- THE STUDY AREA IN ITS SETTING - The landscape and geology ...

CONSERVATION AREA STATEMENT – INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREA: AN OVERVIEWTOPOGRAPHY AND LANDSCAPE4.14 The Industrial Heritage Study Area falls intotwo very distinct topographical areas. To thewest of Stroud, slicing through the Cotswoldescarpment, is the river valley of the lowerFrome. As the Frome flows towards theSevern, this becomes increasingly broad andshallow, the landscape flattening out to the‘Vale’.4.15 To the north, south and east of the StudyArea are the Stroud valleys. The IHCA runsalong two of the most populated of these:the Chalford valley, through which the upperFrome flows, and the Nailsworth valley,which carries the Nailsworth Stream. Thesevalleys are steep sided, gradually descendingfrom the high ground of the Wolds towardsthe Severn Vale. Both have several smallervalleys branching from them. Two of thesebranch valleys – Toadsmoor in the Chalfordvalley and Avening in the Nailsworth valley– are included in the IHCA Study Area.4.16 Most of the hillsides overlooking the lengthof the study area are capped with Commonland. The relationships between thelandscape, transport links and the builtenvironment can be best appreciated whenviewed from the heights ofMinchinhampton, Rodborough and SelsleyCommons.4.17 Beyond Dudbridge, much of the LowerFrome valley is predominately rural: quietlanes are surrounded by water-meadowscontaining networks of ditches and drainsbordered by pollarded willow and eldertrees. The land has a variety of uses fromorchards, pasture and arable fields tomanaged parkland with mature specimentrees.4.18 The lack of stone in the Severn Vale hasstrongly influenced the overall look of thearea. Fields are bounded by hedges andmany village gardens are enclosed with ironrailings or walls constructed from bricksmade locally.4.19 The flat nature of the countryside givesprominence to man made features. There isobvious dialogue between the scatteredsettlements, the church towers sometimesbeing visible from one village to another.Other features such as the Stroudwatercanal, which crosses the countryside on a‘causeway’ here, electricity pylons andWorld War II pillboxes also clearly impacton the landscape.4.20 The Vale is cut from north to south by theM5 motorway and the A38, which break thegeneral east-west orientation of the historicriver/road/canal transport infrastructure. Thisis very apparent when viewed from the highground of the escarpment. The sound of themotorway can be heard from time to time.4.21 Mills punctuate the length of the conservationarea in the lower Frome valley, most ofwhich are, or have been, linked to thehistoric transport routes. The sense ofisolation of the mills and their originalsetting is largely preserved. This isparticularly evident when they are viewedfrom the water meadows, where, as atBond’s, Beard’s and Upper Mills, the millsare within sight of each other.4.22 The width of the valley and good transportlinks have allowed the mills to expand; the two‘supermills’, Ebley and Stanley, are clearlyvisible from the hills in Stroud, up to threemiles away.4.23 The topography has also allowedcommunities to grow up on the lower slopesof the shallow valley, many of them directlyrelated to the historic industrial landscape:canal settlements, such as Newtown, 19 thcentury roadside development, and millrelated buildings, including rows of workers’cottages.Analysis: the Conservation Area in its setting page 29