Agricultural Land Classification Survey: Bishop Auckland Farnley Hill

County Durham in England is covered by detailed agricultural land classification surveys conducted between 1989 and 1999. The data includes scanned original paper maps and survey reports, with soil grading following the methodology described in 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales'. Unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions are available for some surveys.

Use Cases

• Assess agricultural land capability based on detailed soil grading methodology.
• Analyze land use suitability for planning based on scanned survey maps and reports.
• Study soil characteristics and subgrade variations using available sample point and pit description data.

Strengths

• Survey data uses the current grading methodology as described in the official classification document.
• Grade 3 subdivisions (3a and 3b) are mapped, providing finer detail.
• Original scanned maps and reports provide a historical record of the survey.

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 temporal bias inherent to surveys conducted between 1989 and 1999.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Detailed site surveys conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food.

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Geography

Bishop Auckland, Farnley Hill, County Durham, England