The Nature and Character of the village
Most people living in Freshford recognise that it has a distinct character worth preserving largely due to its picturesque setting. This has been acknowledged by residents, writers and visitors for well over 200 years. In the 20th century it has been formally included as part of the Bristol/Bath Green Belt, the Cotswold AONB, and was given tow designated Conservation Areas: the village centre and Sharpstone in 1979. These areas were extended in 2007.
The Jurassic belt on which Freshford is located was laid down 150-200 million years ago. This consists of alternating bands of limestone and clay, as wearing and erosion has taken place, the typical Cotswold-type country of steep sided river valleys and relatively flat hill tops has evolved. Over thousands of years man has gradually removed woodland to create fields for animals and cultivation. Steep sided valleys, too difficult for cultivation, have been left as woodland. Here, and in adjacent parishes, a distinctive backdrop to almost all views is provided by woodland such as Friary woods in Hinton Charterhouse, Avoncliff woods in Westwood, Murhill woods in Winsley, and in the west of the parish, the woodlands of the Midford area.
The village centre of Freshford is located near a prehistoric river crossing of the river Frome. This developed first into a Roman settlement, and subsequently became an Anglo Saxon manor, a Norman manor, and then a medieval village. The church was built at the centre of this community, and in course of time large houses were built nearby by major landowners and employers. Other hamlets of Sharpstone and Park Corner were established on the spring line and were developed in the 16th-18th centuries for workers in the cloth industry. The farming hamlet of Pipehouse was located on higher ground in the west of the village after the demise of the parish of Woodwick in about 1460. In spite of much building in the 20th century each of these communities still retains its isolation and specific identity. Most buildings have been constructed in the local oolitic limestone, either as cut ashlar or as rubble stone, giving unity as well as charm to the village. This unity could easily be destroyed if additions to buildings, infill, or any other new building are in a style, character or scale inappropriate to those already existing. A major intrusion is the derelict Freshford Mill, where the scale of building and the materials used are out of character with this highly important site, and provide at present an unsightly blot on an otherwise outstandingly beautiful landscape. Many overhead electricity and telephone lines are also intrusive.
The views both into and out of the individual settlements are one of the chief features of the local landscape, such as the views towards Freshford centre and Sharpstone from Staples Hill, of the whole parish from Winsley Hill and the Avon valley towards Avoncliff, and views in all directions from the important green space of the Tyning within the centre of the village. It is of prime importance that the fields around the village centre: The Tyning, Galleries, Cleeves, Crabtree Mead, Ham, Fair Close, Higher and Lower Meads and Great Etons are untouched by any development, and maintained with grass of appropriate agricultural use. Also that the separate hamlets of Sharpstone and Park Corner are maintained as islands of development within the framework of Sharpstone Field, Nurlton, Upper and Lower Ground, Fern Hills, Lower Woodweeks and Lower Homewood.
Almost all fields in the parish are now permanent grass. This contrasts with the situation in the 1830s when the area of arable (cultivated) land exceeded the area of pasture, woods and gardens together. The arrangement of fields with distinctive walls an hedges has been constant for well over 200 years, and some boundaries go back to open field enclosure in the 17th century, if not considerably earlier. In the 19th century a desire for landscaped gardens led to the planting of both native and exotic tree species at Freshford Hall, Woodside, Abbotsleigh, Freshford Manor, The Old House and Tyning House. The mixed nature of this tree planting contrasts pleasantly with some unfortunate planting in the 20th century of rows of uniform cypress trees.
The predominant farming activities in the village are the keeping of beef cattle and sheep, and growth of grass for hay or silage. Unless fields continue to be farmed carefully and correctly the character of the landscape will change dramatically. In the last few years a number of fields within the parish and on its borders have been removed from agricultural productivity to become horse paddocks, or have been over managed as manicured gardens with inappropriate tree planting. With the uneconomic uncertainties of farming, and the sale of some individual fields, these problems could become more acute. The change in farming practice during the last century has lead to the redundancy of many farm buildings many of which have been converted into dwellings. There is little obvious maintenance of woodland within the parish (apart from the adjacent Friary Wood), and natural regeneration takes its course.
The high priority given by residents to preserving the existing landscape character is an indication of the importance to them of its visual attractiveness. The existing network of small lanes and the meshwork of varied footpaths are well used by residents and visitors alike, and provide an opportunity for observing the rich and diverse natural environment as well as safe thoroughfares. The increase in the number and size of vehicles is not only leading to the destruction of the verges, but also to concern for the safety of pedestrians, in particular of children on lanes without pavements. A number of historically interesting road signs, both warning and of direction at key junction points, add to the character of street scenes, and they should be preserved and maintained. Likewise the pump at Park Corner, the pound in Freshford Lane and fire engine house on Church Hill, are all indicators of a past community that was autonomous and self sufficient. The former autonomous nature of the village is also shown by Freshford and Dunkirk Mills, The Old Brewery, Old Bakery, Old Post Office, former forges, wheelrights’ and garage. Also three former chapels, and former shops and public houses.
For a small parish, Freshford has a wide range of ecological habitats including rivers, streams and field ponds, woods and hedges, large and small gardens, as well as the managed grassland. The rivers Avon and Frome, which join together in the parish, have carved their courses over millions of years. These rivers are well used and maintained and stocked by a fishing organisation located in the village. The Frome meanders from Iford to its confluence with the Avon with banks stabilised by alders and willows. Birds such as herons, kingfishers and dippers are frequently seen, and otters have been reported. The flat lush fields of the floodplain of Ham and Crabtree Mead are often flooded after heavy rain, and provide a safety valve for the Frome water when the river Avon is also in flood.
A stream runs from near the Village Hall, through the village centre to River Avon. Only part of this stream is now visible and it provides an attractive and interesting feature in Freshford Lane. Because of the easy access to rivers, streams and springs, few artificial ponds were needed apart from some in the high fields of Pipards Farm, where they provided drinking water for cattle and sheep, and by a conduit supplying water to the hamlet of Pipehouse.
Although the parish has relatively small amounts of woodland apart from Cleeves, Hayes and Avoncliff Woods, there is much woodland in the vicinity. These woods have a distinctive flora which includes wild garlic, bluebells, wood anemones, orchids, herb paris and dog’s mercury. Photographs taken of the village 100 or so years ago show a less built up, but less wooded village. Many erstwhile hedges have been neglected and have become tree belts, while many are maintained and show a diversity of shrub species that indicate a long existence. Hedges around the Rudgeleaze, Pond Ground and Brewer’s Leaze near Pipards Farm, have distinctive mature standard trees of oak and ash. Many hedge banks are rich in campion and stitchwort, and in places are homes to badger setts and rabbit burrows.
The lack of intensive arable agriculture and the consequent low use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides has probably assisted in maintaining a wide biodiversity of flora and insects. As a consequence of many fields of permanent grassland, such as Upper Ground, Nurlton and Sharpstone Field are particularly rich in knapweed, scabious, yellow rattle, bedstraws and clover. Farmers/landowners might be encouraged to cut hedges at the correct time and with care, and to take hay and silage crops after plants have set seed.
Summary.
I. Woodland is an integral part, as well as a vital backdrop to the village landscape.
II. Each settlement (village centre and hamlets) should be maintained as an island within a framework of fields.
III. The character of the landscape is dependent on fields being used for productive agriculture. Agriculture practices and treatments should be used that maintain biodiversity, encourage wildlife, and will protect walls and hedgerows.
IV. Visual eyesores should be improved/removed. These include the Freshford Mill site, planting of cypress trees and overhead electricity and telephone wires.
By Alan Dodge for the Freshford Plan 2008.
The Jurassic belt on which Freshford is located was laid down 150-200 million years ago. This consists of alternating bands of limestone and clay, as wearing and erosion has taken place, the typical Cotswold-type country of steep sided river valleys and relatively flat hill tops has evolved. Over thousands of years man has gradually removed woodland to create fields for animals and cultivation. Steep sided valleys, too difficult for cultivation, have been left as woodland. Here, and in adjacent parishes, a distinctive backdrop to almost all views is provided by woodland such as Friary woods in Hinton Charterhouse, Avoncliff woods in Westwood, Murhill woods in Winsley, and in the west of the parish, the woodlands of the Midford area.
The village centre of Freshford is located near a prehistoric river crossing of the river Frome. This developed first into a Roman settlement, and subsequently became an Anglo Saxon manor, a Norman manor, and then a medieval village. The church was built at the centre of this community, and in course of time large houses were built nearby by major landowners and employers. Other hamlets of Sharpstone and Park Corner were established on the spring line and were developed in the 16th-18th centuries for workers in the cloth industry. The farming hamlet of Pipehouse was located on higher ground in the west of the village after the demise of the parish of Woodwick in about 1460. In spite of much building in the 20th century each of these communities still retains its isolation and specific identity. Most buildings have been constructed in the local oolitic limestone, either as cut ashlar or as rubble stone, giving unity as well as charm to the village. This unity could easily be destroyed if additions to buildings, infill, or any other new building are in a style, character or scale inappropriate to those already existing. A major intrusion is the derelict Freshford Mill, where the scale of building and the materials used are out of character with this highly important site, and provide at present an unsightly blot on an otherwise outstandingly beautiful landscape. Many overhead electricity and telephone lines are also intrusive.
The views both into and out of the individual settlements are one of the chief features of the local landscape, such as the views towards Freshford centre and Sharpstone from Staples Hill, of the whole parish from Winsley Hill and the Avon valley towards Avoncliff, and views in all directions from the important green space of the Tyning within the centre of the village. It is of prime importance that the fields around the village centre: The Tyning, Galleries, Cleeves, Crabtree Mead, Ham, Fair Close, Higher and Lower Meads and Great Etons are untouched by any development, and maintained with grass of appropriate agricultural use. Also that the separate hamlets of Sharpstone and Park Corner are maintained as islands of development within the framework of Sharpstone Field, Nurlton, Upper and Lower Ground, Fern Hills, Lower Woodweeks and Lower Homewood.
Almost all fields in the parish are now permanent grass. This contrasts with the situation in the 1830s when the area of arable (cultivated) land exceeded the area of pasture, woods and gardens together. The arrangement of fields with distinctive walls an hedges has been constant for well over 200 years, and some boundaries go back to open field enclosure in the 17th century, if not considerably earlier. In the 19th century a desire for landscaped gardens led to the planting of both native and exotic tree species at Freshford Hall, Woodside, Abbotsleigh, Freshford Manor, The Old House and Tyning House. The mixed nature of this tree planting contrasts pleasantly with some unfortunate planting in the 20th century of rows of uniform cypress trees.
The predominant farming activities in the village are the keeping of beef cattle and sheep, and growth of grass for hay or silage. Unless fields continue to be farmed carefully and correctly the character of the landscape will change dramatically. In the last few years a number of fields within the parish and on its borders have been removed from agricultural productivity to become horse paddocks, or have been over managed as manicured gardens with inappropriate tree planting. With the uneconomic uncertainties of farming, and the sale of some individual fields, these problems could become more acute. The change in farming practice during the last century has lead to the redundancy of many farm buildings many of which have been converted into dwellings. There is little obvious maintenance of woodland within the parish (apart from the adjacent Friary Wood), and natural regeneration takes its course.
The high priority given by residents to preserving the existing landscape character is an indication of the importance to them of its visual attractiveness. The existing network of small lanes and the meshwork of varied footpaths are well used by residents and visitors alike, and provide an opportunity for observing the rich and diverse natural environment as well as safe thoroughfares. The increase in the number and size of vehicles is not only leading to the destruction of the verges, but also to concern for the safety of pedestrians, in particular of children on lanes without pavements. A number of historically interesting road signs, both warning and of direction at key junction points, add to the character of street scenes, and they should be preserved and maintained. Likewise the pump at Park Corner, the pound in Freshford Lane and fire engine house on Church Hill, are all indicators of a past community that was autonomous and self sufficient. The former autonomous nature of the village is also shown by Freshford and Dunkirk Mills, The Old Brewery, Old Bakery, Old Post Office, former forges, wheelrights’ and garage. Also three former chapels, and former shops and public houses.
For a small parish, Freshford has a wide range of ecological habitats including rivers, streams and field ponds, woods and hedges, large and small gardens, as well as the managed grassland. The rivers Avon and Frome, which join together in the parish, have carved their courses over millions of years. These rivers are well used and maintained and stocked by a fishing organisation located in the village. The Frome meanders from Iford to its confluence with the Avon with banks stabilised by alders and willows. Birds such as herons, kingfishers and dippers are frequently seen, and otters have been reported. The flat lush fields of the floodplain of Ham and Crabtree Mead are often flooded after heavy rain, and provide a safety valve for the Frome water when the river Avon is also in flood.
A stream runs from near the Village Hall, through the village centre to River Avon. Only part of this stream is now visible and it provides an attractive and interesting feature in Freshford Lane. Because of the easy access to rivers, streams and springs, few artificial ponds were needed apart from some in the high fields of Pipards Farm, where they provided drinking water for cattle and sheep, and by a conduit supplying water to the hamlet of Pipehouse.
Although the parish has relatively small amounts of woodland apart from Cleeves, Hayes and Avoncliff Woods, there is much woodland in the vicinity. These woods have a distinctive flora which includes wild garlic, bluebells, wood anemones, orchids, herb paris and dog’s mercury. Photographs taken of the village 100 or so years ago show a less built up, but less wooded village. Many erstwhile hedges have been neglected and have become tree belts, while many are maintained and show a diversity of shrub species that indicate a long existence. Hedges around the Rudgeleaze, Pond Ground and Brewer’s Leaze near Pipards Farm, have distinctive mature standard trees of oak and ash. Many hedge banks are rich in campion and stitchwort, and in places are homes to badger setts and rabbit burrows.
The lack of intensive arable agriculture and the consequent low use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides has probably assisted in maintaining a wide biodiversity of flora and insects. As a consequence of many fields of permanent grassland, such as Upper Ground, Nurlton and Sharpstone Field are particularly rich in knapweed, scabious, yellow rattle, bedstraws and clover. Farmers/landowners might be encouraged to cut hedges at the correct time and with care, and to take hay and silage crops after plants have set seed.
Summary.
I. Woodland is an integral part, as well as a vital backdrop to the village landscape.
II. Each settlement (village centre and hamlets) should be maintained as an island within a framework of fields.
III. The character of the landscape is dependent on fields being used for productive agriculture. Agriculture practices and treatments should be used that maintain biodiversity, encourage wildlife, and will protect walls and hedgerows.
IV. Visual eyesores should be improved/removed. These include the Freshford Mill site, planting of cypress trees and overhead electricity and telephone wires.
By Alan Dodge for the Freshford Plan 2008.