Wantage Chain Hill: Agricultural Land Classification Survey Maps and Reports (1989-1999)

Post-1988 Agricultural Land Classification survey data for the Wantage Chain Hill site, collected between 1989 and 1999 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. It includes scanned original paper maps and survey reports, with land graded according to the official methodology, including subdivisions of Grade 3. The data is provided by the Government Digital Service and sourced from Natural England and Ordnance Survey.

Use Cases

• Mapping historical agricultural land quality based on the official grading methodology described in the survey reports.
• Analyzing soil characteristics and land capability using unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions where available.
• Comparing land classification detail across varying survey scales from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000.
• Studying changes in land use potential for specific sites surveyed in detail between 1989 and 1999.

Strengths

• Uses the official 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales' grading methodology, including the subdivision of Grade 3 into subgrades 3a and 3b.
• Includes original scanned maps and reports, providing primary source material for detailed site analysis.
• Contains unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions for some surveys, offering ground-truth details.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML projects.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified as the survey period ended in 1999.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Detailed site surveys conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with results compiled into paper maps and reports.

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Geography

Wantage, Chain Hill area in England.