Data copyright © Historic England, Somerset County Council unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Chris
Webster
Somerset HER
Somerset Heritage Centre
Brunel Way
Taunton
TA2 6SF
The Somerset and Exmoor National Park Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) project is part of an English Heritage national scheme aimed at recognising the historic basis of the present-day countryside. The project carried out in Somerset and Exmoor National Park has adopted a methodology initially identifying the variety of field patterns in the present-day landscape from the modern OS map. Other information is also used, such as soil map, farm distribution, the Extensive Urban Survey of Somerset and the Sites and Monuments Record (SMR).
This approach has resulted in a large, map based, database which can be interrogated in a variety of ways to answer specific questions about the historic landscape. It also has the flexibility to allow incorporation of other data sources, such as topography and relict landscape information, which can help increase our understanding of how the rural historic environment has changed over thousands of years, producing what we see today in the modern landscape. The HLC is a powerful tool with which to analyse and research the historic landscape.