consideration should be given to moving or replacing such features.
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The design of recreational and sporting facilities, such as golf courses, should reflect the character of the local landscape |
The Sherwood region has a generally strong rural character, although suburban influences now affect the character of significant areas of landscape. The introduction of large numbers of ornamental or coniferous trees, the removal of hedgerow or stream-line trees, or the erection of modern buildings using introduced materials would compound this growth of suburban character. In the more remote areas it would also lead to fracturing of the rural unity of the landscape. To minimise intrusion the design of recreational facilities should be done sensitively to retain and enhance the traditional character, features of interest and local sense of place. In Sherwood there are opportunities for extending lowland heathland character, both on and in areas adjacent to golf courses, whilst still fitting in with the recreational requirements. Any developments should make a positive contribution to the quality of the landscape, with a comprehensive assessment of the potential impact of any recreational or sporting development on the landscape character of the area.
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Landscaping around utilities and other rural development should be better integrated into the wider countryside |
Landscaping around utilities and other development in the countryside usually involves screen planting in geometric blocks, or on raised bunds, to hide new development. While these mitigation measures are better than nothing at all, the effect is often lost because the contrast between the landscaped area and surrounding farmland is just as obvious. In rural areas the success of landscaping around sites, such as sewage works, will depend to a large extent on how well they have been integrated into the wider landscape. Particular attention should be given to the treatment of the site perimeter to ensure that it is tied strongly into the adjoining field pattern. Similarly, tree planting within the site should be linked to new or existing trees beyond the perimeter. Better siting and design of new buildings should also be considered in addition to landscaping works. It is better to soften a well-designed building with a few trees than hide an ugly building with screen planting.
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Diversify roadside character through the creation and management of heathland and acidic grassland communities on highway verges |
Remnant heathy character on road verges and boundaries is a feature of the Sherwood region, and is readily recognisable by the motorist. There may be opportunities for extending and encouraging additional heathland and acid grassland habitats on highway land, both through sympathetic management and through positive creation following road improvement schemes. The management of verges favours the habitat, and the benefits from a visual amenity and nature conservation perspective are significant.
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All road improvement schemes should include a landscape impact assessment |
The construction of new roads and the widening or realignment of existing roads can have a major impact on the character of the landscape. The visual impact of new roads can often be reduced by careful route selection. It is important therefore that landscape considerations are carefully assessed at the start of all such schemes, as no amount of landscaping will disguise the impact of a badly chosen route. Where improvements to existing roads are necessary, an early assessment should also be undertaken to identify locally important features that need to be retained or replaced.
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Conserve rural character by limiting standardised treatements during highway improvement schemes |
The improvement of rural roads and lanes to meet modern highway standards invariably results in the removal of existing features and the introduction of new suburban influences into the countryside. Traffic calming measures should therefore be considered as an alternative option in rural areas. Where improvements are necessary, standardised treatments such as concrete kerbing, galvanised crash barriers, new or replacement street lighting and the erection of modern road signs should be used only where absolutely necessary. Such features are not only visually intrusive but also look out of place in the countryside. As an alternative, consideration should be given to the use of more traditional materials and locally distinctive designs for such things as kerbing, street lighting and road signs.
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Restoration proposals for pit heaps and derelict land should identify opportunities for the creation of new heathlands. This is particularly important where there is scope for enlarging or linking existing heathlands |
Coal mining activities have contributed significantly to the loss of heathland habitats within the Forest Sandstones landscape. Many of these sites now offer positive opportunities for heathland creation, particularly those areas affected by tipping, coal stocking and other developments. Such areas often provide suitable conditions for the creation of new heathlands; these are especially valuable where they link with or enlarge existing heathland sites. Restoration or management proposals for such areas should seriously consider a heathland creation option.
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After-use proposals for sand extraction workings should favour reclamation to native oak and birch woodland and heathland habitats |
Restoration options for worked-out sand quarries are subject to a number of constraints that place limitations on the range of possible after-uses. The reclamation of sites to nature conservation and woodland is therefore sometimes the only feasible option. The poor sandy acidic soils and substrate provide suitable conditions for the establishment of oak and birch woodland, as well as for the creation of heathland habitats. The establishment of oak/birch woodland and heathland mosaics should therefore be favoured wherever possible, such options providing the greatest value for nature conservation. Heathland re-creation measures should be particularly favoured on sites located to the east and south of Mansfield where former heaths have been lost.
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Species list
Sherwood
Dominant Species 
Other Species Present 
The following list includes native tree and shrub species that are commonly found within Sherwood and are suitable for inclusion in planting schemes. These are important for determining the area’s regional character. A range of other native species may also be appropriate to particular locations or sites. In these cases professional advice should be sought. A list of organisations able to provide such advice has been included in the section 'Further Information'.
| TREES | Woodlands |
Hedges |
Hedgerow Trees |
Wet Areas/Streamsides |
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Alder (Common) |
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Ash |
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Beech |
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Birch (Downy) |
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Birch (Silver) |
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Cherry (Wild) |
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Crab Apple |
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Elm (English) |
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Elm (wych) |
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Lime (Small Leaved) |
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Lime |
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Maple (Field) |
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Oak (Common) |
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Oak (Sessile) |
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Pine (Scots) |
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Rowan |
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Sweet Chestnut |
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Willow (Crack) |
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Willow (White) |
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SHRUBS |
Woodlands |
Hedges |
Hedgerow Trees |
Wet Areas/Streamsides |
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Blackthorn |
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Buckthorn (Purging) |
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Broom |
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Dogwood (Common) |
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Gorse |
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Hawthorn |
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Hawthorn (Midland) |
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Hazel |
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Holly |
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Privet (Wild) |
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Rosa SPP. |
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Spindle |
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