Aerial Photos of Rowlands Castle
Introduction
In its periodical Magazine, the RCA aptly calls Rowlands Castle: ‘Village and Valley’. This aptly describes the two dominant characteristics of the area. The aerial photos of Rowlands Castle offer a perspective of both Village and Valley which not only highlights some of its local characteristics – buildings, open spaces and woodlands – but also allows it to be viewed in a wider context in relation to the foothills of the South Downs in the north, and to Portsmouth, The Solent and Isle of Wight to the south.
This display commences from the The Green– a listed ‘Conservation Area’ and centre of Village. It then looks southwards, before moving northwards up the Lavant valley.
One striking aspect is the surprisingly green and wooded character of the area, including among the houses themselves. This relates both to the ancient Forest of Bere – on clays and gravels – which once extended westward almost a far as Winchester (a sort of hunting forest for Portsmouth, as the New Forest remains for Southampton). On the chalklands to the north, there are arable fields, usually laced with flints, with low valleys of the East and West Lavants, passing through gently rolling hills. The topographical and geographical nature of the area is described in more detail in the Rowlands Castle Local Landscape Character Assessment published in 2012.
(Editorial: the photos were taken from a drone flying between 20 and 80 metres above the ground. Drones are not permitted above 120 metres or 400 feet, and use a barometer for assessing height)
(Editorial: Click to scroll through all the images and enlarge them. June 2020)
The Green with occasional balloons
The Green a ‘Conservation Area’
Railway Station – built in 1865
The Green with Lavant Valley to east
The Recreation Ground looking west
The Recreation Ground looking south, across The Green, towards Stansted
The Recreation Ground, looking westward across to the Golf Course
Sunrise from over The Recreation Ground, looking east
Looking across Glendale and the railway, to brickworks site with building work started on ‘The Glade’. Right side with trees on part of the castle mound
Lavant flooding downstream, south below Glendale
Looking north along the valley of The Lavant, straightened into a ditch, towards Dean Lane End Parallel with Finchdean Road and the railway
Looking north up valley, Lavant flowing
Sunrise looking east along the Main Avenue towards Stansted House
Looking south over Village, along the Sussex Border path, over Wellswood Farm with the Solent and Isle of Wight in the distance
Dean Lane End (West Sussex) from the west, built for workers for Canning’s Iron Foundry
The hamlet of Finchdean from the west, note chimney of the former Iron Foundry and industrial area
St Hubert’s Saxon Chapel, Old Idsworth, up the East Lavant from Finchdean
St Hubert’s Chapel in the winter
East Lavant flowing below St Hubert’s
Further up the valley into the Downs, east from near Chalton railway bridge
Top of the East Lavant valley looking east, with defunct chalk quarry (scraped for agricultural chalk)