Landscape Character Menu
List of Figures
List of Photographs
1 Introduction
1.1 The Scope and Context for this Study
1.2 Purpose of the Landscape Character Assessment
1.3 Approach and Methodology
1.4 Structure of the Report
2 The Evolution of Lancashire
2.1 Physical Influences
2.2 Human Influences
3 Lancashire's Landscape Character
3.1 Moorland Plateaux
3.2 Moorland Hills
3.3 Enclosed Uplands
3.4 Moorland Fringe
3.5 Undulating Lowland Farmland
3.6 Industrial Foothills and Valleys
3.7 Farmed Ridges
3.8 Settled Valleys
3.9 Reservoir Valleys
3.10 Wooded Rural Valleys
3.11 Valley Floodplains
3.12 Low Coastal Drumlins
3.13 Drumlin Field
3.14 Rolling Upland Farmland
3.15 Coastal Plain
3.16 Mosslands
3.17 Enclosed Coastal Marsh
3.18 Open Coastal Marsh
3.19 Coastal Dunes
3.20 Wooded Limestone Hills and Pavements
3.21 Limestone Fells
4 Lancashire's Urban Landscape Types
4.1 Historic Core (1100-1800)
4.2 Industrial Age (1800-1930)
4.3 Suburban (1930 onwards)
A Landscape Strategy for Lancashire - Landscape Character Assessment
Coastal Dunes
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Coastal Dunes Character Areas 19a Fylde Coast Dunes |
Landscape Character
The Coastal Dunes occur between the sea and farmland or urban land which lies inland. The landform varies from the natural form of the hummocky dunes at St Annes to more modified areas, some of which have been levelled and are now managed as amenity grassland. The dunes are located in open and exposed sites with sea views and dominant skies. They comprise small remnants of a once extensive system in a narrow discontinuous band sandwiched between the built coastal development and the sea wall or promenade. Their extent is determined and substantially reduced by the surrounding Victorian streets, car parks, tourist accommodation and golf courses. The vegetation is dominated by semi-natural grassland which is sometimes grazed. Access is by a winding, undulating network of minor paths or from the seafront promenades. Modern buildings and car parks, set within the dunes, are often linked to tourism development and are incongruous elements against the wild scenery.
Typical view photo 35:
Sand Dunes at Lytham St. Annes
Physical Influences
Coastal Dunes were once extensive along the Fylde coast, although holiday resort development has encroached and the landscape type is now limited to short stretches between Lytham and St. Annes and Fleetwood The most important remnant is the Starr Hills SSSI Local Nature Reserve at St Annes.
The dunes formed behind wide sandy beaches which dried out at low tide allowing sand grains to be blown inland by the wind. Sand dunes show a characteristic sequence of zonation which is determined by their position in relation to the shore, mobility and age. Mobile or yellow dunes are succeeded inland by a band of grey dunes which accumulate organic matter. These fixed dunes are severely truncated by development although remnants survive, for example at Lytham golf course. The mobile dunes are an important local refuge for species such as marram grass, sea bindweed, bloody cranes - bill and burnet rose.
The grey dunes have a richer assemblage of plants including sand sedge, sheeps fescue, thyme, wild pansy and ladys bedstraw, although the degraded and limited scale of the dunes limits the species diversity. Dune heath dominated by heather is restricted to Lytham golf course.
Human Influences
The dunes may cover evidence of ancient habitation or trackways to the shoreline and there is some evidence of historic human activity in the inter-tidal areas. The dunes themselves show no signs of habitation although hunting or trapping of rabbits and other vertebrates may have occurred on them.
In the past large quantities of sand were extracted for built development. Erosion of the remaining areas has been accelerated by unmanaged recreational use. Only in the Starr Hills Local Nature Reserve is there a programme of active management.
CHARACTER AREAS - COASTAL DUNES
The Fylde Coast Dunes are a series of small remnants representing the Coastal Dunes landscape type in the study area.