Weather disruption
Winter weather is causing disruption to services in some parts of the county. Find out what services may be affected in your area.
Winter weather is causing disruption to services in some parts of the county. Find out what services may be affected in your area.
The Clay Valley landscape type is found in two locations on the Isle of Purbeck; in the Corfe valley and in the sweeping landscapes of the Kimmeridge Coast. It is also found in the broad Bride Valley east of Burton Bradstock.
Each of the three areas of the Clay Valley landscape type has its own unique identity. The surrounding dramatic escarpments and ridges enclose and define these valley landscapes with the Purbeck chalk ridge in particular forming an imposing backdrop to the Corfe valley. The areas generally have a settled rural character with an intimate secluded feel in places and nearer the coast a more windswept, remote and exposed character. There are some dramatic and distinctive coastal landmarks and features. The patchwork of generally small scale rolling pastures, dense hedgerows, scattered woodlands and scrub on steeper slopes, have been shaped by centuries of woodland clearance and agricultural improvement. There are occasional small wet woods and springs and flushes on the valley floors with larger woods on the valley sides and from the elevated areas glimpses of the sea. The winding rural lanes have mixed boundaries including old stonewalls and hedgebanks with the stone walls more noticeable nearer the Purbeck plateau. The small farmsteads and nucleated picturesque villages such as at Swyre, Puncknowle, Litton Cheney and Burton Bradstock are often hidden and dotted throughout the landscape. The church towers at Steeple, Church Knowle and Kingston are particularly prominent landscape features with the views over the valley to Corfe Castle from Kingston being one of the distinctive panoramas in the area. The hard western edges of Swanage and to a lesser extent the eastern edges of Bridport, detract from the character of the area. The popular and distinctive ruined castle and village at Corfe Castle, the historic folly of Clavell’s Tower and the prominent landmarks of Swyre Head and Worbarrow Tout are all key landmarks in the area. Several of the planned parkland landscapes across the area are also key features.
The overall management objective for the Clay Valley Landscape Type is to conserve and restore the intimate patterns of grasslands, woodlands, field boundaries and nucleated settlements.