1.1 Background

The landscapes of Wales have been formed by natural processes and shaped by human activity. This human activity ranges from the prehistoric periods through to the modern age. To recognise the value of historic landscapes, and to raise awareness of their importance, Cadw, in partnership with the Countryside Council for Wales (now called Natural Resources Wales) and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS UK) has compiled a non-statutory Register of 58 landscapes of outstanding or special historic interest in Wales.

The Register of Historic Landscapes is a non-statutory, advisory register. Its primary aim is to provide information and raise awareness of an initial selection of the most important and significant historic landscape areas in Wales in order to aid their protection and conservation. This information is intended to help owners, Government, statutory bodies, Local Authorities, developers and all those who are involved with land management and protection to make better-informed decisions about areas on the Register. Planning Policy Wales sets out the general principles for the use of the Register in the planning process, stating that information on historic landscapes included in the Register should be taken into account by local planning authorities in preparing Local Development Plans, and in considering the implications of developments that are of such a scale that they would have more than local impact on an area on the Register.

1.2 Frequency of Update

The dataset has not required updating since the publication of the original Registers in 1998 and 2001.

1.3 Depictions

The Historic Landscape Character areas were digitised from the original hardcopy depictions taken from Registers that were created in 1998 and 2001. Care should be taken when using this data.

1.4 Use of Data

There are no use restrictions on this data. Recipients may re-use, reproduce, disseminate this data free of charge in any format or medium, provided they do so accurately, acknowledging both the source and copyright as specified (see below),, and do not use it in a misleading context. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose, that dissemination or publishing does not result in duplication, and that it is fairly interpreted. 

When using the above data under the Open Government Licence, please include the following attribution statement: -

Designated Historic Asset GIS Data, The Welsh Historic Environment Service (Cadw), DATE [the date that you received the data from Cadw], licensed under the Open Government Licence http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

1.5 Other Information

Further information regarding The Registered Landscapes of Outstanding and of Special Interest in Wales can be found on the Historic Environment Service (Cadw) website by following the link below:

Registered historic landscapes | Cadw (gov.wales)

The Designation description is available online via Cof Cymru – National Historic Assets of Wales by following the link below: -

Search Cadw records | Cadw (gov.wales)

General Advice

Interpretation advice should be sought where necessary. This information is checked periodically, however, if you would like to discuss the dataset, please contact the Historic Environment Service (Cadw).