A National Character Area (NCA) is a natural subdivision of England based on a combination of landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity and economic activity. There are 159 National Character Areas and they follow natural, rather than administrative, boundaries. They are defined by Natural England, the UK government's advisors on the natural environment.
As part of its responsibilities in delivering the Natural Environment White Paper, Biodiversity 2020 and the European Landscape Convention, Natural England is revising its National Character Area profiles to make environmental evidence and information easily available to a wider audience. Revised profiles for all 159 NCAs were published in September 2014. The new NCAs are being published in a rolling program and can be found on the Natural England website.
NCAs are areas that share similar landscape characteristics, and which follow natural lines in the landscape rather than administrative boundaries, making them a good decision-making framework for the natural environment. National Character Area profiles are guidance documents which can help communities to inform their decision-making about the places that they live in and care for. The information they contain will support the planning of conservation initiatives at a landscape scale, inform the delivery of nature improvement areas and encourage broader partnership working through local nature partnerships. The profiles will also help to inform choices about how land is managed and can change.
Each profile includes a description of the natural and cultural features that shape our landscapes, how the landscape has changed over time, the current key drivers for ongoing change, and a broad analysis of each area's characteristics and ecosystem services. Statements of environmental opportunity (SEOs) are suggested, which draw on this integrated information. The SEOs offer guidance on the critical issues, which could help to achieve sustainable growth and a more secure environmental future.
NCA profiles are working documents which draw on current evidence and knowledge. Natural England aim to refresh and update them periodically as new information becomes available.
Natural England list the Natural Character Areas by regions. Because some overlap regional boundaries, they may be shown in more than one region.
1. North Northumberland Coastal Plain<br /> 2. Northumberland Sandstone Hills<br /> 3. Cheviot Fringe<br /> 4. Cheviots<br /> 5. Border Moors & Forests<br /> 10. North Pennines<br /> 11. Tyne Gap & Hadrian's Wall<br /> 12. Mid Northumberland<br /> 13. South East Northumberland Coastal Plain<br /> 14. Tyne & Wear Lowlands<br /> 15. Durham Magnesian Limestone Plateau<br /> 16. Durham Coalfield Pennine Fringe<br /> 22. Pennine Dales Fringe<br /> 23. Tees Lowlands<br /> 25. North York Moors and Cleveland Hills
5. Border Moors & Forests<br /> 6. Solway Basin<br /> 7. West Cumbria Coastal Plain<br /> 8. Cumbria High Fells<br /> 9. Eden Valley<br /> 10. North Pennines<br /> 11. Tyne Gap & Hadrian's Wall<br /> 17. Orton Fells<br /> 18. Howgill Fells<br /> 19. South Cumbria Low Fells<br /> 20. Morecambe Bay Limestones<br /> 21. Yorkshire Dales<br /> 31. Morecambe Coast & Lune Estuary<br /> 32. Lancashire & Amounderness Plain<br /> 33. Bowland Fringe & Pendle Hill<br /> 34. Bowland Fells<br /> 35. Lancashire Valleys<br /> 36. Southern Pennines<br /> 51. Dark Peak<br /> 53. South West Peak<br /> 54. Manchester Pennine Fringe<br /> 55. Manchester Conurbation<br /> 56. Lancashire Coal Measures<br /> 57. Sefton Coast<br /> 58. Merseyside Conurbation<br /> 59. Wirral<br /> 60. Mersey Valley<br /> 61. Shropshire, Cheshire & Staffordshire Plain<br /> 62. Cheshire Sandstone Ridge
10. North Pennines<br /> 21. Yorkshire Dales<br /> 22. Pennine Dales Fringe<br /> 23. Tees Lowlands<br /> 24. Vale of Mowbray<br /> 25. North Yorkshire Moors & Cleveland Hills<br /> 26. Vale of Pickering<br /> 27. Yorkshire Wolds<br /> 28. Vale of York<br /> 29. Howardian Hills<br /> 30. Southern Magnesian Limestone<br /> 33. Bowland Fringe & Pendle Hill<br /> 34. Bowland Fells<br /> 35. Lancashire Valleys<br /> 36. Southern Pennines<br /> 37. Yorkshire Southern Pennine Fringe<br /> 38. Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire & Yorkshire Coalfield<br /> 39. Humberhead Levels<br /> 40. Holderness<br /> 41. Humber Estuary<br /> 42. Lincolnshire Coast & Marshes<br /> 43. Lincolnshire Wolds<br /> 44. Central Lincolnshire Vale<br /> 45. Northern Lincolnshire Edge with Coversands<br /> 50. Derbyshire Peak Fringe & Lower Derwent<br /> 51. Dark Peak
30. Southern Magnesian Limestone<br /> 37. Yorkshire Southern Pennine Fringe<br /> 38. Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire & Yorkshire Coalfield<br /> 39. Humberhead Levels<br /> 42. Lincolnshire Coast & Marshes<br /> 43. Lincolnshire Wolds<br /> 44. Central Lincolnshire Vale<br /> 45. Northern Lincolnshire Edge with Coversands<br /> 46. The Fens<br /> 47. South Lincolnshire Edge<br /> 48. Trent & Belvoir Vales<br /> 49. Sherwood<br /> 50. Derbyshire Peak Fringe & Lower Derwent<br /> 51. Dark Peak<br /> 52. White Peak<br /> 53. South West Peak<br /> 54. Manchester Pennine Fringe<br /> 64. Potteries & Churnet Valley<br /> 68. Needwood & South Derbyshire Claylands<br /> 69. Trent Valley Washlands<br /> 70. Melbourne Parklands<br /> 71. Leicestershire & South Derbyshire Coalfield<br /> 72. Mease/Sence Lowlands<br /> 73. Charnwood<br /> 74. Leicestershire & Nottinghamshire Wolds<br /> 75. Kesteven Uplands<br /> 88. Bedfordshire & Cambridgeshire Claylands<br /> 89. Northamptonshire Vales<br /> 91. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge<br /> 92. Rockingham Forest<br /> 93. High Leicestershire<br /> 94. Leicestershire Vales<br /> 95. Northamptonshire Uplands<br /> 96. Dunsmore & Feldon<br /> 107. Cotswolds
52. White Peak<br /> 53. South West Peak<br /> 61. Shropshire & Staffordshire Plain<br /> 63. Oswestry Uplands<br /> 64. Potteries & Churnet Valley<br /> 65. Shropshire Hills<br /> 66. Mid Severn Sandstone Plateau<br /> 67. Cannock Chase & Cank Wood<br /> 68. Needwood & South Derbyshire Claylands<br /> 69. Trent Valley Washlands<br /> 70. Melbourne Parklands<br /> 72. Mease/Sence Lowlands<br /> 94. Leicestershire Vales<br /> 95. Northamptonshire Uplands<br /> 96. Dunsmore & Feldon<br /> 97. Arden<br /> 98. Clun & North West Herefordshire Hills<br /> 99. Black Mountains & Golden Valley<br /> 100. Herefordshire Lowlands<br /> 101. Herefordshire Plateau<br /> 102. Teme Valley<br /> 103. Malvern Hills<br /> 104. South Herefordshire & Over Severn<br /> 105. Forest of Dean & Lower Wye<br /> 106. Severn & Avon Vales<br /> 107. Cotswolds
46. The Fens<br /> 76. North West Norfolk<br /> 77. North Norfolk Coast<br /> 78. Central North Norfolk<br /> 79. North East Norfolk & Flegg<br /> 80. The Broads<br /> 81. Greater Thames Estuary<br /> 82. Suffolk Coast & Heaths<br /> 83. South Norfolk & High Suffolk Claylands<br /> 84. Mid Norfolk<br /> 85. The Brecks<br /> 86. South Suffolk & North Essex Clayland<br /> 87. East Anglian Chalk<br /> 88. Bedfordshire Claylands<br /> 89. Northamptonshire Vales<br /> 90. Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge<br /> 91. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge<br /> 92. Rockingham Forest<br /> 110. Chilterns<br /> 111. Northern Thames Basin<br /> 115. Thames Valley
81. Greater Thames Estuary<br /> 88. Bedfordshire Claylands<br /> 90. Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge<br /> 91. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge<br /> 95. Northamptonshire Uplands<br /> 107. Cotswolds<br /> 108. Upper Thames Clay Vales<br /> 109. Midvale Ridge<br /> 110. Chilterns<br /> 111. Northern Thames Basin<br /> 112. Inner London<br /> 113. North Kent Plain<br /> 114. Thames Basin Lowlands<br /> 115. Thames Valley<br /> 116. Berkshire and Marlborough Downs<br /> 119. North Downs<br /> 120. Wealden Greensand<br /> 121. Low Weald<br /> 122. High Weald<br /> 123. Romney Marshes<br /> 124. Pevensey Levels<br /> 125. South Downs<br /> 126. South Coast Plain<br /> 127. Isle of Wight<br /> 128. South Hampshire Lowlands<br /> 129. Thames Basin Heaths<br /> 130. Hampshire Downs<br /> 131. New Forest<br /> 132. Salisbury Plain & West Wiltshire Downs<br /> 134. Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase<br /> 135. Dorset Heaths
100. Herefordshire Lowlands<br /> 103. Malvern Hills<br /> 104. South Herefordshire and Over Severn<br /> 105. Forest of Dean and Lower Wye<br /> 106. Severn and Avon Vales<br /> 107. Cotswolds<br /> 108. Upper Thames Clay Vales<br /> 109. Midvale Ridge<br /> 116. Berkshire and Marlborough Downs<br /> 117. Avon Vales<br /> 118. Bristol, Avon Valleys and Ridges<br /> 129. Thames Basin Heaths<br /> 130. Hampshire Downs<br /> 131. New Forest<br /> 132. Salisbury Plain and West Wiltshire Downs<br /> 133. Blackmoor Vale and Vale of Wardour<br /> 134. Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase<br /> 135. Dorset Heaths<br /> 136. South Purbeck<br /> 137. Isle of Portland<br /> 138. Weymouth Lowlands<br /> 139. Marshwood and Powerstock Vales<br /> 140. Yeovil Scarplands<br /> 141. Mendip Hills<br /> 142. Somerset Levels and Moors<br /> 143. Mid Somerset Hills<br /> 144. Quantock Hills<br /> 145. Exmoor<br /> 146. Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes<br /> 147. Blackdowns<br /> 148. Devon Redlands<br /> 149. The Culm<br /> 150. Dartmoor<br /> 151. South Devon<br /> 152. Cornish Killas<br /> 153. Bodmin Moor<br /> 154. Hensbarrow<br /> 155. Carnmenellis<br /> 156. West Penwith<br /> 157. The Lizard<br /> 158. Isles of Scilly<br /> 159. Lundy