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Prior to the more recent LCA, Devon County Council undertook its own character study, which was published in 2002 under the title "The Devon Landscape – An appraisal of Devon’s Landscape at the beginning of the 21^st Century". The study identified seven main themes which help to shape the county’s landscape, including geology, water, farmed landscapes and woodland, field boundaries, settlements and buildings, development, roads and people and panoramas, skylines and landmarks. The study also examines how the landscape can be vulnerable to change.  

The study classified Devon into 32 separate areas, termed "Landscape Character Zones".  For each of these zones, a description of the location, designations, key characteristic features, a subjective response and integrity and a more detailed description is provided. For the most part the Landscape Character Zones constitute sub-divisions of the national Joint Character Areas (JCA’s), although there are some occasional variations in the boundaries.

This publication is available in hardback and can be purchased from Devon County Council at a cost of £10 including postage and packing. Unfortunately, the full publication is not available online, although key characteristics of each Landscape Character Zone are listed in Appendix 1 of the Devon Structure Plan 2001-2016 (41KB - pdf help)  and maps included in the 2002 landscape assessment are:

• Landscape Character Zones in Devon (94KB - pdf help)
• Landscape Designations in Devon (57KB - pdf help)
• Major inland bodies of water (39KB - pdf help)
• Rivers of Devon (82KB - pdf help)
• The Geology of Devon (53KB - pdf help)
• Key Structural Woodland (67KB - pdf help)