In line with the process of assessment described in ‘An Approach to Landscape Character Assessment’, landscapes are divided into Landscape Character Areas (LCAs). LCAs are unique geographic areas with a generally consistent character and identity, although to avoid the definition of small LCAs on the fringes of the district some encompass localised variations.

The landscape classification identifies 8 LCAs, listed below. These are illustrated on The All LCAs interactive map, and their detailed profiles are available in the Landscape Character Assessment profiles page on this website.

• LCA 1: Upper Cherwell Basin
• LCA 2: Cherwell Valley
• LCA 3: Lower Cherwell Floodplain
• LCA 4: Ironstone Hills and Valleys
• LCA 5: Incised Ironstone Plateau
• LCA 6: Upper Heyford Plateau
• LCA 7: Oxfordshire Estate Farmlands
• LCA 8: Otmoor Lowlands.

It is important to note that boundaries between one LCA and the next are often transitional: there is rarely a clearcut change in character ‘on the ground’. This assessment has been mapped at a scale of 1:25,000 which provides an appropriate level of detail for the landscape character assessment at the strategic unitary authority scale.

 

Cherwell Landscape Character Areas - View the map full screen in a new tab

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Local level