# National Character Area

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.

## NCA profiles

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.

## NCAs by region

Natural England list the Natural Character Areas by regions. Because some overlap regional boundaries, they may be shown in more than one region.

### North East

1. North Northumberland Coastal Plain 2. Northumberland Sandstone Hills 3. Cheviot Fringe 4. Cheviots 5. Border Moors & Forests 10. North Pennines 11. Tyne Gap & Hadrian's Wall 12. Mid Northumberland 13. South East Northumberland Coastal Plain 14. Tyne & Wear Lowlands 15. Durham Magnesian Limestone Plateau 16. Durham Coalfield Pennine Fringe 22. Pennine Dales Fringe 23. Tees Lowlands 25. North York Moors and Cleveland Hills

### North West

5. Border Moors & Forests 6. Solway Basin 7. West Cumbria Coastal Plain 8. Cumbria High Fells 9. Eden Valley 10. North Pennines 11. Tyne Gap & Hadrian's Wall 17. Orton Fells 18. Howgill Fells 19. South Cumbria Low Fells 20. Morecambe Bay Limestones 21. Yorkshire Dales 31. Morecambe Coast & Lune Estuary 32. Lancashire & Amounderness Plain 33. Bowland Fringe & Pendle Hill 34. Bowland Fells 35. Lancashire Valleys 36. Southern Pennines 51. Dark Peak 53. South West Peak 54. Manchester Pennine Fringe 55. Manchester Conurbation 56. Lancashire Coal Measures 57. Sefton Coast 58. Merseyside Conurbation 59. Wirral 60. Mersey Valley 61. Shropshire, Cheshire & Staffordshire Plain 62. Cheshire Sandstone Ridge

### Yorkshire and the Humber

10. North Pennines 21. Yorkshire Dales 22. Pennine Dales Fringe 23. Tees Lowlands 24. Vale of Mowbray 25. North Yorkshire Moors & Cleveland Hills 26. Vale of Pickering 27. Yorkshire Wolds 28. Vale of York 29. Howardian Hills 30. Southern Magnesian Limestone 33. Bowland Fringe & Pendle Hill 34. Bowland Fells 35. Lancashire Valleys 36. Southern Pennines 37. Yorkshire Southern Pennine Fringe 38. Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire & Yorkshire Coalfield 39. Humberhead Levels 40. Holderness 41. Humber Estuary 42. Lincolnshire Coast & Marshes 43. Lincolnshire Wolds 44. Central Lincolnshire Vale 45. Northern Lincolnshire Edge with Coversands 50. Derbyshire Peak Fringe & Lower Derwent 51. Dark Peak

### East Midlands

30. Southern Magnesian Limestone 37. Yorkshire Southern Pennine Fringe 38. Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire & Yorkshire Coalfield 39. Humberhead Levels 42. Lincolnshire Coast & Marshes 43. Lincolnshire Wolds 44. Central Lincolnshire Vale 45. Northern Lincolnshire Edge with Coversands 46. The Fens 47. South Lincolnshire Edge 48. Trent & Belvoir Vales 49. Sherwood 50. Derbyshire Peak Fringe & Lower Derwent 51. Dark Peak 52. White Peak 53. South West Peak 54. Manchester Pennine Fringe 64. Potteries & Churnet Valley 68. Needwood & South Derbyshire Claylands 69. Trent Valley Washlands 70. Melbourne Parklands 71. Leicestershire & South Derbyshire Coalfield 72. Mease/Sence Lowlands 73. Charnwood 74. Leicestershire & Nottinghamshire Wolds 75. Kesteven Uplands 88. Bedfordshire & Cambridgeshire Claylands 89. Northamptonshire Vales 91. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge 92. Rockingham Forest 93. High Leicestershire 94. Leicestershire Vales 95. Northamptonshire Uplands 96. Dunsmore & Feldon 107. Cotswolds

### West Midlands

52. White Peak 53. South West Peak 61. Shropshire & Staffordshire Plain 63. Oswestry Uplands 64. Potteries & Churnet Valley 65. Shropshire Hills 66. Mid Severn Sandstone Plateau 67. Cannock Chase & Cank Wood 68. Needwood & South Derbyshire Claylands 69. Trent Valley Washlands 70. Melbourne Parklands 72. Mease/Sence Lowlands 94. Leicestershire Vales 95. Northamptonshire Uplands 96. Dunsmore & Feldon 97. Arden 98. Clun & North West Herefordshire Hills 99. Black Mountains & Golden Valley 100. Herefordshire Lowlands 101. Herefordshire Plateau 102. Teme Valley 103. Malvern Hills 104. South Herefordshire & Over Severn 105. Forest of Dean & Lower Wye 106. Severn & Avon Vales 107. Cotswolds

### East of England

46. The Fens 76. North West Norfolk 77. North Norfolk Coast 78. Central North Norfolk 79. North East Norfolk & Flegg 80. The Broads 81. Greater Thames Estuary 82. Suffolk Coast & Heaths 83. South Norfolk & High Suffolk Claylands 84. Mid Norfolk 85. The Brecks 86. South Suffolk & North Essex Clayland 87. East Anglian Chalk 88. Bedfordshire Claylands 89. Northamptonshire Vales 90. Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge 91. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge 92. Rockingham Forest 110. Chilterns 111. Northern Thames Basin 115. Thames Valley

### South East and London

81. Greater Thames Estuary 88. Bedfordshire Claylands 90. Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge 91. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge 95. Northamptonshire Uplands 107. Cotswolds 108. Upper Thames Clay Vales 109. Midvale Ridge 110. Chilterns 111. Northern Thames Basin 112. Inner London 113. North Kent Plain 114. Thames Basin Lowlands 115. Thames Valley 116. Berkshire and Marlborough Downs 119. North Downs 120. Wealden Greensand 121. Low Weald 122. High Weald 123. Romney Marshes 124. Pevensey Levels 125. South Downs 126. South Coast Plain 127. Isle of Wight 128. South Hampshire Lowlands 129. Thames Basin Heaths 130. Hampshire Downs 131. New Forest 132. Salisbury Plain & West Wiltshire Downs 134. Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase 135. Dorset Heaths

### South West

100. Herefordshire Lowlands 103. Malvern Hills 104. South Herefordshire and Over Severn 105. Forest of Dean and Lower Wye 106. Severn and Avon Vales 107. Cotswolds 108. Upper Thames Clay Vales 109. Midvale Ridge 116. Berkshire and Marlborough Downs 117. Avon Vales 118. Bristol, Avon Valleys and Ridges 129. Thames Basin Heaths 130. Hampshire Downs 131. New Forest 132. Salisbury Plain and West Wiltshire Downs 133. Blackmoor Vale and Vale of Wardour 134. Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase 135. Dorset Heaths 136. South Purbeck 137. Isle of Portland 138. Weymouth Lowlands 139. Marshwood and Powerstock Vales 140. Yeovil Scarplands 141. Mendip Hills 142. Somerset Levels and Moors 143. Mid Somerset Hills 144. Quantock Hills 145. Exmoor 146. Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes 147. Blackdowns 148. Devon Redlands 149. The Culm 150. Dartmoor 151. South Devon 152. Cornish Killas 153. Bodmin Moor 154. Hensbarrow 155. Carnmenellis 156. West Penwith 157. The Lizard 158. Isles of Scilly 159. Lundy