dataset · England
National Character Areas (England)
There are 159 Character Areas, each of which is distinctive with a unique 'sense of place'. These broad divisions of landscape form the basic units of cohesive countryside character, on which strategies for both ecological and landscape issues can be based. The Character Area framework is used to describe and shape objectives for the countryside, its planning and management. Two new fields added January 2023: ALT - Agricultural Landscape Typology BLT - Broad Landscape Typology Attribution statem
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Licence: ["There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the licence identified.", "There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the
Evidence quality: 47
Listed in data.gov.uk public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- National Character Area boundaries (159 areas) · Agricultural Landscape Typology (ALT) field · Broad Landscape Typology (BLT) field
- Coverage docs-verified
- England
- Update frequency docs-verified
- not planned
- Formats docs-verified
- Shapefile (ZIP) · GeoPackage (ZIP) · GeoJSON (ZIP) · File Geodatabase (ZIP) · ArcGIS REST Feature Service · OGC API - Features · WMS · WFS · ArcGIS layer file (.lyr)
- Access docs-verified
- Free and open; no public access constraints; Open Government Licence v3.0; no authentication; Natural England and OS attribution required
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Look up the NCA containing a site for landscape context in FRA or planning reports · Attribute habitat and BNG baseline parcels to NCA and ALT/BLT landscape types · Provide landscape character baseline for LVIA and EIA scoping
- Audience llm-inferred
- GIS analysts · ecologists · planners · environmental consultants · landscape consultants
Limitations
- Constraints llm-inferred
- No update frequency planned; last revision 2023-01-15 · Broad landscape units, not site-scale character data · Attribution statement required (Natural England and Ordnance Survey) · England only
Evidence
- https://environment.data.gov.uk/api/file/download?fileDataSetId=f0323963-ef63-40e1-9c49-fcfc22e3748f&fileName=Data_Gov_UK_Metadata_National_Character_Areas_England.url
- https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/21104eeb-4a53-4e41-8ada-d2d442e416e0/national-character-areas-england1
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.