Discovering Wiltshire's Historic Environment
Are you interested in the rich and diverse landscapes of Wiltshire but wondered what influences and activities have shaped them? Have you ever tried to identify traces of the historic in the present day? These questions and so much more can be answered by the use of the Wiltshire and Swindon Historic Landscape Characterisation Project dataset!

It could be useful for those:
• Producing neighbourhood plans or design statements
• Investigating their local parish, town or village
• Involved with planning or strategic decision making • Undertaking academic research for school, college or university
The project started in 2012 and ran until the end of 2016 and was sponsored by Wiltshire Council, Swindon Borough Council and Historic England. The actual data itself and was created by studying historic and modern maps, aerial photographs and archaeological data to build a complete record for Wiltshire and Swindon. But what exactly will be made available to you?
• The complete dataset of c.14,500 HLC records, covering every part of the county giving details about the present and past character and attributes of the landscape for each land parcel
• Maps of historic landscape character built from the records so patterns and distributions across parishes, districts and the whole county can be seen
• A comprehensive and easy to read report explaining how the project was carried out, the sources used and descriptions of the different landscape types out there
• Case studies showing how you can use HLC data to investigate historic towns, historic farms and places like the Avebury and Stonehenge World Heritage Site
It is also worth noting that we also intend to make the HLC project data available on the newly released Know Your Place West of England Project and through the Archaeology Data Service – so it really will be easy to get hold of and use as you might wish.
I hope that this brief article has whetted your appetite for exploring the historic dimension of Wiltshire’s landscape and that you check out our website in the near future. But if you have any questions then please do email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and you’re sure to get the assistance you need.
Tom Sunley
Wiltshire and Swindon Historic Environment Record Manager
- Tags: Archaeology Data Service, Avebury and Stonehenge World Heritage Site, Buildings at STEAM, Castle Combe, Historic England, Historic Environment Record, Know Your Place West of England Project, neighbourhood plans, Stratford Subcastle, Swindon Borough Council, Swindon Railway Village, Wiltshire, Wiltshire and Swindon Historic Landscape Characterisation Project, Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, Wiltshire Council