Catalogue description Publications (Maps) of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain

Details of ZOS
Reference: ZOS
Title: Publications (Maps) of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain
Description:

Maps published by the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain.

Old Series, New Series, and Third Edition one-inch maps of England and Wales are in ZOS 9, ZOS 10 and ZOS 11 respectively; one-inch maps of Scotland and Ireland are in ZOS 13 and ZOS 14 respectively. Six-inch maps of England and Wales are in ZOS 12; six-inch maps of Ireland are in ZOS 15. National Grid six-inch maps, some incorporating revisions undertaken between 1948 and 1957, are in ZOS 1. Five-foot maps of London and environs are in ZOS 8

History maps are in ZOS 5. Tithe survey index maps are in ZOS 6. A facsimile of the Down Survey of Ireland, 1655 to 1658, is in ZOS 7

Maps overprinted with thematic information are in ZOS 4. Administrative Area Maps are in ZOS 2. Maps overprinted with military grids, in use before and during the Second World War, are in ZOS 3

The Public Record Office is not an official place of deposit for Ordnance Survey maps. Since Ordnance Survey maps are publications, their normal place of deposit is the British Library and the other legal deposit libraries, viz. Cambridge University Library, the Bodleian Library Oxford, the National Library of Wales, the National Library of Scotland, and Trinity College Dublin.

Because the Ordnance Survey maps are among the most satisfactory land maps produced officially, they have often been used by central and local government departments and agencies for their own specific purposes. For that reason, most OS maps in the custody of the PRO have at some time been working maps, and contain information from the departments that used them. The maps in these series, on the other hand, have not been used.

Date: 1801-1979
Related material:

See also Records of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain: OS

Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Not Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

Ordnance Survey, 1791-

Physical description: 15 series
Access conditions: Open
Custodial history: Formerly in the Public Record Office Library.
Publication note:

J B Harley, Ordnance Survey Maps: A Descriptive Manual, (Southampton, 1975) W A Seymour, A History of the Ordnance Survey, (Folkestone, 1980)

Administrative / biographical background:

The Ordnance Survey has its origins in the eighteenth century but the Ordnance Survey Act 1841 is the basis of the modern department. It gave the Ordnance Survey the duty of ascertaining and recording all public boundaries in the United Kingdom.

The department is responsible for the execution of surveys and cartographic work of all kinds for the government of Great Britain; it also undertakes work in Northern Ireland and for local authorities. The results are made available to the general public in the form of published Ordnance Survey maps, by the publication of survey and revision data, and by the issue of information in reply to specific enquiries.

Have you found an error with this catalogue description?

Help with your research

How to look for...