Historic farmstead characterisation

As part of the West Midlands Farmsteads and Landscapes Project, the Shropshire Historic Farmstead Characterisation Project mapped and characterised historic farmsteads, outfarms, field barns and smallholdings across the region, using historic and modern editions of the Ordnance Survey maps, together with a limited but consistent range of additional sources, resulting in the mapping of over 9,000 individual sites, including more than 6,000 farmsteads.

Historic farmsteads are integral to the rural landscape, communities and economy of Shropshire. The results help us to understand the historic character of the county’s farmsteads, how they've changed over time and how they relate to the landscape.

Through understanding the character, condition and present-day role of historic farmsteads and their traditional working buildings, Shropshire’s policy and delivery programmes can respond appropriately in supporting their sustainable use, conserving landscape character and realising economic benefits.

You can download a copy of the county summary report, together with the full historic farmsteads characterisation (the full report is attached to this page as a series of pdfs). In addition, the mapped farmsteads have now been integrated into the Shropshire Historic Environment Record (HER), and are currently available online on the Heritage Gateway.