Landscape Character Types

Large rectangular fields on the elevated plateau with long, open views west towards the sea and the outline of Lundy Island on the horizon.

Summary description

This Landscape Character Type (LCT) covers the high open plateau of the Hartland peninsular, falling entirely within the North Devon Coast Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The coastal hinterland is defined as part of the Hartland Heritage Coast.

Link to Devon Character Areas

DCA 31: Hartland Peninsula

Key characteristics

• An expansive, gently undulating elevated coastal landscape dominated by broad ridgelines.
• Underlain by sandstone from the Crackington Formation.
• Streams occasionally dissect the plateau in narrow wooded combes, predominantly draining west to the coast.
• Regular modern field patterns predominate, with localised curving boundaries reflecting medieval enclosure of strip fields around some settlements. Regular post-medieval enclosures are scattered throughout.
• Medium to large fields are typically enclosed by Devon hedgebanks topped with mixed-species hedgerows, generally intensively flailed.
• An intensively farmed predominantly pastoral landscape, although arable is a notable feature throughout.
• Largely open and treeless due to exposure, with woodland cover restricted to settlements, valleys, outgrown hedgerows and occasional wind-sculpted trees.
• Semi-natural habitats largely restricted to hedgebanks and hedgerows, although patches of semi-natural woodland and grassland (including Culm grassland) occasionally occur along the LCT boundary.
• Archaeological features include Iron Age hillforts and a Grade I listed medieval church tower, which forms a prominent local landmark in views from both land and sea.
• Local vernacular characterised by whitewash or exposed stone walls, with grey slate tile roofs and occasional thatch (there are many listed buildings across the LCT). Modern cream-yellow rendered buildings are a common feature throughout.
• A dispersed settlement pattern of small, nucleated hamlets.
• Scattered farmsteads are often nestled just below the ridgeline, connected by a network of rural lanes with numerous crossroads marked by traditional black and white wooden fingerposts.
• Large modern farm buildings form prominent features, along with the distinctive domed Royal Air Force (RAF) radar at Hartland Point.
• An open, exposed landscape with far-reaching views (often to the coast and along the peninsula). Out to sea, the island of Lundy is an important feature visible from much of the area.
• A landscape defined by very high levels of tranquility and remoteness, with dark night skies.
• The South West Coast Path traces the west-facing coastline; elsewhere rights of way are limited to farm tracks and occasional footpaths/bridleways.

Locally distinctive whitewash houses at Hartland village.

Valued landscape attributes

• Open views and sense of space.
• Nature conservation value of the landscape's woodlands, grassland, hedgerows and characteristic dwarf hedgerow trees.
• High levels of tranquillity, dark night skies and the landscape's rural, undeveloped character.
• Windswept and wild character.
• Prominent archaeological and historic features contribute to a sense of time-depth.

View south-west across open rolling farmland with Stoke Church tower on the horizon.

Management guidelines

Protect

Protect sites designated for their biodiversity (including County Wildlife Sites), semi-natural woodland and grassland (including Culm grassland) .

Manage

Manage and protect the landscape's network of hedgerows and characteristic dwarf hedgerow trees, replanting ageing or diseased specimens (with climate hardy species) to ensure the future survival of these important habitat networks.

Manage hedgerows for the benefit of biodiversity to increase the range of species supported within the agricultural landscape.

Manage the landscape's valued woodlands around settlements and in sheltered locations and implement measures to control invasive species.

Plan

Restore and develop interconnected nature recovery networks of coastal heath and cliff-top grassland (including Culm grassland) which extend inland, creating buffer zones between cliff communities and improved agricultural land.

Plan for the future of ancient/broadleaved woodlands (managing them to incorporate climate-hardy species) and other semi-natural habitats such as Culm grasslands and heath, particularly to account for habitat / species migration due to future climate change.

Take a landscape-led response to the UK-wide policy drive for increased tree and woodland planting, implementing the Devon Local Nature Partnership's 'Right Place, Right Tree' principles to create a balance of climate-resilient native species appropriate to the local landscape.

Plan for the impacts of a changing climate on the coastline, allowing natural processes to take place whilst considering how habitats and the South West Coast Path can be expanded or relocated to account for coastal squeeze.

New development should include green infrastructure links to contribute to recreation, wildlife and nature recovery networks.

LCT 1B Open Coastal Plateau (PDF) [1MB]