Fairy Water Valley Landscape

Key Characteristics

• Patchy mosaic of scrub, bog, peaty marsh and carr woodland on wide floodplain
• Remnant pastures with gorse hedges and stunted trees on the margins of marsh.
• Straight roads, which are often embanked across the floodplain.
• Conifer shelterbelts and broadleaf scrubby woodland on the margins of bog in elevated valleys.
• Occasional rundown smallholdings and many derelict buildings.
• Peat cutting

Landscape Description

The Fairy Water flows eastwards from the foot of Bolaght Mountain in West Tyrone to meet the Strule near Omagh. The Fairy Water Valley includes the broad, marshy valley of the Fairy Water and the undulating branching valley of the Drumquin River to the south. The village of Drumquin is on the banks of the Drumquin River in an exceptionally scenic valley landscape setting.

The Fairy Water Valley is an expanse of peaty marsh, which extends right across the valley floor. At a small-scale, the landform is hummocky and irregular. Fragmented remnants of the geometric patchwork of small pastures remain on the outer margins of the valley floor but the field pattern breaks down in poorly drained areas to form a random, irregular mosaic of peaty marsh and woodland. The mosaic is finely-grained, with patches of marsh, willow, alder and hawthorn relating closely to patterns of drainage within the valley. Former field boundaries - hedgerows and earthbanks - are sometimes visible on slightly elevated land within the floodplain. Many of the hedgerows contain clumps of gorse and wire fencing controls stock grazing on the edges of the marsh. Patches of woodland on the valley floor are a dense mixture of birch, willow and hawthorn. There are also areas infested with rushes and open patches of bog. The river and its many tributary streams, flows within gullies and branching channels on the valley floor. Small round loughs are found within the marsh, although they are often hidden from view by damp woodlands.

To the south, the Drumquin Valley has a flat valley floor and undulating valley slopes, with a small-scale, irregular patchwork of pastures. It is on the margins of the drumlin lowlands and the rounded landforms reflect this influence. Fields are enclosed by a mixture of hedgerows and stone walls. The landscape in the valley and on the upland margins has numerous hedgerow trees, as well as copses and more extensive woodlands. Settlement is sparse in the Fairy Water Valley and there are derelict cottages on some edges of the marsh, surrounded by the remnants of small pastures. There are few roads. The village of Drumquin is on the edge of the drumlin lowlands and has developed at a river crossing. The surrounding valley has scattered farmsteads and many narrow, branching roads.

Landscape Condition and Sensitivity to Change

The Fairy Water Valley is an inaccessible waterlogged landscape, in a very poor condition. It has been left unmanaged, with only remnants of pastures on the outer margins. Small cottages and former field boundaries have been left to fall into a state of advanced decay and are gradually disappearing. The area is unlikely to be under pressure for new built development or commercial forestry. The Drumquin Valley is an attractive and deeply rural landscape, which seems fairly remote and hidden from the rest of the drumlin lowlands by the summit of Pollnaght. The pastures and stone walls are vulnerable to changes, such as forestry or built development, which might dominate the small-scale landscape pattern. However, there is relatively little evidence of major pressure for change.

Principles for Landscape Management

• Monitoring and maintenance of water tables within the bogs and associated wetlands and management in accordance with the ASSI Schedules will conserve the diversity of species within these valuable habitats.
• The restoration and on-going management of stone walls will ensure the conservation of these important local landscape features.

Principles for Accommodating New Development

• In the Drumquin Valley, built development would be prominent and potentially intrusive if it is allowed to form a continuous line along the margins to the flat valley floor; lines of development could block views across the valley and detract from the clustered settlement form of Drumquin.
• Development on the outer margins of the Fairy Water Valley would detract from the remote, wild character of the waterlogged land.