Camowen Valley Landscape

Key Characteristics

• Broad, shallow valley with winding rivers and numerous branching streams
• Glacial moraine, deposited within the valley, has produced an undulating, complex landform
• Patchy large-scale mosaic of peaty marsh, conifer plantations and pasture
• Extensive bog, marsh and scrubby birch/willow woodland in low-lying areas throughout the local area
• Conifer plantations with straight, angular shapes on shallow slopes
• Small pastures with scrubby hedgerows on more elevated land
• Narrow lanes form an unconnected, sparse network; routes are winding on undulating land and straight, often embanked across marshes, farms and smallholdings confined to elevated, undulating land

Landscape Description

The broad valley of the Camowen River and its tributaries lies to the south of Mullaghcarn and to the west of the granite outcrop of Cregganconroe. Much of the valley is underlain by sandstones, minor outcrops of granite and Quartz Porphyry where rounded deposits of glacial moraine form minor ridges within the lowland. The valley is enclosed, to the north and east, by higher land which provides an overall sense of containment. The crinkly silhouettes of the granite outcrops of Cregganmore are a local landmark.

The landscape is a complex, patchy mosaic of conifer plantations, marsh and pastures. There are numerous branching streams and peaty marsh extends across the low-lying parts of the valley floor. There are extensive conifer plantations on the shallow slopes just above the marsh and pastures on the ridges of glacial moraine. Small-holdings and farms are confined to these shallow ridges. The landscape pattern varies in scale, according to the landform. Parts of the valley with a more undulating character, such as the Drumnakilly area, have a higher proportion of pasture, while conifer plantations and marsh predominate in the flatter, low-lying areas to the south. The landscape resembles a complex maze, and has a disorientating, enclosed character.

Areas of marsh are a finely-grained, irregular mosaic of bog, water, rushes, scrub and carr woodland. The conifer plantations, by contrast, have straight edges and blocky, angular shapes. Most of the pastures are small and rectangular, they tend to fit with the landform and those on steeper slopes may have irregular shapes. There are typically straight roads along the margins of the valley and across the marshes but the lanes linking the farms and hamlets are tortuous. Roads crossing the low-lying marshes and streams are raised on embankments. In low-lying areas, many of the lanes end in dead ends as there are relatively few river crossing points.

Landscape Condition and Sensitivity to Change

Extensive areas of marsh within the valley are unfarmed and much of the remaining area is devoted to commercial forestry. The nutrient status of the soils is generally low and most of the pastures are poor quality farmland. Many are badly drained and infested with rushes. There are few complete hedgerows and the landscape tends to have a scruffy character.

The land tends to be in better condition on the margins of the valley and in areas where a more undulating landform means that the soils are well-drained. The extensive woodland and undulating landform suggests that this landscape could accommodate further built development. Pressures for change are most likely to stem from commercial forestry and perhaps from sand and gravel quarrying on the ridges of glacial moraine.

Principles for Landscape Management

• The extensive wet woodlands in low-lying parts of the valley are of ecological importance and merit conservation
• Conifer woodlands are appropriate and may enhance the characteristic mosaic pattern of the valley landscape provided they are not too extensive and do not block views; they should be designed to add to local landscape diversity rather than smother it

Principles for Accommodating New Development

• Small dwellings are characteristic of the area and large, two storey houses are inappropriate in this relatively 'wild' landscape setting
• New development should always complement and extend the existing landscape pattern and in particular should contribute to the extension and reinforcement of existing hedgerows, many of which are in a poor state of repair