West Ayton Agricultural Land Classification Survey: Detailed Soil Maps and Reports

West Ayton (North Yorks Minerals Local Plan) is a detailed Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) site survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. The dataset contains scanned original paper maps and survey reports for sites surveyed between 1989 and 1999, using the grading methodology from the "Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales" guidelines. It includes unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions for some surveys.

Use Cases

• Classifying agricultural land capability based on detailed soil survey data.
• Historical analysis of land use changes based on surveys from 1989-1999.
• Integrating soil pit descriptions and point data for regional land quality modeling.
• Supporting minerals local planning with detailed land classification maps.

Strengths

• Uses the established grading methodology from the "Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales" publication.
• Includes subdivision of Grade 3 into subgrades 3a and 3b for finer detail.
• Contains original survey materials like scanned maps and reports for individual sites.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Maps were created at varying scales from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000, which may affect consistency.

Provenance

Source

Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, via Natural England and the Government Digital Service.

Collection Method

Detailed site surveys involving soil mapping and analysis, conducted between 1989 and 1999.

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Freshness

null

Geography

West Ayton, North Yorkshire, England