How Farming and Its Decline Have Shaped the UK Countryside

If most of the countryside looks natural, why are so many of its fields, hillsides, hedges, walls and woodlands actually the result of farming decisions? The answer is that a landscape can preserve the marks of work carried out over centuries, even when the people and purposes behind them have changed. This section explores what the UK countryside includes and how farming helped create its visible character. It also explains why farming remains a major land use despite becoming less important to employment and the economy.