This chapter, largely taken from the 1995 Cherwell District Landscape Assessment but updated where appropriate, summarises the main physical and cultural influences that have shaped the landscape within the study area. The detailed description of different LCAs (Landscape Character Area Profiles) highlights the key components that are of most significance to the particular landscapes concerned.

The landscape character of Cherwell District is immensely varied, with large areas of unspoilt countryside. ln the north-west are the ironstone villages, set within the intricate countryside of the north Cotswolds, which contrast with the open expanses of the flat flood plains and wet meadows to the south. These are separated by gently rolling limestone hills, clothed with woodland and parkland, and the valley of the river Cherwell which forms a distinctive central spine. The main towns of Banbury, Bicester and Kidlington are within easy reach of the M40, with good links to London and Birmingham, and are currently experiencing rapid urban development. Military use has had a considerable effect upon some parts of the landscape, but many such sites, notably the airfields at Upper Heyford and Bicester, have been decommissioned and redeveloped.

This diversity of character can be classified to a considerable extent by the physical and historical influences that have acted upon and shaped the landscape through time. The landscape has evolved through the interaction of the natural environment and human activities, through the combination of physical and cultural influences. Physical influences such as geology and landform, together with the pattern of settlement and land use are key determinants of landscape character.

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Natural influences

The physical components of the landscape have the most tangible and fundamental influences upon its character, being the most permanent and least changeable aspect of its appearance. The underlying geology creates the ‘backbone’ of the landscape. The actions of weathering, erosion and deposition alter the landform, consequently influencing hydrological patterns and affecting the nature of soil conditions. This influences the nature of the vegetation and fauna that the landscape can support and affects how humans have used and continue to exploit the landscape for agriculture, settlement and industry.

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Geology and landform

Geology has a marked influence on landforms. Landcover and land use are also to some extent determined by the underlying geology. which thus has a considerable influence on landscape character:

Geologically, the district forms part of the ‘stone belt’ that stretches right across England from Dorset to the Humber, with rocks dating from the Jurassic period (150 million years ago). The underlying strata are the Lower, Middle and Upper Lias, including marlstones and heavy clays These are exposed mainly in the higher ground to the north-west of the district, where they are faulted and cut through by tributaries of the River Cherwell to form an area of extremely complex topography. Steep valley sides and open upland areas rise up to a height of around 200 metres in places.

These rocks are overlain by the harder oolites, of both the upper and lower series. The lower series – the Inferior Oolite – comprises limestones and sandstones which outcrop in the north-west of the district along with the Middle Lias, both of which include rocks with a high iron content, known as ironstones. These brightly coloured stones are widely used as a building material and give rise to the characteristic warm ‘orange’ buildings of the villages in this area.

Above the Inferior Oolite is the Great Oolite, which outcrops in a wide band across the centre of the district in a south-west to north-east alignment, creating a distinctive belt of undulating, rising ground which separates the higher ground to the north from the southern lowlands. This is the oolitic limestone typical of the Cotswolds which is much paler, and whiter, in colour than the ironstone. There is a marked visual contrast between the villages in this belt and the ironstone villages to the north.

The low-lying Otmoor basin is located on Oxford Clay which is overlain by alluvial deposits associated with the River Thames and River Ray floodplains, giving rise the typically flat and poorly-drained, lowland landscape. To the south, the Oxford Clay passes into Kimmeridge Clay where outcrops of Grits, Ampthill Clay and Coral Rag gives rise to isolated hills and low ridges to the south of Otmoor and south and east of Bicester.

From the early Pleistocene, the whole of the region was covered with ice. The modem river system was initiated with the retreat of the eastern ice sheet at the end of this period, when chalky boulder clays were carried down the Evenlode and Cherwell valleys. Tributaries of the River Cherwell rise from the Marlstone Rock beds and the sandy Middle Lias silts in the north and east. They join the River Cherwell to flow due south in a characteristic enclosed V-shaped river valley, cutting through the ironstone and limestone, and opening out into the floodplains of the River Ray and River Thames.

Topographical heights are shown on the Natural Influences figure above.

Water

The River Cherwell forms a continuous landscape “thread’ through the district from north to south and its valley is a recognisable landscape unit. However, its character is not consistent and varies quite markedly according to the scale and shape of the valley form and the patterns of land use within it. It has therefore been divided into three discrete sections, with their own individual identity.

The Upper Cherwell Basin is a relatively high area of land with very open, gently sloping valley sides. Further south the river runs within the more tightly enclosed Cherwell valley, while at the south of the district the river valley opens out into the Lower Cherwell Floodplain, as the Cherwell joins the River Ray and River Thames. The balance of arable and pastoral farmland and the extent of the influence of urban development are also key distinguishing elements between these areas.

A major watershed divides the area on an east-west alignment. Streams rising around Stratton Audley and Bucknell drain southwards into the River Ray and hence the Thames river system, while streams to the north of Fringford and Stoke Lyne Join Padbury Brook and the Great Ouse river system, flowing eastwards to drain into the Wash.

Natural watercourses, lakes and functional floodplains are shown on the Natural Influences figure above.

Semi-natural land cover

A range of wildlife habitats are found within the district. Many of the most significant habitats are found in the south, in formerly extensive areas of wetland which are associated with river floodplains. Traditionally, these low-lying areas would have flooded during the winter and were managed either as wet grazing marsh or as wet meadows mown annually for hay. Such sites contain a wide range of herb rich grassland habitats with many species of nationally uncommon plants and animals. These meadows were once widespread throughout southern England but owing to agricultural improvement and urbanisation are now increasingly rare. The most vulnerable remaining areas of wetland are protected by Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status, for example Yarnton and Wendlebury Meads and Otmoor. Pixey and Yarnton Meads, on the southern edge of the district alongside the River Thames, also have international Special Area of Conservation (SAC) designation.

The river valleys are a landscape feature which provide a continuous linear habitat of some significance. The floodplain of the River Cherwell contains flood meadows and areas of wet grassland of national importance whilst a range of water and water margin habitats are associated with both the river Cherwell and the River Ray and their tributaries. Long stretches of the Cherwell valley are accessible only on foot or by the canal, the area therefore, provides a relatively quiet and undisturbed location for birds and mammals.

Although much of the district appears to be reasonably well treed, the area as a whole is noticeably lacking in woodland cover. The most ecologically rich and diverse woods are ancient woodlands, which are classified either as ancient semi-natural woodland, where the woodland originated before 1600 and has not been substantially underplanted since, and plantation on ancient woodland, where a woodland has been subject to extensive replanting at some point since 1600.

Only a small number of woods with ancient indicator species have been identified within Cherwell District and all of the surviving ancient woodland is found in the south. Remaining ancient woods are small, isolated and fragmented and more than half of them are associated with the district’s parklands. During the eighteenth century a considerable number of covens were planted, primarily as cover for game birds. and these now form valuable managed habitats as well as being wildlife havens, linked together by the hedgerow network. Many of the small woods occur on hill tops or slight rises in the land and, for their relatively small area, are visually prominent features.

The importance of hedgerow trees should not be underestimated in a county where arable land predominates. They act as species reservoirs and wildlife corridors and provide a framework for the landscape. Elm was formerly the dominant hedgerow tree, but since the heavy losses due to Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s and 80s oak and ash have become the dominant species.

A significant number of SSSls, particularly in the north of the district, are old quarry workings and railway cuttings. These are designated primarily for their geological interest, but they are also of biological interest. For example, at Ardley Cutting and Quarries, interest focuses upon the limestone grassland occurring on the cutting face, and upon scrub, woodland and water habitats found in the old quarry. On higher ground patches of heathland vegetation and scrub are found dotted across pastures and colonising verges and hedge banks.

Beyond the internationally designated SACs and nationally designated SSSIs, England is obliged by UK law to maintain a list of ‘habitats of principal importance’. Derived from the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, these ‘priority habitats’ include a broad range semi-natural habitats which have a high nature conservation value. These include areas such as river corridors and parklands, lowland meadows and fens, deciduous woodlands and traditional orchards.

Natural heritage designations and priority habitats are shown on the figure above.

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Cultural influences

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Historic character and land use

The Cherwell landscape has also been shaped by the influence of human activity throughout history. Evidence of this is still highly visible to the informed observer and an understanding of the main trends helps to explain the appearance of the landscape today.

Evidence indicates that there has been human activity within the area since the Stone Age. The most distinctive features from this period are a number of prehistoric ridgeways which intersect the area, running roughly north­south. One of these runs along the same line as the present A4260 from Kidlington to Banbury and northwards. Another lies to the west of Epwell along the course of Traitors Ford Lane/Ditchedge Lane, running south through the Cotswolds and north-west along Edge Hill and a third (known as the ‘Jurassic Way’) runs to the north of Hook Norton to Banbury via Tadmarton and Broughton. These would have provided a means of travel and trade, connecting with local areas such as the Berkshire Downs and the Cotswolds and more distant regions such as South Wales.

Earliest evidence of human settlement dates from the Iron Age. A string of hill forts concentrated within the ironstone hills between Madmarston and Hempton indicates that the area was relatively densely populated during this period.

Little visible evidence now remains of the extensive Roman occupation of the area, although a number of villa sites are scattered across the district. Alchester, a planned Roman military settlement, was located at the intersection of the north-south Towcester to Dorchester route and the east-west Akeman Street (just south of modern-day Bicester). The route of Akerman Street between Chesterton and Kirtlington still persists today and the line of the A42 north of Bicester likewise dates from this period.

Many of the district’s villages originated in the Anglo-Saxon period, although it is likely that some village sites were simply taken over by the newcomers during this period and have been settled for far longer. Most of the village names are recorded in Domesday Book. The system of land tenure which operated throughout the Medieval period established a field pattern that is still clearly visible in places as areas of ‘ridge and furrow’, characteristic long narrow ‘s’ shaped fields and strip lynchets where steeper ground was terraced to facilitate cultivation. A particularly good example of this can be seen near Shenington.

Most of the once-forested higher ground, particularly on the fertile ‘redland’ soils around Banbury, was cleared for agriculture in early history. There was already a shortage of woodland in this area as early as the seventh and eighth centuries and the nearest parts of the royal forest of Wychwood around Charlbury supplied timber to the Banbury area. Further south, steady progress of reclaiming ‘waste’ land, woodland. marsh and heath, accelerated with the population expansion throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The village of ‘Hethe’, meaning ‘uncultured ground’, became established as part of this process. Fencott and Murcott were also new settlements set amongst marshy fields reclaimed from Otmoor during this time.

The Forest of Wychwood lay to the west of the River Cherwell in what is now West Oxfordshire. Another concentration of woodland governed by forest law ran over the Oxford Heights, forming the forests of Shotover and Stowood. At the northernmost limit of Shotover was a great expanse of woodland which in Domesday was measured at over 700 acres, covering most of the Palish of Islip and a broad sweep of land to the south of the River Ray. By 1366, this woodland had shrunk to less than 100 acres and very little of it remains today.

There are numerous visible remains of medieval features. Castle sites and fishponds are frequent and can often be located by their earthworks, and various monastic remains occur within the district, including Augustinian, Benedictine, Cistercian and Gilbertine houses. Village churches are prominent features and represent the earliest surviving examples of stonework.

Economic and social change, led to widespread desertion and contraction of late medieval villages. The south of the district was particularly badly affected, with a third of the total number disappearing and a further third exhibiting shrinkage. Shrinkage was less common in the ironstone area, which depended largely upon the expanding wool trade for its wealth. Here, only about a fifth of the villages contracted in size and very few disappeared altogether.

ln response to the growth of the wool trade, a widespread conversion of arable land to pasture took place, encouraging the process of enclosure. The rate of enclosure varied, depending on locally established agricultural practices and land ownership, with about a third of the district being enclosed by the end of the Tudor and Stuart periods. Such early enclosures can be located by hedgerow dating techniques, as the hedges are typically denser and contain a richer variety of species than the later hawthorn enclosures hedge. Two thirds of Broughton parish, for example, was enclosed by the 1590s.

The district contains a high proportion of seventeenth- and eighteenth- century parkland. This frequently developed from a medieval deer park nucleus. Middleton Stoney had a walled deer park by 1328 which was subsequently incorporated into a vast new park in 1825. Similar fashionable, landscaped parks were created at Kirtlington, Bletchingdon, Chesterton, Tusmore and Shelswell. The characteristically extensive tree planting and long stone wall boundaries are still dominant features in today’s landscape.

Architectural history within the region demonstrates the progressive conversion from timber framed structures to stone, beginning in the early sixteenth century. Vernacular buildings closely reflect the underlying geology: the warm, honey-coloured ironstone to the north of the district gives way to pale grey and white limestone around Bicester and on the Combrash Limestone outcrop across Otmoor. Timber-framed brick buildings are found only in areas where stone was not readily available, such as the Oxford Heights which rise up to the south of Otmoor.

The exploitation of minerals for building materials and other purposes has given rise to landscape features associated with mineral extraction. Hornton Stone has been quarried locally for farm buildings since at least the early mediaeval period, and until recently was exported for higher quality buildings and ornamental work. The best quality stone is that which comes from lower beds, since it is less affected by leaching and oxidisation. It breaks naturally into large stone blocks which can then be finely cut and used for ashlar work, although it is not particularly durable to weathering. Iron staining gives a variety of colours, from rich honey colour to dark orange. Deserted quarries and active limestone quarrying form significant but localised features within today’s landscape.

A variety of other features make a positive contribution to the Cherwell landscape. High stone walls enclosing large tracts of seventeenth and eighteenth-century parkland, with prominent woodland belts and distinctive parkland trees surround impressive country houses. These mansions themselves are often out of sight, however, several estate villages represent highly visible features in the landscape. Village houses at Bletchingdon. Middleton Stoney and Kirtlington display elements of style and detail typical of estate villages.

Post-war trends in agriculture, including continued intensification and increased mechanisation, led to the widespread expansion of arable cropping across the district. Semi-natural grasslands were ploughed-up and there was extensive field amalgamation and hedgerow removal across many parts of the district. Relict landscapes, such as ancient field systems and enclosures, suffered considerable damage during this period. Similarly, extensive drainage of the heavy, wet soils of the Otmoor floodplain was undertaken, enabling a change in emphasis from wet pasture to arable farming. However, these changes have now largely ceased, and recent decades have seen government initiatives to encourage more environmentally sensitive farming practice. The UK’s exit from the European Union has led to the need to reconsider approaches to agriculture and to the environment, with the details of new mechanisms yet to be finalised.

Cultural heritage designations are shown on the Cultural Heritage Designations map above.

Settlement and infrastructure

The district is comprised of relatively evenly scattered villages, with the two principal market towns of Banbury and Bicester. The other major settlement within the district is Kidlington, a twentieth century garden city and dormitory town, based on the much smaller historic settlement. Villages within Cherwell District are important and highly prominent features within the rural landscape.

Villages to the south and west of Banbury are probably the most well-known, with their distinctive deep orange and ochre coloured stone and thatched roofs. The ironstone is used for two and three storey yeoman’s houses, with mullioned windows and steep, gabled rooflines The regional style of the Banbury area extends beyond the boundaries of Cherwell District into Northamptonshire and Warwickshire.

Further to the south, the white oolitic limestone has also been used for local building purposes, while the area is close enough to the Cotswolds to benefit from higher quality building stone for more prestigious country houses. The softer white limestone was used only for the rubble walls and dressings and cornerstones are frequently of bricks. Where the white limestone meets the ironstone, the latter is used for cornerstones and coarse ornamental work. Where local stone was in short supply, brick and timber framing were used. Roofs are traditionally thatched, but stone and clay tiles are also common. Stone walls lining village roads are an attractive feature of many of the villages.

Village distribution conforms to a clear pattern in the steeply hilly areas they are usually located on the valley sides, for example, Hook Norton, Wigginton, South Newington and the Barfords. Such a location provided a sheltered site and a reliable water supply. Villages are also frequently located towards the brow of the hill, such as Deddington, Wroxton and the Astons. The district abounds with paired settlements such as the Sibfords (Sibford Gower and Sibford Ferris), the Barfords (Barford St Michael and Barford St John), and the Astons (Steeple, Middle and North Aston).

ln the south, the location of settlement is likewise closely related to the landform, with villages occurring on ground rising even a few metres above the flood plain, as is the case with lslip, Oddington, Charlton on Otmoor and Merton, which are located on the Combrash outcrop across the Oxford Clay vale. Villages on the limestone have survived wherever there is an adequate permanent water source.

A range of village structures are illustrated within the district, all of which are common in villages across most of the south and Midlands. A village may have expanded or contracted several times throughout its history but usually the historic core has remained as a reasonably constant indicator of its shape. Cherwell district includes a number of good examples of nucleated settlements, where dwellings are grouped around a central village green. However, the linear layout is more common, where houses are strung out along on either side of one main street. The most common layout is a more random pattern where houses cluster together around a double-loop of lanes, forming a village group which lacks a central nucleus.

Isolated farmsteads are also prominent settlement features. Some of the farmsteads which now appear to be isolated were associated with deserted medieval villages. The best-known example of this is Manor Farm at Hampton Gay, where the village earthworks are highly visible, but others can be identified such as Nethercote Grange between Middle and North Aston which is now known simply as Grange Farm. A second generation of isolated farms are associated with the more recent parliamentary enclosures period, where farmsteads were relocated from village centres onto individual enclosed landholdings.

Major roads the A40, A34, A44 and A4260 converge at Peartree Hill on the north-western edge of Oxford. The extension of the M40 in 1991, connecting Oxford, Bicester and Banbury with Birmingham and London, had a considerable influence upon both the rural landscape and upon the urban edges of Banbury and Bicester.

Airfields are another distinctive transport feature. They occur on expanses of flat land where they break the continuity of the agricultural landscape with security fences, sprawling sheds and hangers. However, military bases are progressively becoming redundant: the extensive Upper Heyford Air Base is being redeveloped as Cherwell’s fourth principal settlement Heyford Park. The ‘flying field’ area, valued for its Cold War heritage features, remains largely unchanged. The former RAF Bicester is being redeveloped as Bicester Motion, an automotive experience and innovation site, although its important heritage features are also being preserved.

The Oxford Canal, which follows the Cherwell Valley for most of its length through the district, was opened in 1790 and links the centre of Oxford with the Coventry Canal ninety miles to the north. Enslow and Thrupp are canal villages which were centred on barge trade. Thrupp is now a service centre for holiday boats and the canal is one of the country’s most popular recreational waterways. Its wharves. locks, bridges and colourful boating activity, and its attractive flora and fauna, add to the distinctiveness of the Cherwell landscape. Other features of our industrial heritage include the lines of disused rail tracks, which now form valuable wildlife corridors, and the disused ironstone quarry workings which have been colonised by vegetation.

The Oxford-Birmingham railway also follows the floor of the Cherwell valley for much of its length and opened in the 1850s. The Bicester-Banbury line opened in 1910 to shorten the route between London and Birmingham by cutting Oxford out of the route. The line traverses the valley on a spectacular stone viaduct to the east of Deddington. Recent changes to the railway lines include the construction of Oxford Parkway station, immediately south of the District. This is part of the East-West Rail scheme to re-establish a rail link between Cambridge and Oxford. Rail sections linking Oxford, Oxford Parkway and Bicester were completed in 2016. Future plans include re-establishing sections of the line between Bicester, Bletchley and Milton Keynes.

Banbury and Bicester have expanded significantly in recent decades, with further development set to continue this trend around Bicester in particular, and the corridor between Oxford and Cambridge, encompassing Bicester, was promoted in 2021 as a key area for future growth in the UK, focused in particular on high-tech industry. Central government leadership on this has subsequently been withdrawn, and lack of strong east-west transport links is a significant issue in developing the ‘Oxford-Cambridge Arc’, but proposals may still emerge.

The pressure for development around Oxford, with high house prices hampering growth potential, has led to significant Local Plan development allocations in the south of Cherwell. The expansion of Yarnton and Begbroke towards Kidlington, together with development on the southern edge of Kidlington and on the northern edge of Oxford, will continue to reduce openness and rural character in an area already affected by numerous transport routes.

Another likely source of future development pressure is the need for a transition to renewable energy sources to meet the country’s Net Zero climate change targets. The impact within Cherwell to date has been relatively limited, with only a few solar farms built despite several applications. However, pressure for renewable energy, particularly solar farms, is growing. A National Infrastructure Project for an 840 MW solar farm, Botley West, is proposed across Oxford, Cherwell and West Oxfordshire Districts.

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Perceptual characteristics

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Tranquillity

Many parts of the district retain a strong rural character and relatively high tranquillity. This is most noticeable:

• In the ironstone areas in the north of the district.
• In the Upper Cherwell Basin and Cherwell Valley – other than in close proximity to Banbury and Kidlington, where transport routes converge, and large-scale development is evident.
• On the lowlands of Otmoor.
• In the well-treed arable farmland and parklands north of Bicester.

Tranquillity diminishes closer to Bicester, which has expanded significantly over recent decades, and in the south-west of the district around Kidlington and Yarnton, where development pressures associated with proximity to Oxford have had a significant impact on settlement form and levels of human activity.

Tranquillity maps produced for the CPRE and Natural England in 2006 are shown on the CPRE Tranquillity Map above. These represent a GIS-based analysis of various indicators considered to influence relative levels of tranquillity, such as proximity to and visibility of major transport routes and urban areas.

Views

Landform and land cover typically combine to limit views across the wider landscape, so there are no particularly noted panoramic viewpoints in the district. The most distinctive views are probably those associated with the Cherwell Valley, either along or across it from ridge crests or from the valley floor. There are also picturesque ‘inward’ views from the narrower, contained valleys within the ironstone hills, and broader views across Otmoor from rising ground on the southern edge of the district.

Associations

Although particular locations have cultural associations relating to art, literature, famous people, events, music and folklore, there are no associations that add particular value to wider areas of landscape. Historic locations such as Broughton Castle or the Cropredy Bridge battlefield have cultural heritage designations that recognise their significance.

Oxford Canal

Distinctive ironstone vernacular in Drayton

Parkland surrounding Aynho Park House