The key characteristics of the New Forest are . . .

New Forest

The key characteristics of the New Forest are . . .

•An extensive and complex mosaic of broadleaved and coniferous woodlands, unenclosed wood pasture, heath, grassland, and farmland.

•A constant presence of numerous grazing ponies and cattle, both a strong visual element and a significant impact on the land cover.

•Open and exposed plateaux and small valleys dominated by heath, with heather, gorse and grassland with scattered birch and pine. Bog vegetation in valley bottoms.

•Pockets of farmland and widely dispersed settlements with large isolated dwellings, bounded by high hedges, contained within the woodland.

•Wood-pasture of mature oak woodland, patches of bracken interspersed with glades and heavily grazed 'lawns', verges and commons.

•Large woodlands of mature broadleaves and an understorey of holly and bracken, contrasting with dark blocks of coniferous plantations.

•Fringe areas of farmland with villages. Small fields lined by full hedges, opening out to larger arable fields, with contrasts between the more intimate features of the Avon Valley, and the salt-marshes and shingle beaches on the southern coastal plain.


Landscape Character 

The New Forest character area comprises a raised plateau and surrounds, defined in the east by Southampton Water and in the south by the Solent. To the west it includes the valley of the river Avon, flowing south to enter the Solent, which forms the boundary with the Dorset Heaths. To the north-east the valley of the river Test, in the South Hampshire Lowlands, forms the boundary while, to the north, the land drops gently before rising again to form the higher Salisbury Plain and West Wiltshire Downs.

Its distinctive character arises from its unique combination of ancient woodland, wood-pasture, heath, grassland, small-scale pastoral farming and low density of settlements, forming a rich mosaic both visually and ecologically.

This is a landscape of contrasts: of wide, open sweeps of heather moorland with dense dark plantations; of the high canopy of large oak woodlands with open, close-cropped grassy commons; of the occasional long, straight road with narrow lanes contained by banks and hedges; of unenclosed heath and common, with the hedged gardens of scattered dwellings. In woodlands, sunny glades of grass and bracken break up the canopies of large, mature oaks, while stretches of open heath are interrupted by clumps of self-seeded pine or birch. These stretches of informal, unrestricted landscapes contrast markedly with the urban areas to the south and east.

Colours and textures play an important part in constructing the overall landscape character and even here there are contrasts - the dark greens of the conifers; the light greens of freshly sprouting broadleaves; the bright green of the bracken, turning to russet in the autumn and winter; the purple of the heather, turning to a dark, textured brown in the winter; and the sweeps of yellow gorse, turning a rough dark green during the summer.

The heathland areas are in themselves mosaics on a smaller scale, of rough heather, acidic grassland, swathes of bracken, clumps of gorse, boggy valley bottoms and groups of self-sown birch and pine.

The woodlands, many protected by Inclosure fences, also vary greatly in character, according to the age and spacing of the dominant species. In places the canopy comprises large, mature oaks, or oak with beech and sweet chestnut, with an open understorey of holly and patches of bracken. Other woods are denser, of younger oak, with an understorey of holly and hazel, on the limey clays. In some places large mature firs and pines have been left, whilst there are also dense, dark plantations of pine and spruce.

The Forest area is sparsely populated and those settlements that do occur are dispersed, each dwelling with its garden or paddock protected by fences and hedges against the grazing animals. Smallholdings, forming irregular patterns of small fields, bounded with hedges, are associated with these forest villages. A particular feature is the siting of pubs or hotels overlooking large, close-cropped village commons with picturesque groupings of grazing livestock.

Throughout, there is the sense of history, of continuity of woodland and heath and the influence of the ever-present grazing animals. Ponies gather to graze road verges and commons, while groups of cattle shelter nearby. Deer are occasionally glimpsed moving through woods or across heaths. Everywhere the impact of grazing is visible through the close-cropped swards, tightly nibbled clumps of gorse and the consistent browse line of trees and hedges.

The landform is nowhere dramatic, rather a slightly raised plateau, going up to only 120 m or so but, rising as it does from sea level, this gives an impression of being elevated and exposed on the open plateaux. Much of the area comprises shallow ridges between pleasant, undulating and sheltered valleys, dropping down to more gently sloping land around the Forest edges.

The fringes of the Forest contain several small villages, characterised by the linear development of detached cottages along roadsides and linked by a network of narrow, winding lanes often lined with banks and hedges. Mature hedgerow oaks, some pollarded, give these fringe areas a wooded feel. Strongly pastoral, and providing back-up grazing for stock, all these fringe areas retain a strong sense of historical association and identity with the Forest.

The influence of the Forest is less evident along the coastal plain in the south. Here the landscape is somewhat featureless, a well-managed arable landscape with neat, low hedges and occasional plantations. The few oak or pine hedgerow trees that do occur reveal the proximity of the sea and are stunted and windblown.

Along the coastal plain in the east are larger towns, of almost coalescing urban areas with extensive recent development, and, in the case of Fawley, industrial complexes. The tall chimneys of the oil refineries here are visible from many stretches of heath and forest in the locality. The urban fringe effect extends all along this stretch of coastal plain, with mixed uses such as garden centres, caravan parks, light industry and farming. Similarly, the urban fringe effect extends along the coastal plain in the south-west, where fences tend to replace hedges. Towns front onto the wide sweep of shingle beach running from the spit at Keyhaven to Christchurch.

Less affected by development is the south-east stretch, with the attractive creeks and estuaries of the Lymington and Beaulieu rivers. There are quiet but bleak and exposed salt-marshes and rough grazing along this part of the coast line and the sense of openness is enhanced by the views out over the Solent, to the hills and cliffs of the Isle of Wight. Even here, however, the one is aware of the constant presence of woodland on higher land to the north.

The small river valley of the Avon to the west is flat-bottomed, clearly contained for much of this stretch by the landform rising up to the New Forest plateau to the east and to the Dorset Heaths to the west. On the floodplain are low-lying pastures, and groups of large water bodies where sands and gravels have been extracted. In places these fields and lakes have a rich riparian vegetation of willows but, on drier stretches, there are open arable fields with low hedges. The valley contrasts strongly with the free-draining, sandy, heather-covered hills which are visible to the east.

The whole character area, being located away from main routes and centres of development, has a relatively low population and is strongly influenced by its unique history so that it retains a feel of remoteness and a distinct sense of place.   

Physical Influences 

The New Forest character area is dominated by a raised and eroded plateau which is at its highest in the north and drops down to the south-east. The plateau is formed from Triassic bedrocks, of varied soft sedimentary deposits of sands and clay lain down by a succession of shallow seas, freshwater lakes and rivers.

Following the laying down of these sedimentary rocks, changing sea levels formed broad terraces stepping down to the south-west. Subsequent river erosion cut small valleys through to the underlying clays; these valleys tend to be narrower and steeper in the north, while in the centre and to the south the valleys are shallower and separated by gentle flat-topped ridges. In the south are broad coastal plains of gravel deposits.

Complex patterns of variable soils and local drainage thus occur. The sands and clays give rise to poor, infertile and acidic soils although the ones of marine origin tend to produce slightly better, less acidic soils. Peat and alluvium occur in the valley bottoms. Throughout there are close links between landform, soils and vegetation, with enclosed and farmed land on the better quality soil, and heath on the most acid and impoverished soils.

The plateau is drained by a few small rivers, the main ones being the Lymington and Beaulieu rivers which flow south-east down to the Solent, draining much of the central Forest area. In the west, the river Avon runs south to Christchurch and a number of small tributaries run into it from the plateau to the east. In the north the land drops down to the valley of the river Blackwater, which flows east to join the Test above Southampton. 

Historical and Cultural Influences 

There is evidence that woodland cover was cleared for agriculture in prehistoric times but, as nutrients leached out quickly from the free-draining acid soils, the impoverished land was abandoned for the more fertile soils of the valleys. As a result, areas of heath developed within a thinly wooded landscape. There are a number of Bronze Age round barrows and Iron Age field systems and defensive hillforts still visible in the area. The Romans used the area for the resources it offered, notably fuel wood, sand and clay. A thriving pottery industry was established, with several kiln sites located within the area. Pottery from here was distributed to Roman sites throughout southern Britain, until the 5th century AD.

Originally known as Ytene, the place of the Jutes, the extensive area of heath was appropriated as a royal hunting ground, with communal rights over the land, from at least the time of Edward the Confessor. William the Conqueror claimed the area as Royal Forest, and the Perambulation (the area subject to Forest Law) comprised Crown owned lands together with private land. The primary concern was the protection of deer for the benefit of the King - smallholders were prevented from enclosing land and were given rights of common instead. These included rights to graze ponies, cattle, donkeys and sheep, to run pigs out to eat beech mast in the autumn, to collect wood and peat for fuel and to take marl as a soil improver. Over time the Forest Law became more concerned with the needs of the Commoners than of the Crown.

By the 15th century, however, the tree cover had diminished to such an extent that an Act of Parliament had to be passed to permit the enclosure of land to protect the regeneration of trees. The extensive oak woodland, and proximity to the sea, had resulted in exploitation of the woods for timber for both shipbuilding and fortifications. Timber felling on a large scale began in the 17th century to supply the demands of the navy for shipbuilding and further Acts were passed to encourage tree regeneration. Over time the numbers of stock put out to graze by Commoners changed considerably, reaching a peak during the 18th century when there were an estimated 7,000-9,000 stock, with similar numbers of deer. However, the extent of enclosed land increased through the 19th century, until 1877 when the New Forest Act limited the amount of land the Crown could enclose.

Along the coast a salt-making industry grew up, the evidence of which can be seen in sea-walls built up to contain salternes, and in the salt water boiling houses and associated windmills along the southern coast.

During the second world war a number of airfields were built on the heathy plateaux but these have now been abandoned and are returning to heath.

From 1924 the (then) Forestry Commission has administered the Crown lands. Formal Forest Law was rescinded in 1971, being replaced by the Verderers' Court, which was elected to protect the rights of Commoners, along with Agisters who were employed to oversee the welfare of the Commoners livestock. In 1989 a New Forest Committee was formed, comprising all those organisations with an interest in the balancing of needs and management within the New Forest Heritage Area and, in 1994, the New Forest was given planning protection similar to that of the National Parks.

Thus the landscape of the New Forest and its surrounds is a manifestation of the centuries of changing balance between the land management needs of hunting interests, commoners' grazing interests and the production of timber, with the recent addition of recreational use.   

Buildings and Settlement 

Over much of the area settlements are few and the population low. The few settlements are dispersed, in loose clusters or strung out along roadsides, without a clear centre or structure.

Materials are eclectic, with brick and slate, or brick and tile, commonly used. Less frequent, but a notable feature, are the small thatched cottages, with steep pitches and the thatch brought down close to the ground. The size of dwellings is varied – there are many large isolated houses with extensive gardens but also many scattered small cottages, each with its garden and paddock, and occasional small workers' cottages or terraces. Within the Perambulation, each dwelling has a high fence or hedge to contain and protect it from the grazing animals.

Of particular note is the well-ordered estate village of Beaulieu. This neatness, and the obvious affluence of many of the larger houses, is in contrast to the nature of outbuildings and fences elsewhere where wire, corrugated iron and bits of timber are used to patch and mend, giving in places a slightly run-down air. Around the fringes of the Forest, some villages are characterised by the linear development of dwellings along roadsides, each with its own garden, some with paddocks and outbuildings. These arise from relatively recent encroachment of the commons and tend to lack mature trees.

The larger settlements such as Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst also have a variety of materials and a dispersed building pattern. Along the eastern edge, adjacent to Southampton Water, settlements are large, with extensive 20th century residential development. Fawley is notable as an industrial development, with chimneys and structures of the oil refineries visible from afar.

The settlements adjacent to Solent Water are large and sprawling. Some have attractive centres focused upon an estuary, as with Lymington and Christchurch, while others are spread along the sea front as typical seaside towns of the 20th century, with boarding houses and blocks of flats looking out across the water, the latter notably at Milford on Sea.

The major A31 road, which crosses the plateau, has been upgraded and now forms a road of almost motorway standard cutting through the area. Other main roads, particularly in the south, are straight and busy but otherwise roads are few within the Forest. On the fringes the roads form a network of narrow winding routes, contained by banks and hedges.   

Land Cover 

Some two-thirds of the Forest area is lowland heath, dominated by heather, often in mosaics with gorse and bracken, open patches of closely grazed grassland, and scattered birch and pine. Some stretches of heath are dominated by gorse, with birch and bramble.

The woodlands form one of the largest tracts of semi-natural woodland in southern England. They are dominated by large oaks, with an understorey of holly and patches of bracken. Where grazed, a wood-pasture is formed, with patches of grass and bracken under the canopy of oak. The Inclosures have a much denser woodland canopy, largely of oak, with beech and some sweet chestnut. Just over half of the Inclosures have now been planted with conifers.

The open lawns, and grassland areas within the woodlands and heaths, are maintained by close grazing. Most are rich in species, which vary according to the exact nature of the substrate, and some are relatively fertile.

The central area is dominated by this combination of forestry and common rights grazing - of ponies, donkeys, cattle, pigs and sheep - but within the Forest are small enclosed fields and paddocks used for livestock rearing and increasingly for horses. The emphasis on livestock rearing extends its influence beyond the Perambulation. On the fringes of the Forest, field sizes remain small, and pastures provide back-up grazing for the Commoners livestock. There is however more mixed farming, with cattle, occasional dairying and root crops. On the gravel plains to the south, and on the drier parts of the low-lying Avon valley, arable crops predominate. 


The Changing Countryside 

 •Variations in the grazing pressure have led to subtle changes in the balance between open and enclosed habitats. There has been a steady encroachment of heathland by self-sown pine. Planned intervention has included the agricultural improvement of lawns through draining and re-seeding, cutting and burning of heathland and clearance of bracken and pine.

•Many broadleaved woodlands in the Inclosures have been replaced by conifers.

•There have been continuous development pressures, in particular for housing, to meet the demand from commuters to the Southampton area. This has meant that some settlements, particularly on the Forest fringe, have grown and lost their dispersed character, whilst the towns on the coast have expanded.

•In recent decades the area has grown enormously in popularity as a place to visit for recreation. Volumes of traffic and numbers of visitors have steadily increased, as have the facilities provided for them. This has resulted in minor but widespread changes, for instance through signs, waymarking, gates and car parks which tend to clutter the area.

•The widening and fencing of the A31 road has allowed more people to gain access to the area but it also effectively divides the northern part of the Forest from the southern.

•Gravel extraction in the Avon valley has resulted in a local landscape of open water divided by willows and scrub, with new schemes continuing to create immature local landscapes. Construction of large structures connected with the oil refineries and a power station at Fawley has introduced prominent industrial elements that are visible from many places.


Shaping the future 

•The New Forest character area is an important historical landscape, as well as having high nature-conservation value and high intrinsic aesthetic value. The Forestry Authority is in a primary position to influence the management of both woodlands and open land through the preparation of ongoing management plans drawn up in consultation with the Verderers, English Nature and other interested parties which should address the balance between all the interests.

•The impact of stocking levels on the mosaic of open and wooded habitats is critical and the balance between heath and woodland needs to be constantly monitored. In the fringe areas, an agri-environment approach could include the restoration of arable land back to pasture, to retain the predominantly pastoral quality of the landscape.

•The provision of further recreational facilities, as demand increases, should be addressed to avoid any loss or damage to the character of the landscape.

•The management of woodlands is of overriding importance in the area.

•Developments such as the exploitation of oil reserves underlying the area, further gravel extraction or a bypass round Lyndhurst, need to be handled particularly carefully to prevent undue impact on the complex landscape.


Selected References 
Countryside Commission (1986), The New Forest Landscape, CCP 220, Countryside Commission, Cheltenham.

Hampshire County Council (1993), The Hampshire Landscape, Hampshire County Council, Winchester.

Land Use Consultants ( 1991), New Forest Heritage Area: proposed boundary, LUC, London.

Tubbs, C (1968), The New Forest: an ecological history, David & Charles, Newton Abbot.