© Jeff Pearson. Creative Commons License: www.geograph.org.uk/reuse.php?id=583914

This zone is scattered throughout the districts of Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. It is found predominantly in a band running north south through the centre of South Yorkshire. The defining characteristic of this zone is the use of land as ornamental parkland from the 17th to early 19th century.   These areas of parkland often have clearly defined boundaries, separating the land from the surrounding countryside by circuits of walls or plantation woodlands that provide screening and enclosure. Most of the larger parks originated as deer parks and some date back to the medieval period. The landscapes consist of permanent grassland maintained as pasture or land managed for arable cultivation and there area often several plantation woodlands.

The focal point of many of these parks is a large elite residence and related ‘home farm’ complex, sometimes on the fringe of an older village. Design features in these character areas are generally intended to emphasise the high status of their owners. Such features can include ornate gateways and lodges; tree lined avenues and curving driveways; architectural follies, statuary, fountains and summerhouses; artificial lakes and ponds; formal gardens; and kitchen gardens.