Carrickfergus Farmed Escarpment Geodiversity Profile

Key Characteristics

• Gently rolling landform on the margins of the basalt plateau.
• Narrow wooded glens.
• Small regular grid pattern of pasture defined by hedges which are generally gappy and poorly maintained.
• Scattered new houses.
• Numerous transmission lines and pylons.
• Hedgerow trees and Scots pines.
• Panoramic views over Belfast Lough and its northern and southern shores.

Landscape Description

This landscape forms a transition between the flat coastal fringe of the Carrickfergus Shoreline and the Carrickfergus Upland Pastures. It is a fairly narrow apron of undulating land which leads from the high pasture to the coastal plain. The Woodburn Glen cuts back into the slope, breaking the smooth slope profile. This is almost wholly pasture land with a grid of small regular fields enclosed by hedge boundaries and trees. Scot's pines are a characteristic feature in hedgerows on the steeper slopes. Although there is a strong rural character, new houses form an incongruous recent addition to the area, exhibiting a range of styles which bear little relation to the vernacular stone farmhouses.

The elevated views from this area are distinctive, overlooking the concentrated development along the northern shoreline and, beyond it, the expanse of Belfast Lough with its distant southern shoreline. The Kilroot Power Station stack at Carrickfergus forms a focus within its industrial setting, but the numerous transmission lines that extend from it encroach intrusively over the slopes and on to the upland pasture. The basalt scarps of Knockagh and Porg Hill also form notable elements within views.

Landscape Condition and Sensitivity to Change

The landscape has experienced significant encroachment from ad hoc housing; the boundary of coastal settlement is currently well contained south of the B90, but pressure on this is high. Hedges are not well managed and have generally become gappy and relatively untidy, in places leading to a decline in the distinctive small-scale pattern of pastures and hedgerows. However, much of the local farmland retains a rural character, with elevated seaward views. The escarpment slope is sensitive due to its prominent position within the landscape and the encroaching pressures from housing developments on the lower slopes. The gradual transition from the small-scale pastures on the lower slopes to the broader, more wooded landscape pattern on the ridgetop is particularly sensitive and constitutes an `Area of Scenic Quality'. This distinctive landscape pattern is important in visual terms as it conserves the integrity of the ridge as a strong feature in the landscape and provides an attractive setting for Carrickfergus and the other coastal towns. The Woodburn Glen is a sensitive feature within this context which is designated an ASSI, or Area of Special Scientific Interest.

Principles for Landscape Management

• The distinctive small-scale gridded field pattern on the lower escarpment slopes could be conserved by preventing enlargement of fields, dereliction of hedgerows and encroachment of built development.
• Afforestation of the slopes should be designed in such a way as to retain a large proportion of open space and to develop vistas for views over Belfast Lough.

Principles for Accommodating New Development

• The edges of recent development coulds be softened through additional planting and, wherever possible, by integration with the existing field pattern and hedgerow structure.
• Further development should be designed to fit with the existing landscape pattern and should avoid forming a solid horizontal line along the B90; encroachment of housing north of the B90 should be avoided.