Natural England - National Character Areas
National Character Areas
England has been divided into areas with similar landscape character, which are called National Character Areas (NCAs); previously known as Joint Character Areas (JCAs).
The Character of England Landscape, Wildlife and Cultural Features Map produced in 2005 (see map below) by Natural England’s with support from English Heritage, was an update to the 1996 map. This map subdivides England into 159 NCAs, it provides a picture of the differences in landscape character at the national scale.
A set of eight regional volumes were published describing the 159 NCAs. These character descriptions of each NCA highlight the influences which determine the character of the landscape, for example land cover and buildings and settlement; they can be downloaded from our website or ordered from our publications section.
The NCAs are a widely recognised national spatial framework, used for a range of applications. Examples include the targeting of Natural England's Environmental Stewardship scheme and the Countryside Quality Counts project.
It is important to remember that the boundaries of the NCAs are not precise and that many of the boundaries should be considered as broad zones of transition. NCAs form part of the data gathered for a Landscape Character Assessment (LCA).
LCAs provide more detailed descriptions at a local level within NCAs.
For further information please email Natural England enquiries or phone 0845 600 3078
National Character Areas map
