This series contains the Definitive Maps supplied to the Ordnance Survey by Local Authorities in England and Wales, and held within the Ordnance Survey Rights of Way Archive. They were created as part of a system establishing public rights of way, set up under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and developed through subsequent legislation. These maps are statutory documents which are intended to show the classification and alignment of the complete consolidated network of public rights of way in each local authority area at a given Relevant Date. Preparation of a written Definitive Statement to accompany the map was also a requirement under the legislation, providing descriptions of every right of way shown on the map.
Local authorities were required, under the 1949 Act, to prepare, review, fully update and publish Definitive Maps at regular intervals (intended to be no longer than five years). Preparation involved considerable research effort and consultation with landowners, district, borough, town and parish councils, user groups and the general public. The periodic review was to cater for any alterations subsequent to the Relevant Date of the existing Definitive Map (i.e. when the original survey commenced), and to consider inclusion of any additional rights of way which may have been claimed or dedicated in the interim. The resultant revised Definitive Map was to be made available for public viewing.
Ordnance Survey agreed to show the rights of way information (as depicted on the Definitive Maps) on the national mapping of England and Wales, and did so from 1960. However, the definitive network of public rights of way is constantly changing and Ordnance Survey, in order to maintain its obligation to publish current information, required details of any revisions between editions of the Definitive Maps. This was achieved by receipt of Public Path Order information from the local authorities as changes were made to the public rights of way network.
These Definitive Maps are based on Ordnance Survey mapping, although not always using the same scale or sheet lines as the published maps; and not always the most recent edition available at the time. For many of the local authorities the Definitive Map has, as the 1949 Act allowed, been split into a number of separate sheets, with an index supplied for overall reference. Groups of sheet maps were also bound in folios, numbered sequentially by authority within a county.
The maps have been heavily annotated, by Ordnance Survey staff, to record references to rights of way network changes as they were received, and to plot resultant amendments to the Ordnance Survey mapping - in some instances covering up to 30 years of amendments. Earlier sheets may also include overlay tracings produced for the same purpose. Up to June 1994 Ordnance Survey added unique path numbers (in purple), numbered to the parish, supplied by the Local Authorities and included on the Public Path Orders.
From June 1994 a new system was introduced. The Definitive Maps held by the Ordnance Survey were based on outdated mapping presented on a variety of materials, so making accurate interpretation (of rights of way alignments against detail on the ground) a problem. Annotation detail had become congested, making the addition of further amendment detail difficult. Furthermore, following the 1981 abolition of the 5-year system of review and its replacement with a continuous review method facilitated by Modification Orders, many local authorities had begun to supply Working Documents based on 1:10,000 scale mapping instead of revised Definitive Maps. Under the new system all effects of Public Path Orders were recorded (in red biro) on a library set of current editions of the 1:25,000 scale mapping. This included a record of the date of the entry and a sequential reference number unique to each map sheet. The same number was added to the Public Path Order. Details of the rights of way changes on each map sheet were recorded on a register fixed to the back of the sheet to which it applied. This system enabled easier revision of the current mapping using the library set, and provided a link to National Grid references which were also marked on the related Public Path Orders.
The Ordnance Survey Rights of Way Archive is the record of all rights of way information received by the Ordnance Survey from various sources, in order to carry out its mapping task for England and Wales. It records how and when that information was applied to detail on the ground, and thus to the national mapping. The Definitive Map is conclusive evidence of the existence of a public right of way, and its accompanying Definitive Statement is conclusive evidence of its position and width. Rights of way as shown on the Definitive Maps have legal authority under the 1949 Act, hence the use of a disclaimer by the Ordnance Survey on their own mapping since it was an interpretation of the legal position.
The Archive includes Definitive Maps for 78 local authorities, including some created by the 1972 Local Government Act which have ceased to exist, i.e. where full consolidated Definitive Map cover has not yet been created by the authorities which replaced them. For some local authorities a history sheet is included with the maps. The sheet gives a history of the extent of the local authority and its name changes. The 1949 Act did not apply to the Administrative County of London, nor to most county boroughs. The 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act extended the compulsory survey cover to the whole of England and Wales except in the Inner London Boroughs and the Scilly Isles. Cover from each authority is not uniform. Some did not have Definitive Map cover or did not update their maps regularly. The Ordnance Survey only retained the most recent Definitive Map for each local authority area. Superseded maps were offered back to the local authority.
For Definitive maps in this series, the date range given for each piece shows the Relevant Date (RD) as the first date, being the date when the rights of way information contained on the map was regularised. The second date is the Withdrawn Date (WD), being the date when the map was withdrawn from use by the Ordnance Survey because a replacement was available; except where the map was superseded as a result of a change in administrative area or area name, when the date is the date of this change. This second date appears as a manuscript annotation on each map. The maps also carry a date stamp which records the date of receipt of the Definitive Map by the Ordnance Survey.
The series also includes two sets of records compiled by Ordnance Survey's Rights of Way Section as part of the administration of documents and information received:
- (a) County Index Cards. These give details of Definitive Maps previously held by the Ordnance Survey. Manuscript maps drawn on the cards show historic information relating to administrative areas and rights of way cover. National Grid lines and sheet numbers for related 1:50,000 scale mapping are also shown.
- (b) Indexes to Folios. These are Ordnance Survey Administrative Area Diagrams for individual counties or groups of counties, annotated to show the extent of areas covered by the numbered folios of Definitive Maps. They also carry the sheet numbers relating to the Ordnance Survey 1: 50,000 scale mapping.
The National Archives
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