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Using LiDAR Survey for historic landscape interpretation at Sheffield Park, East Sussex.

ASE have recently collaborated with landscape consultancy ACTA in the use of LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) data to interpret historic landscapes at Sheffield Park (East Sussex). ASE were commissioned by ACTA to provide the archaeological component of a Conservation Plan for this important National Trust property, which involved a standard walkover survey of a mixed landscape of woodland, parkland and gardens. A large number of historic features were recorded, including trackways, ornamental walkways, park boundaries, water management systems and a large complex of Canadian Nissen hut bases from the Second World War.
An opportunity was taken to incorporate LiDAR data recently acquired by East Sussex County Council as part of the Weald Forest Ridge Historic Environment Awareness Project. The analysis of the data was carried out after the archaeological survey, and provided an interesting test-case in the potential usefulness of LiDAR in projects of this type, particularly in heavily wooded regions such as the Sussex and Kent Weald. The benefits of LiDAR imagery were clear:

• Identification of features not observed during the walkover survey because the ground vegetation was too dense; and
• Increased accuracy in plotting known features in woodland – these were plotted in the field using a hand held GPS subject to inaccuracies due to patchy satellite coverage.

In addition, ACTA found the LiDAR imagery useful in terms of landscape design and historical ecology. Sheffield Park is renowned for its rhododendrons and azaleas – the LiDAR accurately mapped these by default, as they were impenetrable to the lasers.
This project has provided a useful taster of the potential that LiDAR has to enhance surveys within wooded landscapes. It is hoped that future projects of this type can incorporate LiDAR data from the planning stage.
The results of this trial were disseminated to the autumn meeting of the South East Woodland Archaeology Forum in a joint presentation by Richard James (ASE) and Philip Masters (ACTA).