The survey colour-coded land into the following main categories :-

meadow and permanent grass (light green)

arable land including rotation grass (brown)

heathland and moorland or rough hill pasture (yellow)

forests and woodland (dark green)

gardens (purple)

land agriculturally unproductive / urban areas (red)

 

Extract from Gloucester and Forest of Dean 1942 map. Not to scale. Source: National Library of Scotland

 

The first national land utilization survey of Great Britain was started in the early 1930s under the leadership of L. Dudley Stamp who worked at the London School of Economics.

The survey recorded land cover rather than land use. Gathering of data in the field was organised at county level by volunteers, with Directors of Education often taking the role. Much of the initial survey work was undertaken by schoolchildren and students, but the data was then rigorously checked by Stamp’s team.
 
The work was undertaken at a time of economic hardship and Stamp saw the exercise as not only of educational value but also an exercise in building citizenship. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939 the data became an important tool in the bid for Great Britain to maximise its own food production and was also later used to aid post-war planning.

Each of these categories was then further subdivided. For example, gardens were further categorised into houses with gardens, orchards and nurseries.

Whilst the surveys were conducted using Ordnance Survey 6” to a mile maps, the final data was published using 1” to a mile maps. The majority, but not all, of the surveying was completed by the mid-1930s. However, with funding problems there were difficulties with publishing the findings. Eventually the initial project was successful in producing 135 maps covering England and Wales, and 34 maps covering part of Scotland; together with 92 written County Reports.

The map sheet (Sheet 92 - Gloucester and the Forest of Dean) covering The Chimes area was surveyed between 1931 and 1933 and was published in 1942.
 
It graphically shows the divergence of land cover in this area at that time. For example, Aston Crews, Bromsash, Phocle Green, Upton Bishop, Linton and Kilcot were characterised by a mix of arable, permanent grass, and scattered orchards. Lea had a mix of arable land and grassland, but few orchards; Aston Ingham included areas of rough hill pasture (shaded yellow). It is perhaps Gorsley that has the most distinctive land cover with by far the greatest proportion of the area being given over to orchards – shown on the map as lined purple. 

The land utilisation survey maps can be accessed for free from the National Library of Scotland website at https://maps.nls.uk/series/land-utilisation-survey/index.html