Landscape Character Types
LCT 3C: Sparsely Settled Farmed Valley Floors
View north towards Castle Hill estate and mansion house, with parkland trees and pastoral floodplain.
Summary description
This Landscape Character Type (LCT) covers the broad valley floors and floodplains of the main river valleys of the Taw, Torridge, Bray, Mole, Carey, Claw, Deer and Tamar which flow through the two districts.
Link to Devon Character Areas
DCA 14: Codden Hill and Wooded Estates
DCA 64: Upper Tamar Tributary Valleys
DCA 65: West Torridge Upland Farmland
Key characteristics
- Gently meandering courses of the districts' main rivers, flowing through open valley floors and floodplains contained by steep valley sides.
- Underlying geology comprising Culm Measures (mudstones, siltstones and shales) with more resistant bands of sandstone. Red/orange soils exposed by river channels cutting through the landform.
- Open pastoral fields enclosed by low-cut thorn hedges, with some areas of unenclosed rough grazing on wet meadows / rushy pasture. Fields form a regular pattern, of post-medieval and modern origin.
- Valley floors include traditional orchards, bands of wet woodland and areas of estate parkland with ancient trees.
- Rich semi-natural habitats including Culm grasslands, Molinia-rich mire, rush pasture, unimproved meadows, ponds and wet woodland - including willow and alder carr. Some are County Wildlife Sites.
- Some important river, floodplain meadows and ancient oak woodlands habitats designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
- Grade I and II listed historic parkland estates with ancient wood pasture on the flanks of rivers.
- Other cultural features include Iron Age hillforts occupying commanding positions above the river valleys (outside this LCT), and mills, weirs and arched stone bridges relating to the valleys' rich industrial heritage.
- Strong literary association of the Taw and Torridge valleys with Henry Williamson's 1927 novel Tarka the Otter.
- Historic hamlets and villages located at river crossing points, with some extending in linear form along the valley floors.
- Strong local vernacular of cream, whitewash and pale yellow cottages with slate or thatched roofs, with some use of local sandstone with red brick detailing.
- Winding courses of the valley floors sometimes traced by roads including the main A377, and A386, with minor routes crossing the rivers on historic stone hump-backed bridges.
- High levels of peace and tranquillity with scenic views along the open valleys and to the surrounding wooded slopes (LCT 3G). Perceptions of tranquillity are broken locally by the presence of main roads and nearby large settlement fringes.
- The multi-user Tarka Trail follows the course of the old railway line.
Wood pasture and parkland at King's Nympton.
Valued landscape attributes
- Unspoilt, 'natural' and peaceful landscape.
- Valued riparian and floodplain habitats with associated wildlife.
- Trees and woodlands tracing watercourses, important for biodiversity, flood mitigation and carbon sequestration.
- Historic features including old barns, stone bridges and mills providing a sense of time-depth to the landscape.
- Importance for recreation and 'escapism'.
Grazing marsh/rush pasture with in-field trees, enclosed by woodland on the banks of the River Torridge, west of Shebbear.
Management guidelines
Protect
Protect valued areas of Culm grassland and implement appropriate management regimes.
Protect and manage remaining traditional orchards.
Conserve existing areas of semi-natural habitat including rush pasture, unimproved meadows, ponds and willow and alder carr woodland.
Protect the role of the valley floors as natural floodplains.
Manage
Restore lengths of lost Devon hedges, respecting traditional bank styles and species composition, to contribute to landscape structure, provide important linkages between semi-natural habitats and to prevent agricultural run-off.
Manage wood pasture and grassland habitats to prevent damage to tree root systems.
Retain veteran/dying trees for their wildlife habitats, seeking to plant the next generation of parkland trees using locally prevalent, climate-resilient species.
Manage wet woodland and floodplains through traditional grazing and land management regimes to enhance their wildlife value and roles in flood prevention.
Manage areas of semi-natural habitat including water meadows and riparian habitats on valley floors. Link and extend habitats where possible to increase biodiversity, contribute to nature recovery networks and provide suitable habitats for species including otters.
Manage broadleaved woodlands on valley sides (including use of traditional techniques such as coppicing) and promote woodland planting which extends and strengthens the existing woodland and hedge network, in line with Devon Local Nature Partnership's Right Place, Right Tree guidance.
Plan
Understand likely hydrological changes in watercourses resulting from climate change and the impact of these changes on flood risk. Natural flood defenses and allowing space for flooding by restoring floodplain connectivity should be enhanced where appropriate within the landscape.
Restore and manage areas of relict traditional orchards and explore opportunities for the creation of new ones, including community orchards.
Create, extend and link woodland and wetland habitats to enhance the water storage capacity of the landscape (reducing incidences of downstream flooding) and improve water quality through reducing soil erosion and agricultural run-off.
Restore riparian corridors of native broadleaved trees to provide shade and keep rivers cool.
Encourage natural regeneration of woodland and undertake new planting (using climate-hardy species) to link fragmented sites.
Reduce nutrient and sediment pollution of water courses by creating riparian buffer strips, creating new hedges along contours, and constructing wetlands to intercept pollutants.
Encourage rewilding of suitable areas of the floodplain via natural processes.
Encourage the provision of wide corridors/buffers for rivers and streams.
Restore riparian habitats by removing hard engineering which impedes natural processes and ceasing practices including dredging which are detrimental to healthy rivers.
LCT 3C Sparsely Settled Farmed Valley Floors (PDF, 1 MB)
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