Colne Valley Park Historic Landscape Characterisation
Buckinghamshire County Council, Groundwork Thames Valley, 2007. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000019. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Buckinghamshire County Council, Groundwork Thames Valley unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Alexander (Sandy)
Kidd
County Archaeologist
Buckinghamshire County Council
Environmental Services
County Hall
Aylesbury
HP20 1UY
England
Tel: 01296 382927
Fax: 01296 382823
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 755
- ALSF Project Number: 4831
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000019
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
The Colne Valley Park Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) project was carried out by Buckinghamshire County Council and Groundwork Trust of the Colne Valley Regional Park and was funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund as disbursed by English Heritage.
The project complements the county HLC databases maintained by Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Surrey County Councils. As well as providing a detailed and cohesive historic landscape characterisation for the Park, this database includes additional information on historic farmsteads and estates, boundaries, routeways and waterways. The report provides a detailed summary of this database focussing on the impact of aggregates extraction and settlement expansion in the twentieth century.
The Colne Valley Park HLC highlights areas of significant twentieth century development including large areas of flooded mineral extraction sites, reservoirs and early twentieth century settlement zones. Distinctive historic characteristics of the present day Colne Valley Park include the following:
- A rich archaeological heritage spanning more than tn thousand years. Several nationally important prehistoric sites are recorded in and around the Colne Valley Park such as Three Ways Wharf, Uxbridge and Yeoveney Lodge, Spelthorne.
- Series of flooded mineral extraction sites running from Batchworth Lake in Three Rivers, Herts to Denham Quarries, near Denham the majority of which are used for recreation and are recognised for their wildlife interest under a number of designation from SSSI's to local or county wildlife sites.
- Four large reservoirs in the south of the Colne Valley Park also functioning as recreational areas. The reservoirs are also protected by several designations including Special Protection Areas for three of the four with Wraysbury reservoir listed as a local or county wildlife site.
- Several nationally important registered historic parks now open to the public including Langley Park and Denham Country Park.
