Landscape Character Assessment - Chelmsford Borough Council

155B16 FELSTED FARMLAND PLATEAU (shared with Braintree District and Uttlesford District)Key Characteristics Gently undulating farmland. Network of narrow, winding lanes. Many small woods and copses provide structureand edges in the landscape. The farmland is predominantly arable with fieldboundaries delineated by fragmented hedgerows.Overall CharacterThe Felsted Farmland Plateau extends from theA120 in the north to Black Notley in the east,Chatham Green in the south and Felsted in the west.The farmland is gently undulating with a patchworkof irregular medium to large fields. Theirboundaries are enclosed by either thick but intermittent hedgerows, or just marked by grassy banks andditches. In long views scattered small woods and copses and hedgerow trees coalesce to sometimescreate the illusion of a wooded horizon. The farmland surrounding the villages of Mole Hill Green,Bannister Green and Watch House Green is composed of smaller irregular predominantly pastoralgrass fields. The area is fairly densely populated with villages straggling along the roads to coalescewith each other. The farmsteads also form clusters of buildings. There is a comprehensive network ofnarrow winding rural lanes around which the settlement pattern is based. Many of the roadssurrounded by fields tend to be surrounded by raised banks or hedges. Interest and variety is added tothe area through the presence of local vernacular buildings with colour washed walls and red tiled orthatched roofs. The area has a strong sense of place and away from the key settlements and the A120and A131 is tranquil.Visual Characteristics The views are open to panoramic across the farmland. The variation in the nature of the view isdictated by the trees.11100101R Final LCAs_09-06Section 5.0 – Landscape Character of Chelmsford Borough