Agricultural Land Classification Survey: Barling Marsh Site

Barling Marsh in England is the site for this Post-1988 Agricultural Land Classification survey. The dataset likely contains scanned original paper maps, survey reports, and unedited soil data from detailed site surveys conducted between 1989 and 1999 by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. It uses the grading methodology from the official classification system and includes subdivisions of Grade 3 land.

Use Cases

• Assess agricultural land quality based on the detailed grading methodology described in the survey reports.
• Map land use suitability for farming based on the classified grades, including subgrades 3a and 3b.
• Analyze soil characteristics for specific sites using the available unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions.
• Compare historical land classification from the 1989-1999 period with contemporary data.

Strengths

• Survey data is based on the official 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales' methodology.
• Includes subdivision of Grade 3 land into subgrades 3a and 3b, providing finer detail.
• Original scanned maps and reports are available, preserving the primary survey materials.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the single site survey.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service / Natural England

Collection Method

Detailed site surveys by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, with scanned original documents.

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Geography

Barling Marsh, England