SECTION F: LAND-USE WITHIN 5m OF BANKTOP

Boxes are emboldened, so only a single entry per box (the predominant land-use) is permissible.


Broadleaf/mixed woodland (BL)

Woodland containing predominantly deciduous broadleaved trees. Does not include broadleaf/mixed plantations. Vegetation below trees (understorey) is usually mixed young trees/shrubs and/or mixed grasses/herbs.

Example of Broadleaf/Mixed Woodland

Broadleaf/mixed plantation (BP)

Plantation woodland containing deciduous broadleaved trees such as poplars planted in rows, or in similar regimented fashion. Include young plantations with just saplings.

Broadleaf/mixed plantation (BP) - Even though trees may be native willows, this is a plantation.


Coniferous woodland (CW) 

Native conifers, typically Caledonian forest in Scotland.  Excludes all coniferous plantations.Coniferous woodland are very rare in the UK, and are primarily found in Scotland.

Coniferous plantation (CP) - typically even-aged structure, and little or no vegetation below the trees 


Scrub & shrubs (SH)

Scrub (e.g. brambles, gorse, rhododendron) and woody shrubs (e.g. blackthorn and hawthorn).

Scrub & shrubs (SH) on horizon - multi- branched, short, woody vegetation.


Orchard (OR)

Horticultural crop of fruit trees planted in lines and carefully managed to produce fruit crops. Includes hop fields and vineyards.


Wetland (WL)

Includes bog, marsh, and fen. Fens typically have groundwater sustaining them as wetlands, with vegetation, often (but not exclusively) growing over peat, where the water-table is at, or just below, the surface. Water is derived from both rainfall and drainage of surrounding land. Some fens may have Sphagnum moss, but typically the vegetation is dominated by tall reeds, wetland herbs, sedges, and rushes. Bogs have vegetation growing on wet peat; the water source is direct rainfall, or in some cases, over-land flow during heavy rain events. Sphagnum moss is always present, often with bog cotton (Eriophorum). In locally drier areas heather (Calluna, Erica) may also be present, but never dominant.

Example of Wetland


Moorland/heath (MH)

Typical moorlands and heaths have heather (Calluna, Erica) present, even if not the dominant vegetation type. In some upland areas (e.g. Bodmin Moor), or lowland heath areas (e.g. the machair of the Outer Hebrides), the plant communities may be dominated by acid-tolerant grasses such as purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea). Cotton-grass (Eriophorum spp.) may occur in wetter areas, and in more free-draining areas may merge with heathy scrub with dwarf willow and birch (Salix, Betula) present. When the bog component within heathland is small, and heather is dominant, record wetland as ‘present’, and moorland/heath as ‘extensive’.

Example of Moorland/Heath


Artificial open water (AW)

Off-line artificial lakes, reservoirs, water-filled gravel pits, canals and the full range of amenity, farm and ‘conservation’ ponds. Natural lakes which have been modified by control structures are regarded as artificial. Includes mill streams, and artificial secondary channels which branch from, or join, the main watercourse. cRHS should not be undertaken on on-line lakes.

Example of Artificial Open Water


Natural open water (OW)

Wide range of types, including natural lakes and ponds surrounded by dry land, old ox-bows, backwaters, secondary channels and pools in floodplains.

Some natural lakes have impounding structures; if these are not clearly visible, record ‘OW’.


Example of Natural Open Water


Rough/unimproved grassland/pasture (RP)

Unimproved (i.e. not reseeded or fertilized) upland or lowland grassland. Usually herb-rich, and includes hay meadows. If ground is seasonally wet, tussocks of ‘coarse’ grass or rushes (e.g. Deschampsia cespitosa, Juncus effusus), can occur..

Example of Rough/Unimproved Grassland


Improved/semi-improved grassland (IG)

All agricultural grassland other than ‘RP’. Includes pasture/meadow grassland which has been re-seeded (typically with Lolium perenne – rye-grass) or artificially fertilised.


Example of Improved/Semi-improved Grassland


Tall herb/rank vegetation (TH)

Vegetation at least waist-high, dominated by herbs (not grasses or reeds, but includes bracken – Pteridium). ‘‘Wildlife areas’ where farmers have left the land on the inside of meanders uncultivated to grow ‘wild’ for conservation reasons are included.

Example of Tall Herb/Rank Vegetation


Rock, scree or sand dunes (RD) 

Collective category that includes extensive rock outcrops, mountain scree or sand dunes.

Example of Rock, Scree or Sand Dunes (in this case, Scree)


Suburban/urban development (SU)

Buildings, metalled roads, tracks, railways. Also includes land-fill sites.Where un-metalled tracks follow the banktop, the land-use in which they are located should be recorded, and not ‘SU’.

Example of Urban/Suburban Development

Tilled land (TL)

Agricultural land where crops grown on regularly ploughed soil. Includes root and horticultural crops and allotments.

Example of Tilled Land

Irrigated land (IL) 

Agricultural land dependent on irrigation for crop yield. In Britain this includes cress beds.

Example of Irrigated Land


Parkland or gardens (PG)

Includes parks, golf courses, public amenity spaces, sports fields and gardens. This includes a wide variety of land-uses, where grass is mown for recreational purposes. Do not confuse with agricultural land-use or improved grassland.

Example of Parkland/Gardens


Not visible (NV)

Self-explanatory. Only to be used if land-use is genuinely obscured (e.g. top of a gorge, behind a mature island, or beyond dense stands of tall trees on the far bank).