Identifying Derbyshire’s special landscapes

Identifying special Derbyshire landscapes

Squeezer style in a boundary wall at Crich

SARAH WHITELEY describes a new holistic approach to recording historic landscape character in Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Council Cultural Heritage team recently undertook a pilot project which used Derbyshire Historic Environment Record (DHER), Historic Landscape Character (HLC) and Derbyshire Landscape Strategy data, to identifying areas with key cultural heritage characteristics. Derbyshire has already been the subject of two indepth studies of the development of the character of its landscape.The Derbyshire Historic Landscape Character Assessment (DHLCA) was conducted in the late 1990s by a team hosted by the Peak District National Park Authority. The aim of this project was to digitally map the historic landscape character of the large area of the county which was not part of the National Park, complementing a similar study which had been completed for the area of the National Park. Analysis and interpretation drew on the substantial resource of early maps and surveys of the county, collated from a range of archives, the earliest dating from the mid16th century. This project was succeeded by Derbyshire Historic Landscape Characterisation (DHLC) project, conducted between 2009 and 2013 by the then Historic Environment Record Officer, Nicola Manning. The methodology for this project was based on the English Heritage template for delivering HLC projects and used 1st edition 25 in. OS and modern OS mapping. In 2003 Derbyshire County Council published Landscape Character of Derbyshire, building on the work done nationally by the Countryside Agency (now Natural England) in their landscape characterisation programme. The Derbyshire study identified 39 Landscape Character Types (LCT) across 10 National Character Areas (NCA) to help describe the diversity and character of the county’s landscapes. The recent pilot project aimed to review and analyse the diversity of HLC types within the spatial framework of Landscape Character Areas identified in Landscape Character of Derbyshire. DHER information was also assessed in order to try to identify areas which retained a high level of both historic environment and landscape value. The pilot project timescale was relatively short and meant that it was only possible to study one Landscape Character Area: C.A. 50: Derbyshire Peak Fringe and Lower Derwent; which is made up of six Landscape

Character Types. Data for all of these LCTs was collated and three of these LCTs were written up in detail. On the basis of this analysis, a sample of areas at which it was considered that well preserved examples of key HLC types survived, particularly those associated with known monuments, were visited in the field. The research has demonstrated that within each Landscape Character Type, certain Historic Landscape Character types occur most extensively, usually influenced by terrain, soils and intensity of agricultural activity. These areas are associated with certain types of archaeological features, monuments and buildings. For instance, in the ‘Wooded slopes and valleys’ LCT, greater time depth of settlement is reflected in irregular enclosure and woodland assarts associated with medieval defended sites, deer parks and moated manors. Evidence of medieval and later industrial activity frequently occurs in ancient woodlands including charcoal burning platforms, white coal kilns (Q-pits), lead smelting and small-scale stone quarries. Recent LiDAR surveys have increased the number of such sites recorded in the Derbyshire HER. One exciting discovery, confirmed through targeted site visits, was the near complete area of the medieval open field system associated with the village of Crich. Existing field boundaries still define this area and fossilised strip fields, defined by stone walls and hedgerows, still survive within it. The fact that this feature can still be read in the landscape is of considerable local significance. This area is now recorded as a ‘Monument’ in the Derbyshire Historic Environment Record. It will now be considered a ‘non-designated heritage asset’ in the planning process, therefore any large-scale planning applications or agri-environment schemes relating to this land will require a level of archaeological assessment. The next stage is to approach Historic England for funding to roll out the project across the county outside the National Park. The overall aim is to identify areas with key cultural heritage characteristics. These areas can then be sensitively managed, through the planning process and agri-environment funding, to retain their special character and interest.

The Historic Landscape Character area of Crich (© Crown copyright & database rights 2020)

Hollow way between Lea and Upper Holloway