Recent additions to our online maps
Air photo mosaics of Scotland, 1944-1950
These air photographs provide detailed information on the landscape of post-war Scotland, as well as providing a fascinating portrayal of urban topography and land-use. The aerial photography was flown by the Royal Air Force, primarily in Spitfire and Mosquito fighter aeroplanes, but it was intended for post-war reconstruction and planning. The photographs complement paper mapping, and represent the first widespread use of aerial survey methods by Ordnance Survey.
You can search for OS air photo mosaics using a zoomable map of Scotland and by place-names. They are also available as a Google maps overlay, allowing direct comparison to present-day air photography and mapping.
Ordnance Survey's 25 inch to the mile series (1855-1882)
The earliest, detailed mapping for all the inhabited regions of Scotland. The Ordnance Survey 25 inch to the mile maps are immensely valuable for local history. They provide good detail of all buildings, streets, railways, industrial premises, parkland, farms, woodland, and rivers. All towns, villages and cultivated rural areas were mapped, comprising over a third of the total land area of Scotland.
The bold style of the maps and their attractive, informative, hand-colouring allow easy interpretation for a wide range of uses.
Second World War geo-referenced military mapping of Belgium, 1942-1944
These military maps of Belgium provide reconnaissance information of the whole country at scales between 1:250,000 to 1:50,000. They were compiled and published by the British War Office and used by the Allies during the Second World War.
We have seamed and geo-referenced them so that they can be directly compared with modern Google Map and Satellite views.
Satellite image overlays of Bathymetrical Survey Lochs, 1897-1909
This selection of 33 geo-referenced bathymetrical charts of Scottish lochs allows them to be directly compared with modern Google Maps and Virtual Earth layers. The bathymetrical charts are the most detailed maps showing the depths of these lochs, and they contain useful information too on the surrounding hinterland. We are very grateful to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for geo-referencing these plans as part of a collaborative project with the Library.
Satellite image overlays of OS town plans, 1847-95
New geo-referenced satellite image overlays allow historic town plans for Scotland to be directly compared with modern Google Maps and Virtual Earth satellite and map layers. These town plans (surveyed 1847-1895) are the earliest and most detailed comprehensive snapshot of urban Scotland ever published by Ordnance Survey. 1,900 sheets covering 62 towns in Scotland have now been mosaicked and geo-referenced. The maps can also be searched using a zoomable map of Scotland, a modern street gazetteer, and by National Grid Reference.
Great Reform Act Plans and Reports, 1832
The Great Reform Act Plans and Reports provide detailed maps and related information for 75 towns in Scotland. The plans depict and name many urban features of importance, including major streets, public buildings, industrial premises, docks, canals, and bridges, as well as surrounding farms and villages. Compiled for the purposes of implementing new parliamentary boundaries, their consistent style and scale (of six-inches to the mile), along with their accompanying burgh reports, make them a valuable snapshot of urban Scotland.
Ordnance Survey six-inch maps of Scotland
Ordnance Survey six-inch maps of Scotland form the earliest comprehensive topographic mapping of Scotland by Ordnance Survey. They illustrate a very wide range of natural and man-made features for the first time. The six-inch to the mile scale is the most detailed that covered the whole of Scotland, covering the country in 2,123 sheets. You can zoom into the detail of the OS six-inch maps using an interactive index map, and search by county, parish and a gazetteer of place names.
Survey of Sutherland Estate farms
Around 1772, John Kirk produced detailed volumes of manuscript estate plans for the Sutherland Estates. Kirk's survey of farms in Golspie and Loth parishes included some of the estate's richest arable land. It covered the arable coastal strip from Golspie in the south, through Brora and Dunrobin Castle, to what became Helmsdale fishing village in the north.
Military conquest of Scotland by the Romans
William Roy's Military Antiquities of the Romans in North Britain (1793) is a classic work on the military conquest of Scotland by the Romans. It recorded many newly discovered Roman remains for the first time. As a record of early archaeology Roman sites in Scotland, it is almost unbeatable. Its author, William Roy, is better known for his work on the Military Survey of Scotland (see below), and in founding what became the Ordnance Survey. Roy was a keen antiquarian and man of science, and this splendid volume is a lasting monument to these interests.
Roy Military Survey of Scotland, 1747-1755
The Roy Military Survey of Scotland, known to its contemporaries as the 'Great Map', is a uniquely important historical cartographic document. It provides a uniform graphic snapshot of the entire Scottish mainland at a time when the landscape was beginning an era of rapid change. For many Highland areas, it is the most detailed and informative map that survives for the entire 18th century. For all areas, it is the only standard topographic map prior to the Ordnance Survey mapping in the 19th century.
Regional Maps of Scotland, 1856-1935
Several hundred detailed maps covering all of Scotland from 1856 to 1936 have been added to our sets of online series mapping, which will particularly benefit anyone doing family or local history research. Among these latest additions are Ordnance Survey and Bartholomew mapping intended for walking, cycling and touring. Together they provide an excellent overview of the Scottish landscape for the period.
The Ordnance Survey one-inch to the mile maps come in three editions, covering:
- 1856-1891
- 1885-1900
- 1903-1912.
We also have Ordnance Survey quarter-inch to the mile maps for 1921-1923. The Bartholomew half-inch to the mile mapping covers 1926-1935.
