Exploring the national contexts and cultural ideas that preceded the Landscape Character Assessment method in England

Abstract

Countries ratifying the European Landscape Convention (ELC) agree to identify their landscapes, analyse their characteristics and assess the landscapes taking into account the values afforded them by the population. Some UK countries, such as England, are regarded as pioneers of these ideas and implementation of ELC principles even before it was drafted. Since the early 1990s, England (and Scotland) has been ahead of many countries in the development of methods for characterisation and identification of landscapes. However, such landscape assessment methods have been developed within a specific and distinctive historical context. This paper attempts to define the subtext of English landscape identity that may be ‘lost in translation’ or ignored when these methods are exported to other countries. The paper first outlines three major, interlinked aspects of ideas and societal development that have specifically affected development of landscape conservation and planning and landscape assessment methods in England, namely: (i) ideas from landscape conservation; (ii) countryside protection and planning in the early twentieth century; and (iii) institutionalisation and development of post-war planning and conservation practices. The paper also examines Landscape Character Assessment and discusses ways in which the national context may need to be considered when using this method.