The Shropshire Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) Project was undertaken by the former Shropshire County Council between 2001 and 2004, and a report on the technical aspects of the project was produced in 2007.
The project was funded by English Heritage and formed part of their national HLC Programme. It mapped the historic character of the county’s landscape using modern and historic editions of the Ordnance Survey maps, together with a limited but consistent range of additional sources. These were analysed in a Geographical Information System (GIS) and resulted in the definition of over 30,000 individual survey units and 58 different Historic Landscape Character Types.
The results help us to understand how the landscape of the county has changed and evolved over time. The report also details the way in which the emerging results were applied during the life of the project, helping to illustrate how HLC provides a vital starting point for those seeking to manage the direction of future landscape change.
In 2006 the former Shropshire County Council also combined the HLC with the Shropshire Landscape Character Assessment, resulting in the definition of the Shropshire Landscape Typology.