Historic landscape characterisation is a programme initiated by
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
to increase understanding of the wider
designed landscape {{Unreferenced, date=April 2022
A designed landscape is an area of land which has been modified by people for primarily aesthetic effect. The term is used by historians to denote various types of site, such as gardens, parks, cemetery, cemeteries, a ...
, beyond that of the planned parkland of the
country estate
An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which would historically generate income for its owner.
British context
In the UK, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, and woods that s ...
. Similar programmes operate in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
, although different terminology is used. In
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
, since 2010, there is the PaHisCat program.
Description
Historic characterisation is described by the Council for British Archaeology as "a way of going beyond intuition to get beneath the skin of a place and look at its essential qualities and character." The historic landscape characterisation programme does not restrict itself to historic buildings, ornamental landscapes and purely "archaeological" features, but embraces other man made features such as hedges and managed woodland. It recognises that the landscape itself can be historic (in addition to historic features within it). Recognising the historic character of a landscape is intended to allow the landscape itself to be managed and protected within the
planning
Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...
regime operating in England. In most cases, characterisation is focused on an
English county, although in some cases it is applied to a region crossing county boundaries.
The programme is intended to:
* document the existing situation in a standardised way;
* identify gaps that merit investigation;
* enable participation in the process by local residents;
* provide information for bodies responsible for planning and land use.
The results are incorporated within a
geographical information system
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a ...
which allows maps to be prepared at the level of detail appropriate to the particular purpose. Types of landscape are characterised based on the way in which they were formed, their current and earlier land uses and their physical appearance.
Other than the landscape itself, the methodology is largely
desk based; sources include
aerial photographs
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography.
Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...
as well as current and historic maps. Since the landscape is not static, the characterisation will be updated periodically. Despite being a largely desk-based subject, some academics are keen to point out that this is not the most important way to understand the historic landscape. They emphasize the "social and experiential" nature of the landscape, and that historically, this is how the landscape would have been understood: in person. It is also important to bear in mind that the landscape, as W. G. Hoskins stated in the 1950s, at the birth of landscape history as a discipline, that the landscape is a palimpsest. HLC projects only display one layer at a time, and can be misleading without closer examination combined with some knowledge of landscape history.
Historic landscape characterisation has no statutory basis, however local planning authorities are required to "take account of the historical dimensions of the landscape as a whole". A good example of the advice of an HLC being ignored is that of the "West of Stevenage" building proposal; in which the HLC and other sources recommended that the proposal be turned down, it was granted by the then deputy prime minister, John Prescott.
However, the Isle of Axholme (Lincolnshire) was granted extra protection from development by the historic landscape characterisation project, so it can clearly be seen that some instances, or some authorities, use these projects and their advice more carefully than others.
Notes
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Town and country planning in England