Oxfordshire Historic Landscape Characterisation, Early 21st Century

Oxfordshire's historic landscape was digitally mapped and characterized in a project running from 2012 to 2017. The project, funded by Historic England and hosted by Oxfordshire County Council, created polygon-based data recording landscape attributes, types, dates of origin, and associated monuments. This data represents the final completion of Historic England's national HLC programme coverage across England.

Use Cases

• Map historic landscape types based on polygon attributes and HLC Types.
• Analyze landscape evolution based on recorded dates of origin and previous landscape types.
• Inform conservation planning based on the recorded historic dimension of the current landscape.
• Conduct spatial analysis of cultural heritage based on associated monuments linked to polygons.

Strengths

• Project represents comprehensive HLC data coverage across England, as stated in the description.
• Data includes multiple attributes per polygon: dominant attributes, Broad and HLC Types, date of origin, and previous types.
• Methodology combined desk-based analysis of maps and aerial photographs with a field photographic survey.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The description notes accuracy depends on source content and advises users to verify information via other means.

Provenance

Source

Oxfordshire County Council, funded by Historic England.

Collection Method

Primarily desk-based using maps and aerial photographs, with field photography. Mapping in MapInfo GIS, database in HBSMR (Access).

Time Range

Project conducted from October 2012 to July 2017, characterizing the early 21st-century landscape.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:32:45.448645; freshness should be verified.

Geography

County of Oxfordshire, England.