MAGIC – Interactive environmental map – comprehensive environmental mapping of England, Scotland, Wales and surrounding marine areas, providing information from the project partners:

• Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
• English Heritage
• Natural England
• Environment Agency
• Forestry Commission
• Communities and Local Government

The interactive web-based map displays a wide variety of environmental data across a range of scales. Data includes:

• Agricultural Land Classification (England)
• Classified Bivalve Mollusc Harvesting Areas (England and Wales)
• Environmentally Sensitive Areas (England)
• Joint Character Areas (England)
• Land Management Initiatives (England)
• Less Favoured Areas (England)
• Organic Farming Scheme (England)

Natural England – Joint character area landscape descriptions – Natural England has divided England into 159 “joint character areas” (JCAs), each an area of characteristic landscape. A detailed report (pdf) on each area is available to download free of charge.

The JCAs are superb introductions to detailed landscape areas of England, covering not just the farmed landscape, but also the coastal fringe, wilderness and even urban areas. There’s no better comprehensive introduction to the distinctive countryside and cityscapes of England.

Each report details:

• Key characteristics
• Landscape character
• Map of the area
• Physical influences
• Historical and cultural influences
• Buildings and settlement
• Land cover
• The changing countryside
• Shaping the future
• Selected references
• Glossary

JCAs include (a more or less random selection) South Norfolk and High Suffolk Claylands; Morecambe Bay Limestones; Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire Plain; Somerset Levels and Moors; Thames Basin Lowlands; Lincolnshire Coast and Marshes; Northumberland Sandstone Hills; and 152 other distinctive areas of the English landscape.