Understanding our landscapes

Digital Mapping

Using drone technology, we are creating digital maps as a baseline prior to project work to be able to measure and monitor changes over time.

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Mapping our landscapes

Creating digital maps of our project sites using drone technology enables us to understand our landscapes in advance of any project delivery work. We can generate 3D ortho-mosaic maps to examine our landscapes in detail and using this 3D data generate 2D scalar field and ambient occlusion maps. These act a little like LiDAR mapping in that they present features that are difficult to see or even invisible to the naked eye. Examples include paleochannels or field drainage systems that might then be used to good advantage in project design and delivery work.

Trent Valley Past & Present page

Shackeymoor on the Shugborough Estate

Following wetland restoration work by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, we were able to generate an orthomosaic digital elevation map (DEM) or digital terrain map (DTM) using drone technology. One of our experienced volunteers, David Moore, flew a drone mission over the site and using photogrammetry (a method of taking multiple photographs from different angles from known positions which are then stitched together to create a 3D model), generated this map of the site:

During the course of the 20th century, Shackeymoor had been cut off from the river by decades of river dredging, a method of waterway management that can lead to disconnection of the river and downstream flooding. Work on site in 2025 lowered the dredging banks and allowed water back onto the meadow in peak flow conditions, bringing useful nutrients back onto the land and helping to slow the flow of the river. The field name Shackeymoor, meaning “wetland where quaking grass grows” has a very long history, being first recorded over 700 years ago. It comes from the Old English and may therefore be at least a thousand years old. The work on site is therefore reinstating a landscape that was gradually lost by well-intentioned but bad river management techniques.

Shugborough1_Shackeymoor by SWT_cultural_heritage_maps_&_models on Sketchfab

Castle Ring on Cannock Chase

Working with Cannock Chase District Council (CCDC), we have created a series of maps that will aid management of this nationally significant ancient monument as well as providing an opportunity for virtual visits. These maps were generated from digital images taken by a drone, with permission from CCDC and with reference to the County Archaeologist. Our volunteers joined with the Chase Through Time volunteers to conduct a condition survey of the site which assesses the current condition and helps with management decisions.
Castle Ring is a hill fort that dates to the Iron Age (about 700 BCE-43 CE) and was probably not permanently occupied. These sites are thought to have been used mainly as refuges in time of need or as places for ritual gatherings at specific times of the year. They served a defensive purpose, as may be seen from the ditch and bank defences, which would also have had wooden palisades to help shield those within. At a time when cattle were the main form of wealth, protecting the clan’s herd from cattle raids by others was aided by having a large, easily defended enclosure. Stealing people from a foreign clan and selling them into slavery was commonplace, so having somewhere to retreat to was of real practical use. Constructing a hill fort on this scale was also a way of demonstrating prestige and power, and occupying the highest point on Cannock Chase meant that could be seen from afar.

It has been used for different purposes over the centuries and has the largely below-ground remains of a stone built medieval hunting lodge within its perimeter. Visitor numbers create their own problems and CCDC have installed an all weather surfaced path around the monument to help manage erosion of the monument. The digital map shows desire lines created by dog walkers and other visitors, including cyclists and tourists. Some of these paths are causing erosion to the embankments around the monument – part of the monument itself, and our baseline map should help CCDC in their future monitoring and management of the site.

Castle Ring Drone Mapping by Shiro Morturn on Sketchfab