East Dorset Landscape Character Assessment - Dorsetforyou.com

that mark the former floodplain. However, in places the valley edge isalso demarcated by chalk downland in the west and, further to the east,by ridges of clay and gravel, notably at Pamphill, Merley and Dudsbury.(see character areas described below)Cottages at Little Pamphill overlooking the Stour Valley, note the o/h line.View westwards along the Stour at Ensbury Bridge, the woods at Dudsbury Camp in thebackgroundThe character of the river valley is particularly influenced by these ridges.The associated woodland on this higher ground provides a backdrop toviews along and across the valley as well as a sense of enclosure.Buildings and parkland on the ridges also provide significant points ofinterest along the course of the Stour as, for example at Little Pamphillwhere a group of cottages look southwards over the valley.The associated open, pastoral landscape character found in the westernhalf of the valley is also significantly influenced by the roads, roadcrossings and the developments that encroach along its length.The historic settlements of Shapwick, Sturminster Marshall andWimborne are marked by their church towers in the views along the rivervalley.The course of the river is also marked by a number of historic watermillsites, the most prominent surviving site being at White Mill to the north ofSturminster Marshall.At Wimborne the river is pinched between the ridge at Merley on thesouthern bank and more recent developments in Wimborne to the northand, further to the east at Parley, Dudsbury Rings also forms aEast Dorset District Council District Landscape Character Assessment 200836