North Banbridge Hills Landscape

Key Characteristics

• Smooth, rounded hills, ridges and drumlins.
• Diverse landscape pattern with many contrasts in texture.
• Attractive field pattern with hedgerows often running down slopes and along ridgelines.
• Patches of marsh, wet pasture and damp woodland between hills.
• Mixed woodlands and small blocks of conifers.
• Settlement dispersed along ridgetop roads.
• Long views from ridgetops.
• Historic mill buildings are important local landmarks, particularly along the River Bann.

Landscape Description

The North Banbridge Hills is an area of elongated ridges and small rounded drumlins containing small valleys and areas of moss. It extends north and east from Banbridge to the edge of the Craigavon Plateau and the Donaghcloney Valley. The area is dissected by the A1 as it links Dromore and Banbridge. This is an area of smooth, rounded hills, and ridges, interspersed with drumlins. The hills are separated by narrow, winding valleys or wider lowlands, with patches of marsh and wet meadows dissected by drainage ditches. The long grass, rushes, and scrub in these areas provides a visual contrast to the smooth pastures on the upper slopes. The landscape pattern is diverse, with a mixture of pasture and arable farming. Fields are a range of shapes and sizes, but the landscape as a whole has a medium scale.

Most drumlins and hills are divided evenly into fields by dense hedgerows which produce a striking pattern of field boundaries. There are numerous hedgerow trees. Farmsteads and houses are generally sited on ridgelines or on the upper slopes of drumlins. Many are associated with shelter planting and there are small mixed woodlands scattered throughout the area. There are a number of agricultural service and industrial buildings along the principal routes. The steep valley of the River Bann, which forms the southern boundary of the area, has long been a focus for development; the chimneys and buildings of historic mills provide a sequence of landmarks along the valley. This valley is an attractive and characterful landscape feature in its own right, with clustered stone villages, historic churches and stands of mature trees.

Landscape Condition and Sensitivity to Change

The condition of the landscape varies; most hedgerows are intact, but the majority are also under-managed and mature hedgerow trees are in decline. This is a complex landscape for visual analysis as the viewpoint is constantly shifting. Opportunities to integrate development are provided by the varied drumlin landforms, enclosed field pattern and variety of vegetation cover. However, the ridges are sensitive, as are the slopes of the larger drumlins and the Bann Valley. The special character of the Upper Bann valley to the north west of Banbridge is threatened by ongoing pressures for linear development along the valley road. Most recent development is concentrated along the ridgeline roads and therefore tends to be prominent. Pylons also have considerable visual impact where they cross ridgelines.

Principles for Landscape Management

• The conservation of hedgerows and replacement of hedgerow trees will help to retain the distinctive and varied field pattern; priority should be given to hedgerow tree planting along ridgeline roads, to reduce the landscape sensitivity of these prominent and vulnerable sites.
• New woodland planting should be carefully designed to fit with the local landscape pattern and conifers should be integrated with broadleaf species to avoid hard, angular woodland edges; broadleaves should generally predominate on local skylines.

Principles for Accommodating New Development

• Large-scale development which has been sited following careful visual analysis and associated with extensive native planting will be more easily accommodated. In general, large-scale development should be restricted on upper slopes and local ridgelines, where it is likely to be prominent.
• Attractive views to the Bann valley will be conserved by restricting further development to the south of the A50 and by ensuring that peripheral development uses local building materials and is contained by new planting.
• Scattered residential development is often prominent in views from neighbouring hills; new development should be carefully sited and designed, taking account of views from a variety of angles.