Landscape Character Assessment in Scotland – Landscape Evolution and Influences

Past interactions between physical and human influences have created the landscapes of Scotland.

Information on how Scotland’s landscapes evolved was included in most of the 1990s Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) reports. These “Background Chapters” are regarded as helpful by many users, so they have now been revised and added to the revised LCA dataset.

The chapters varied considerably between the reports, so they been restructured into a more standard format: Each report covers the physical and human influences on the landscape, and most include cultural aspects. Some content variation still remains as the documents have been reviewed rather than rewritten.

The work has been undertaken with input from the relevant local authorities. The historic and cultural aspects have been reviewed and updated by Historic Environment Scotland. Gaps in information have been filled where possible. Some reports have been combined where the original LCA study area was very small.

There are 22 reports, which can be viewed from the following links.