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16. Durham Coalfield Pennine Fringe
• A rolling upland landscape of broad open ridges and valleys with a strong east-west grain.
• A transitional landscape with pastoral farming on higher ground in the west giving way to arable and mixed farming in the valleys and to the east.
• A rural landscape, but heavily influenced by the mining industry, in particular to the north and east, with scattered mining and industrial settlements of terraced and estate housing occupying prominent sites, linked by a network of main roads.
• Numerous small plantations of conifers or mixed woodland, as blocks or shelterbelts, on hillside; in places more extensive conifer woodlands on hillsides.
• Open wide ridges of regular large fields bounded by drystone walls and fences, crossed by straight roads, with isolated farmsteads.
• Broad valleys of arable and mixed farmland with low hedges, strips of broadleaved woodland following rivers and streams, and conifer plantations on valley sides.
• Opencast coal workings often forming intrusive features in the rural landscape, and restored areas often creating bland landscape.
• A few scattered small country houses, set within parkland and well-wooded estates.
For further details on this character area and for an introduction to the region, please see the PDF documents in the box at the top right hand side of this page.
