Situated between the valleys of the Exe and the Culm, this is an area of quiet, peaceful countryside, largely undisturbed by the roads and settlements on its periphery. Its steeply undulating hills and serene valleys have seen relatively few modern changes. Sunken lanes and tracks, a colourful patchwork of hedged fields, and numerous historic farmsteads remain a part of the fabric of today’s landscape, giving the area a strong sense of changelessness and time-depth, despite its proximity to Exeter. The red soils and sandstone buildings give the area a colourful and warm quality which is enhanced by the deciduous trees in hedgerows and alongside streams.
This area runs north-south and contains the middle reaches of the River Exe, extending westward to include the lower parts of two of its tributaries. To the west is the higher land of the Cruwys Morchard Wooded and Farmed Valleys; and to the east the higher land of the Bampton and Beer Downs and the Cullompton Rolling Farmland. To the south is a more gradual transition from the wider Exe Valley floor into the Yeo, Culm and Exe Lowlands. To the north is the county boundary with Somerset, although the character of the Exe Valley continues beyond it.
https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/east-devon-area/mid-devon-area/cullompton-rolling-farmland
https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/planning-policies/landscape/devon-character-areas
Planning Strategy
To protect and enhance the landscape’s locally important scenic quality and its undeveloped rural character. Farmland is well managed, with thriving hedgerows and woodlands. The biodiversity of the area is increased and its resilience to climate change strengthened. The area’s historic field patterns, roads, tracks and buildings are protected, and any new development (including in settlements on its periphery) is sensitively designed and sited.
