The landscape of North Yorkshire, covering over 800,000 hectares, has a rich and diverse character. Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) is a powerful tool that contributes to our understanding of the historic landscape by moving our focus away from purely looking at archaeological sites. It places an emphasis on understanding how historic processes have contributed to the current landscape rather than reconstructing, for example, the medieval landscape of North Yorkshire.

Utilising the powerful functionality of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and working at county scale it is a rapid, detailed and effective way of understanding the historic landscape. The project utilises data sets such as Modern OS mastermap, historical 1st and 2nd edition OS mapping, modern vertical aerial photographs and ancient secondary natural woodland data.

One of the strengths is that HLC has at its heart the European Landscape Convention that states that landscape is "...an important part of the quality of life for people everywhere: in urban areas and in the countryside, in degraded areas as well as in areas of high quality, in areas recognised as being of outstanding beauty as well as everyday areas."

The North Yorkshire HLC project is being run in conjunction with English Heritage, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the North Yorks Moors National Park, City of York Council and Tees Archaeology.

Countryside You can find out more about countryside services by following this link.

Useful Downloads Historic Landscape Characterisation Newsletter Issue 1 (Autumn Winter 2007) [351kb] Newsletter of the Historic Landscape Characterisation Project Historic Landscape Characterisation Newsletter Issue 2 (Spring Summer 2008) [750kb] Newsletter of the Historic Landscape Characterisation Project   Weblinks Please note: All external websites open in a new browser window. North Yorkshire County Council is not responsible for the content of external websites. Tees Archaeology The website for Tees Archaeology, archaeology service for the four unitary local authorities of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. City of York Council Information on the City of York Council Archaeology Service. North Yorks Moors National Park Authority The online resource for information about the North Yorks Moors National Park Authority Archaeology Service. Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority Out of Oblivion Project. The website for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Archaeology service. English Heritage Characterisation website An online resource for information on Historic Landscape characterisation, putting it in its national context. Frequently asked questions How long is the HLC project? Where can I access the information? Contacts Archaeology archaeology@northyorks.gov.uk Tel: 0845 8 72 73 74 Full details for Archaeology