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
Enclosed Coastal Marsh
 |
Enclosed Coastal Marsh Character Areas 17a Clifton and Hutton Marsh 17b Cockerham Coast |
Landscape Character
The Enclosed Coastal Marshes are flat, expansive tracts of coastal land which have been recently reclaimed by drainage. The land is divided into large square fields surrounded by drainage ditches and post and wire fences or low clipped thorn hedgerows. Improved pasture predominates and is used for cattle or sheep grazing, although arable crops grow in well drained areas. The ordered enclosed marsh is sharply demarcated from the open coastal marshlands by sea dykes where gorse and other scrub is often conspicuous. Trees are generally very scarce, allowing long views across the landscape to distant factories, hills, farm buildings, pylons and tree silhouettes on the horizon. Settlement is modern and restricted to dispersed red brick farmsteads. There is a major landfill site at Clifton, with ongoing phased restoration. Agricultural improvement has tended to reduce the ecological value of these areas, although the ditches and some of the former salt marsh creeks provide important wetland habitats and the enclosed marsh provides a feeding ground for geese, swans and other over-wintering birds. Where agriculture is less intense areas of wetland support a rich wildlife.
Typical view photo 33:
Hesketh New Marsh
Physical Influences
The Enclosed Coastal Marsh is characterised by marine alluvium, formed recently in geological terms, and masking the underlying sandstones and mudstones.
The flat landscapes of the Enclosed Coastal Marsh are enclosed and defined by man-made earth bunds. Agricultural improvement through drainage, fertilising and reseeding limits ecological interest mainly to hedges and ditches. Coastal fields, protected by banks, such as those around Pilling, are attractive areas to over wintering roosts and feeding sites for wildfowl. Fields which have not undergone dramatic agricultural improvement provide grazing and nesting sites for coastal birds, for example Newton and Freckleton Marshes.
Human Influences
Although it is likely that the Enclosed Coastal Marsh was exploited from the earliest times for its resources, todays landscape is a result of modern large scale drainage and the enclosure of marshland. Habitation dates from the late 19th to 20th centuries and is evident in the predominance of modern brick built farms.
CHARACTER AREAS - ENCLOSED COASTAL MARSH
Enclosed Coastal Marsh occurs in two distinct areas, adjacent to the open salt marshes of the sheltered waters of the west coast of Lancashire.
Local
|
Character Areas |
Description |
| 17a |
Clifton and Hutton Marsh |
Reclaimed and relatively recently enclosed marsh, located to the west of Preston, separated from the unenclosed salt marshes of the Ribble Estuary by sea dykes. Large geometric pastoral and arable fields are drained by numerous parallel ditches which produce a regimented, productive landscape. Fields are bounded by low clipped thorn hedgerows and tree cover is restricted to narrow linear plantations which function as shelter belts. There is a feeling of isolation with straight dead-end tracks ending at isolated farm houses which are constructed from a mixture of materials, but red brick is the most common. Where seas defences allow some inundation, and where agricultural practices are not intensive, areas of wet marsh exist alongside intensive agriculture, for example at Newton, Freckleton and Lea Marsh which are attractive to birdlife. The grasslands are of international importance for feeding wild geese and swans. A large landfill site is located at Clifton Marsh. |
| 17b |
Cockerham Coast |
The enclosed salt marsh which backs the Cockerham Sands is an extremely open, exposed landscape of large geometric grazed fields drained by dykes. It is a relatively new landscape reclaimed from marsh and as a result there is no settlement, although large farm buildings of modern styles and materials are scattered along the A588, which forms the southern boundary of the character area. Hedgerows are almost entirely absent and post and wire or wooden post and rail fences provide stock-proof field boundaries. The distinct lack of vegetation cover allows extremely long views to the coastal edge. The lack of vegetation also means little shelter from sea breezes and an exposed coastal character. The bird life in this area is a feature of the landscape; fields of geese, and skies of seagulls provide dynamic scenery, whilst the fields are also important for roosting and feeding wading birds. |