Ewyas Lacy lies between the Golden Valley in the east and the escarpment of the Black Mountains to the west, in an area whose rounded hills and valleys have been formed by glaciers during the last ice age. The relatively fertile river valleys are separated by poor, stony hillside land. Mixed farming has shaped the landscape into enclosed arable fields, pastures and meadows combined with open commons, in a pattern that still has its roots in feudal times. The soil is sandy loam with some clay and a sandstone subsoil, with outcroppings in some parts of layered sedimentary rock that has traditionally been quarried for building material and roofing tiles. There is a network of rivers, brooks and streams, and significant areas of woodland, although 'forests' mentioned in historical documents can describe land used for hunting that was not necessarily tree-covered.
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