Historic Land Use Assessment

As you travel through the countryside the landscape you see is changing and being adapted all the time. Some changes are slow and invisible to the eye, such as woodland growth, but others are quick and radical, such as new housing schemes. If you examine the landscape you can pick out these differences.

The Historic Landuse Assessment (HLA) project's digital map shows the extent of the changes that have occurred, from 20th century forestry plantations to medieval field systems. But HLA records more than that. Sometimes within the current landscape we can see the traces of previous landuse. This could be a Roman Fort or the remains of old coal mining, which have also left their mark upon the landscape.

Through the medium of the HLA map we can show where there are important landscapes and inform the public of their locations.

To view the data online and for further details of the project, go to the HLA Map Portal.