Agricultural Land Classification detailed Post 1988 survey ALCC04889

England and Wales agricultural land survey data from detailed site inspections conducted between 1989 and 1999 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The dataset includes scanned original paper maps and reports, grading land quality from Grade 1 to 3, with Grade 3 subdivided into 3a and 3b. It is provided by Natural England and contains Ordnance Survey data.

Use Cases

• Classify historical agricultural land quality based on the detailed grading methodology described in the survey reports.
• Map soil and land capability for specific sites like Hinton in the Hedges, Rookery Farm using the scanned geospatial maps.
• Analyze soil characteristics for some sites using the unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions.

Strengths

• Data follows the established grading methodology from the 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales' publication.
• Includes subdivision of Grade 3 into subgrades 3a and 3b, providing finer detail for moderate quality land.
• Original survey materials like maps and reports are preserved, offering context for the classifications.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (survey), Natural England and Ordnance Survey (data provision).

Collection Method

Detailed site surveys with soil inspections, mapped at scales from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000.

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Freshness

Survey data is historical, collected between 1989 and 1999; last update date for the dataset is unknown.

Geography

Specific sites in England and Wales, including Hinton in the Hedges, Rookery Farm.