Landscape Character Menu
List of Figures
List of Photographs
1 Introduction
1.1 The Scope and Context for this Study
1.2 Purpose of the Landscape Character Assessment
1.3 Approach and Methodology
1.4 Structure of the Report
2 The Evolution of Lancashire
2.1 Physical Influences
2.2 Human Influences
3 Lancashire's Landscape Character
3.1 Moorland Plateaux
3.2 Moorland Hills
3.3 Enclosed Uplands
3.4 Moorland Fringe
3.5 Undulating Lowland Farmland
3.6 Industrial Foothills and Valleys
3.7 Farmed Ridges
3.8 Settled Valleys
3.9 Reservoir Valleys
3.10 Wooded Rural Valleys
3.11 Valley Floodplains
3.12 Low Coastal Drumlins
3.13 Drumlin Field
3.14 Rolling Upland Farmland
3.15 Coastal Plain
3.16 Mosslands
3.17 Enclosed Coastal Marsh
3.18 Open Coastal Marsh
3.19 Coastal Dunes
3.20 Wooded Limestone Hills and Pavements
3.21 Limestone Fells
4 Lancashire's Urban Landscape Types
4.1 Historic Core (1100-1800)
4.2 Industrial Age (1800-1930)
4.3 Suburban (1930 onwards)
A Landscape Strategy for Lancashire - Landscape Character Assessment
Valley Floodplains
 |
Valley Floodplains Character Areas 11a Lower Ribble Valley 11b Long Preston Reaches 11c Aire Valley 11d Lune Valley |
Landscape Character
The broad, flat open floodplains on the valley floors of the larger lowland rivers are subject to periodic flooding and their rich alluvial drift deposits support fertile grazing land for cattle and sheep. Although part of the wider landscape of the valleys, the floodplains have distinctive landscape patterns and land use pressures. They are characterised by large river meanders, eroded bluffs and terraces, standing water and steep wooded banks, which enclose the floodplain and determine its edge. Large fields are divided by post and wire fencing, hedgerows or stone walls and mature floodplain trees are characteristic of the pastoral landscape. The presence of Roman roads, numerous archaeological sites and motte and bailey castles along the length of these major lowland valleys suggest their early and prolonged use as important communications routes. Many settlements on the fringes of the floodplain mark important crossing points where impressive stone bridges cross the water. The floodplains themselves remain rural and unpopulated except for the visitors who fish or walk the riverside footpaths.
Typical view photo 26:
Frosty Morning, Crook O'Lune
Physical Influences
The rivers of the Floodplain Valleys have cut down through the underlying rocks, but the valley floors are smothered with glacial till and river gravels which bury the rocks beneath. Alluvium deposits have enriched the valley floors, creating good soils for agriculture. Within the valleys, protected hollows and undulations have preserved accumulations of peat. The Lune, Ribble and Aire Rivers all originate on the high land of the Yorkshire Dales. Their floodplains meander gently across wide green pastures, in places the river crosses a flat valley floor bordered by distinct bluffs, but elsewhere the floodplain rises gently to the undulating landscape beyond.
Classic floodplain features, such as oxbow lakes and abandoned channels, are important landscape features and wildlife habitats and indicate the shifting position the river has adopted. The river channels provide important linear freshwater and wetland habitats which support diverse aquatic plants and invertebrates, as well as birds and fish . However agricultural intensification, drainage, flood defence work and urban/industrial development ensures that nature conservation interest is concentrated in remnant areas of neutral grassland, wet meadows, domed mosses, areas of standing water and marshland.
Small areas of woodland on the valley sides and hedges and isolated trees fringing the river channels also provide important resources for nature conservation. Areas of river shingle and shallow wet margins are important for breeding birds and other wildlife, whilst eroding banks are an essential nesting habitat for kingfisher and sand martin.
Human Influences
Land above the marshy valley floors of the Floodplain Valleys have provided important routeways and communication routes since the earliest times, offering relatively easy routes through the surrounding hills and marshes.
Roman forts at Ribchester and Over Burrow overlooking the Ribble and Lune and their associated Roman roads indicate the importance of controlling these key routes through the hills. After the invasion, the Normans built motte and bailey castles to control important centres or routeways. Many formed part of a chain to defend a vulnerable frontier zone, for example on the Lune, at least nine such castles were constructed.
The wide valleys continue to provide an important communication gap and a route for main roads, rail lines and canals.
In general terms, the valley floodplains are devoid of settlement. The valley floors often supported common grazing. Parliamentary enclosure is evident in the regular pattern of field boundaries. Many fields are now devoted to improved pasture, supporting the famous cheese making industry. The majority of these are hedged, but in the upland floodplain of Ribblesdale the high occurrence of river rolled boulders ensured there was enough material to construct stone walls. In places modifications of the river profile are evident in bank retention walls and low bunds, which possibly date to more intensive grazing and to increasing planting of forage crops on the floodplains after enclosure. Sands and gravels are now being worked at Higher Brockholes (Ribble).
CHARACTER AREAS - FLOODPLAIN VALLEYS
The Floodplain Valleys landscape type is found on the valley floors of the course of the major lowland rivers throughout the study area.
Local
|
Character Areas |
Description |
| 11a |
Lower Ribble Valley |
The open flat and fertile plain of the lower Ribble is a pastoral , tranquil landscape containing the meandering course of the river. Its extent is defined by the steep wooded bluffs and terraces which enclose the floodplain. Lush green fields of semi-improved pasture are grazed by sheep and cattle. The large regular fields are defined by gappy hedgerows, supplemented by sections of post and wire, wooden fencing or stone walls. This array of materials and styles conveys a lack of visual unity despite the natural beauty of the landscape. Mature floodplain trees are notable features in this character area; ash and oak stand in the floodplain, their silhouettes striking against the open landscape. There is little settlement within the floodplain itself, but a number of large farms and country halls are positioned along the edges of the floodplain. Settlements, such as Ribchester, Great Mitton, West Bradford, Grindleton and Sawley, are also sited on the adjacent river terraces, their extremities sometimes extending onto the floodplain. There are a number of historic crossing points which coincide with these settlements where old stone bridges are important historic features of the floodplain. |
| 11b |
Long Preston Reaches |
Further upstream of the Ribble, and at a higher elevation, is the upland floodplain known as Ribblesdale. The flat plain contrasts dramatically with the surrounding steep sided drumlins and hills typical of more upland scenery. It is a particularly distinctive character area because its continuous network of stone walls has been constructed from rounded river rolled boulders. The plain is open and expansive; floodplain trees stand out as prominent visual elements. Pasture is marginal and often waterlogged with rushes growing freely. There are also areas of domed mosses and standing water within the flat valley bottom. Stone bridges are again a distinctive feature at the few crossing points. The northern part of the area is dominated by the settlements of Settle and Giggleswick. These are typical stone Yorkshire towns which have exploited the river terraces of the Upper Ribble. The valley provides an important communication route; the A65(T) and mainline railway pass along the foot of the Yorkshire Dales, crossing the floodplain below Giggleswick. |
| 11c |
Aire Valley |
The broad, deep, glacial valley of the Aire cuts through the rolling limestone uplands of the South Pennines. The valley floor is mantled with layers of glacial drift deposits which form wide green floodplains containing meandering river channels. In the more sheltered eastern parts of the valley, trees and hedges are common, the hedges supplementing the stone wall boundaries. The gravel terraces and alluvial fans which stand higher than the floor of the valley, are attractive areas for settlement. The towns which have exploited these natural features have not been confined by the restrictive landform of the narrower valleys elsewhere in the study area. The transport corridor is a distinctive feature of this landscape; the river, roads, canal and rail routes form an important and historically significant communication route through the uplands. Skipton is a historic settlement which has arisen at a junction of communication routes, but modern expansion is also evident and reflects the demand for living close to major transport routes. The patchwork of fields in the valley floor is mostly enclosed by stone walls and is almost entirely pasture. The landscape has good tree cover, with trees being present along some field boundaries as well as along the course of the river. The river terrace gravels and glacial sands have been exploited for sand and gravel extraction. |
| 11d |
Lune Valley |
The Lune floodplain is a flat floodplain surrounded by rolling drumlins and hills. The Lune is a major lowland river with a classic pastoral, tranquil floodplain; medium-large, regular fields of lush green pasture are bounded by low clipped, often gappy, hedgerows with hedgerow trees. River terraces and bluffs along the edge of the floodplain are sculptural elements which often support stone farm buildings and the remains of motte-and-bailey castles. These mottes provide visible evidence for the historic importance of the Lune as a routeway. The well preserved Castle Stede at Hornby was part of a string of at least nine castles on the Lune defending a potential route of a Scottish attack and means of controlling the local population. Stone bridges are again a feature and mark historic crossing points of the river. There is also evidence of the industrial past and present; the route of a dismantled railway is still visible in the landscape, Low Mill is a former textile mill which has been converted to housing, while the brick works at Claughton is still in operation, linked to a clay pit on Claughton Moor via aerial ropeways. |