ALCR04892: Post-1988 Agricultural Land Classification Survey for Witney

Witney, South of the A40 in England, is the geographic focus of this detailed agricultural land survey. The dataset contains scanned original paper maps and reports from site surveys conducted between 1989 and 1999 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. It uses the grading methodology from the 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales' report and includes soil data and pit descriptions for some sites.

Use Cases

• Classifying agricultural land capability based on the detailed grading methodology described in the survey reports.
• Analyzing soil quality variations using the unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions.
• Mapping land use suitability for planning purposes based on the scanned original maps at scales from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000.
• Studying historical land classification trends for a specific region based on surveys from the 1989-1999 period.

Strengths

• Provides detailed land classification, subdividing Grade 3 into subgrades 3a and 3b.
• Includes original scanned maps and reports, preserving historical survey detail.
• Surveys were conducted using a defined national methodology ('Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales').

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 (MAFF), now Natural England.

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Freshness

null

Geography

Witney, South of the A40, England