The historic man-made landscape
In historic times man’s imprint has been left firmly on the British landscape.
Farming
The spread of agriculture across the island had the greatest impact, from the slash and burn techniques of Neolithic times to the early field boundaries of Roman and Saxon farmers which can still be seen today. Arable crops predominated in the southeast; grasslands for cattle further west and north; and sheep in the uplands of Wales, the Peak District and Scotland. The hedges and drystone walls that are such a common sight in the countryside today are a relatively recent phenomenon, many of them following the enclosure acts of the 18th & 19th centuries.
The landscape of much of East Anglia and Lincolnshire has also been largely shaped in the past few centuries as swampy fens have been drained and reclaimed for agriculture. The famous Norfolk Broads have their origins in mediaeval peat diggings that have since flooded. Hunting, too, left its mark. The New Forest in Hampshire, now a national park, was created as a royal hunting ground by William the Conqueror.
Tree clearance
Timber extraction has denuded many of our uplands. Charcoal was the fuel used for early iron smelting in Britain, which helped reduce the population of native Scots pines in Scotland. Later, Scots pines were taken to meet the needs of the Napoleonic wars, before the highland clearances brought sheep and deer into the highlands and overgrazing reduced the once widespread Caledonian forests to tiny remnants. In areas like the Yorkshire Dales, too, the growth of the wool industry from the times of the monasteries saw once wooded areas turned over to sheep production.
Even where ancient woodland survives in Britain, trees have been traditionally managed for centuries. Some, like hazel and chestnut, have been coppiced, where the tree is regularly cut down to a stump. The multiple shoots that regrow are used for charcoal, poles, fencing, firewood and many other products. Other trees have customarily been pollarded, where the branches are regularly lopped above the height that can be reached by animals. Pollarding ensured a regular supply of timber.
More recently, of course, moorlands and ancient woodlands have been replanted, but largely with non-native larch, spruce, pine and fir for forestry, completely changing the character of the countryside. Forest and woodland cover now represents only about a tenth of the UK's land surface.
Industry
With the coming of the industrial revolution the British landscape changed irretrievably. Mining and quarrying, for coal, non-ferrous metals, iron ore and china clay, transformed areas throughout the island. Rivers and streams were harnessed for power, and from the 18th century canals were dug all over the country, principally for transportation but also for water supply, drainage and irrigation. Railway lines spread rapidly, and toxic pollution from factories in Yorkshire and the northwest contaminated areas of wild beauty like the south Pennines. In the 20th century growing demand for energy and transportation links saw the landscape scarred with roads and electricity pylons.
