Environmental Statement volume 4 - Chiltern Evergreen3

floodplain, many of which are now open water used forwatersports and recreation, such as the Cotswold WaterPark, are particularly characteristic of this area. Rivers andwatercourses, particularly where tree-lined, are alsoimportant landscape features including the springlines whichemerge from the base of the chalk escarpment. Furthertowards Buckinghamshire, the distinctive character ofOtmoor adds interest and variety to the Vales. Noticeablydevoid of settlement, Otmoor is a low patchwork patternof small fields defined by healthy hedgerows of elm. Severaldistinctive villages fringe the area and are connected by asmall road that skirts Otmoor itself.Farther east into Buckinghamshire there is less arable landwith pasture becoming predominant on the clay. Theregular fields are bounded by a well-defined network oftrimmed hedges with mature oak or ash hedgerow treesand interspersed by numerous small blocks of woodland.Settlement within the Vale is characterised by brick-builtbuildings that reflect the widespread use of local clay as theprinciple raw building material. Nucleated villages aregenerally located on rising ground or confined to the raisedgravel spreads above the valley bottoms. Scattered isolated19th century farmhouses and historic parklands are acharacteristic feature of the wider landscape.Within the overall character of the Oxfordshire andBuckinghamshire Vales, much contrast and variety is providedby the pastures and hedgerows of the clay areas, the pollardedwillows of the floodplains, the often hedgeless arable fieldsand the villages confined to the raised areas of gravel.Physical InfluencesContained by limestone uplands to the north and by lowhills and ridges to the south, the Wiltshire, Oxfordshire andBuckinghamshire Vales are underlain by a great expanse ofheavy blue-grey Oxford and Kimmeridge clays. Thetopography of the Vales is flat, although to the east theBuckinghamshire Vale is typically more gently undulating,due to the thicker surface deposits. In many places, the clayis covered locally by gravel deposits centred along themajor river valleys, and marked by extensive workings andflooded pits.The Upper Thames drains the Vale to the west beforecutting south at the confluence with the lower reaches ofthe Cherwell through the Midvale Ridge at Oxford. Wideexpanses of terraced river gravels of limestone, derivedfrom the Cotswolds, and wide alluvial flats dominate theOxfordshire Vale. At the confluence of the Thames withthe Windrush, Evenlode and Cherwell, distinctive tabularhillocks form low isolated features within the Vale wherepatches of more ancient pebbly drift rest on the underlyingOxford Clay. Soils are generally yellowish brown earth,gleyed in lower lying areas. The terrace and floodplain soilsover gravel vary although west of Oxford the soils aredominantly calcareous with good drainage.To the east, the river Ray joins the Cherwell at Islip anddrains the wide basin of Otmoor where the soils arecovered by a layer of peaty alluvium formed under marshyconditions before the land was drained for agriculture. Thegently rising land along the northern rim to the east formsa watershed between the Ray and the river Ouse.This area is underlaid by Oxford Clay with extensive deposits ofgravel along the Thames Valley. Gravel pits have become asignificant feature within the modern Vale landscape.Historical and Physical InfluencesThe straight-sided large fields enclosing the Vales are typicalof a ‘planned countryside’. Domesday Book records littlewoodland cover in the 11th century with scarcely anymention of place-names relating to woodland. However, bythis time, Oxford’s ‘ford’ across the Thames was inevidence, as were the grazed water meadows at Crickladeand at Oxford. Otmoor was being used for summer andautumn grazing.A major contrast existed between the pattern of pastures andhedgerows associated with the clays, the pollarded willows onalluvium and the hedgeless arable fields and villages confinedto gravel spreads within the river valleys. Modern dayevidence of the reclamation of the wetter lands exists in theoccurrence of ‘moor’ place names in the Cotswolds WaterPark area and also Otmoor. Generally the older, smaller fieldsare limited to land next to the rivers while the largerarable/grassland fields dominate the higher, drier ground.The sparse settlement pattern within the Vales was more orless established by the 11th century with the upper Thamesarea generally quite well-populated compared to the Valefurther to the east. There were occasional hamlets,farmsteads or inns near river crossing points but thesettlements tended to be on the higher ground around theedges of the gravels and loams along the river valleys dueto the risk of flooding. Otmoor was, as now, largely devoidof any buildings or settlement.MARTIN JONES/COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY48