Natural England - 36. Southern Pennines

36. Southern Pennines

The key charcteristics of the Southern Pennines are:

• Large scale sweeping landform with an open character created by exposed gritstone moors at an altitude of 400-450m, deeply trenched by narrow valleys and wooded cloughs.

• Mosaic of mixed moorland and blanket bog with enclosed pasture of varying qualities at lower elevations, largely defined by drystone walls.

• Valuable wildlife habitats on the open moorland and the moorland fringe including semi-natural boggy mires, acid flashes and wooded cloughs.

• Reservoirs, common throughout the area.

• Densely populated valley bottoms with stone buildings extending along valley sides, set against the backdrop of the moorland tops.

• Gritstone towns centred around key features of industrial heritage such as textile mills and other industrial development mainly in the valleys but with a group of older settlements on the moorland fringe.

• Main road, rail and canal routes located along valley bottoms, with historic packhorse trails traversing the exposed moorland tops.

• Intrusive features, including windfarm developments, numerous transmission masts, overhead power lines and sandstone, gritstone and clay quarries, mainly on the fringe of the area.

• Extensive views from elevated locations in all directions.

For further details on this character area and for an introduction to the region, please see the PDF documents in the box at the top right hand side of this page.

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