Post-1988 Agricultural Land Classification Survey Maps and Reports

England and Wales agricultural land surveys conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food between 1989 and 1999. The dataset includes scanned original paper maps and survey reports for individual sites, with soil grades subdivided into subgrades 3a and 3b. Natural England provides the data, which also contains Ordnance Survey and Crown copyright information.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical agricultural land quality based on detailed soil grade classifications.
• Map land-use suitability for planning purposes based on scanned survey maps.
• Study soil characteristics and variability based on available unedited sample point soils data and pit descriptions.

Strengths

• Survey data uses the current grading methodology as described in the official 'Agricultural Land Classification of England and Wales' publication.
• Individual sites have been mapped at varying scales and levels of detail, ranging from 1:5,000 to 1:50,000.
• Some surveys include unedited sample point soils data and soil pit descriptions.

Limitations

• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service, Natural England, Ordnance Survey

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1989 to 1999

Geography

England and Wales, specific to surveyed sites like Morely, Street Farm