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The Ordnance Survey Great Britain County Series maps were produced from the 1840s to the 1890s by the Ordnance Survey, with revisions published until the 1940s. The series mapped the counties of Great Britain at both a six inch and twenty-five inch scale with accompanying acreage and land use information. Following the introduction of the Ordnance Survey National Grid in the 1930s the County Series maps were replaced by a new series of maps at each scale.

History

The Ordnance Survey began producing six inch to the mile (1:10,560) maps of Great Britain in the 1840s, modelled on its first large-scale maps of Ireland from the mid-1830s. This was partly in response to the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 which led to calls for a large-scale survey of England and Wales.

From 1854, to meet requirements for greater detail, including land-parcel numbers in rural areas and accompanying information, cultivated and inhabited areas were mapped at 1:2500 (25.344 inches to the mile), at first parish by parish, with blank space beyond the parish boundary, and later continuously. Early copies of 1:2500 maps were available hand-coloured. Up to 1879 the 1:2500 maps were accompanied by Books of Reference or "area books" that gave acreages and land-use information for land-parcel numbers. After 1879, land-use information was dropped from these area books; after the mid-1880s, the books themselves were dropped and acreages were printed instead on the maps. After 1854, the six-inch maps and their revisions were based on the twenty-five inch maps.

The six-inch sheets covered an area of six by four miles on the ground; the twenty-five inch sheets an area of one by one and a half. One square inch on the twenty-five inch maps was roughly equal to an acre on the ground. In later editions the six-inch sheets were published in "quarters" (NW, NE, SW, SE), each covering an area of three by two miles on the ground.

The first edition of the two scales was completed by the 1890s. A second edition (or "first revision") was begun in 1891 and completed just before the First World War. From 1907 till the early 1940s, a third edition (or "second revision") was begun but never completed: only areas with significant changes on the ground were revised, many two or three times.

From the late 19th century to the early 1940s, the OS produced many "restricted" versions of the County Series maps and other War Department sheets for War Office purposes, in a variety of large scales that included details of military significance such as dockyards, naval installations, fortifications and military camps. Apart from a brief period during the disarmament talks of the 1930s, these areas were left blank or incomplete on standard maps. The de-classified sheets have now been deposited in some of the Copyright Libraries, helping to complete the map-picture of pre-Second World War Britain.

Coverage

Both the 6 inch and 25 inch scale Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain showed the boundaries of:

• Counties
• Divisions of counties, ridings and quarter sessional divisions
• Parliamentary divisions of counties
• Hundreds/wapentakes/wards (until 1879)
• Mother or ancient parishes (until 1879)
• Civil parishes or townships
• Parliamentary boroughs
• Municipal boroughs
• Municipal wards
• Police burghs (Scotland)
• County boroughs
• Parliamentary divisions of county boroughs
• Wards of corporate towns
• Liberties, honours etc.
• Urban sanitary or local board districts
• Poor law unions
• Divisions of townships (until 1879)
• Subdivisions of townships (until 1879)
• Registrar's and Superintendent registrar's districts (Lancashire & Yorkshire only)

The maps included the area of most civil parishes and their detached parts, as well as extra-parochial areas and townships. Originally the area of these places was given in acres, roods and perches. After about 1879 this was changed to solely acres, with area given to three decimal places. As boundary changes occurred throughout the late 19th century, reprints of map sheets would be updated with annotations detailing these changes.

6 inches to the mile (1:10,560)

England

Scotland

Wales

25.344 inches to the mile (1:2,500)

• 16 25.344" sheets = 1 6" sheet
• 100 5' sheets = 1 6" sheet

Ordnance Survey Town Plans

5 feet to the mile (1:1,056)

10 feet to the mile (1:528)

10.56 feet to the mile (1:500)

London Index map 1 London Index map 2 London Index map

References

1. Harley, JB (1975). Ordnance Survey Maps: a descriptive manual. Southampton: Ordnance Survey. LCCN 75330828.
2. ^ Oliver, Richard (2005). Ordnance Survey Maps: a concise guide for historians. London: Charles Close Society. pp. 35, 54.
3. Oliver, Richard; Hellyer, Roger (2002). Ordnance Survey of Great Britain: Indexes to the 1:2500 and six-inch scales. Newtown, Montgomeryshire: David Archer.
4. ^ "Ordnance Survey Characteristic Sheet for the Engraved Six Inch Maps of Great Britain". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
5. "Examples of the Characters of Writing and the Characteristics of the Photozincographed Maps of the Ordnance Survey with instructions as to their use". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
6. "Examples for the Characters of the Writing to the Ordnance Map of Great Britain on a Scale of 6 Inches to a Mile". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
7. "Examples for the Characters of the Writing on the Engraved Six Inch Ordnance Maps of Great Britain". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
8. "Ordnance Survey Maps - Six-inch England and Wales, 1842 - 1952, County List". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
9. "Ordnance Survey Maps, Survey and revision dates for county series mapping - England and Wales 1842-1952". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
10. "Large Scale Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain". The British Library. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
11. "Ordnance Survey 25" County Series Editions". The British Library. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
12. "Ordnance Survey: large scale pre-1950 London". The British Library. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
13. "Browse collection: Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 Epoch 1". British History Online. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
14. "Ordnance Survey Maps - Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
15. "Ordnance Survey Maps - Six-inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1843-1882, County List". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
16. "Ordnance Survey maps - Survey and revision dates for county series mapping, 1843-1943". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
17. ^ "Ordnance Survey large scale Scottish town plans, 1847-1895". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
18. "The 1846 map of Southampton". Southampton City Council. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
19. ^ "Historical maps - Ordnance Survey maps". Oldham Council. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
20. "Ordnance Survey Maps, London, Five feet to the Mile, 1893-1896". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
21. "Key Sheet for Sunderland". Retrieved 30 December 2017.
22. ^ "Ordnance Survey Town Plans". The National Library of Wales. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
23. "Maidenhead 1:500 maps stored at the town's library". Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
24. "The 1870 map of Southampton". Southampton City Council. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
25. ^ "Town Plans". Staffordshire County Council. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
26. ^ "Old Maps of Yorkshire - 1:500 scale Town Plans (10ft to the mile)". OLD TOWNS BOOKS & MAPS. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
27. "Home page". Old-Maps.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
28. "Cassini Town Plan mapping". Cassini Historical Maps. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
29. "Ordnance Survey large scale Scottish town plans, 1847-1895, Introductory information". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
30. "Ordnance Survey Maps". Bedford Borough Council/Central Bedfordshire Council. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
31. "Archive and Local Collections - Maps, Plans, Directories and Phone Books". Manchester City Council. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
32. "The Landmark Data Index Series - Historical Town Plans" (PDF). Landmark Information Group. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
33. "A short history of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain" (PDF). The Charles Close Society. Retrieved 2 August 2015.

• Ordnance Survey
• Cartography
• Geography of the United Kingdom
• Maps of the United Kingdom