OS Mapping

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The Ordnance Survey came into existence because of the Government of 1791 recognised a need to map the south coast in preparation for a French Invasion following the French Revolution. However, it was not until 1801 that the first map was published - of Kent! Read more on The OS Website.

List of Maps

A list of the changes to Ordnance Survey of Great Britain mapping from 1801 to present.

Year From	Year To	Map Name	Scale	Notes
1801	18??	One Inch 1st Edition	1:63,360	This series pre-dates Classification
1903	1931	One Inch 3rd Edition	1:63,360	This series pre-dates Classification
1911	1911	2 Miles to inch	1:123,720	This series pre-dates Classification, Example seen from 1911
1919	1940	One Inch Popular Edition	1:63,360	Never included road numbers, but from 1934 A roads were shown in red
1923	1936	Ministry of Transport Road Map	1:123,720	The first maps to show Classification. Based on reduced 3rd Edition mapping from the early 20th century with classified roads as an overlay.
1931	1940	One Inch 5th Edition	1:63,360	Included road numbers from the start, but was never completed (sheets 1-92 were not published, nor were the sheets of South Wales and east Kent)
1932	1964	Ten-Mile Road Map of Great Britain	1:625,000	Based on other mapping with classified roads shown as an overlay.
1944	1961	One Inch 6th Edition	1:63,360	Marketed as the New Popular Edition
1952	1976	One Inch 7th Series	1:63,360	This was the last version of the one inch mapping. Net backed maps were phased out in circa 1963 and a more modern cover introduced in 1968.
1952	c1996	One Inch Touring Maps	1:63,360	These One Inch maps lasted much longer than the main series. Like the main series, net backed maps were phased out circa 1963 and a more modern cover introduced in 1965. Also unlike the main series, these had pictures on them, replaced by photographs in 1984 & replaced by the touring series in c1996
1964	2009	Route Planning Map	1:625,000	Replacement for the Ten Mile Road Map series
1974	1979	1:50000 Series	1:50,000	This was the first version of 1:50000 mapping though maps 176 & 177 have always been in second series style.
1979	present	Landranger Series	1:50,000	This is the current spec of Ordnance Survey mapping Pictures were added to the covers in 1984 and first Series 1:50000 style was phased out in 1990 with the update of Map 26.
1974	2003	Pathfinder	1:25,000	This was the main spec 1:25000 series of Ordnance Survey mapping. Replaced with the Explorer Series.
1974	2002	Outdoor Leisure Series	1:25,000	This was merged into the Explorer series
1994	present	Explorer	1:25,000	This is the current spec of 1:25000 Ordnance Survey mapping
1945	1977	Quarter Inch Map	1:250,000	17 Sheets for GB coverage. This was the precursor of the Travelmaster maps
1977	2001	Travelmaster	1:250,000	This was a larger scale maps for long distance journeys. rebranded in 2002 to OS Road Map.
2002	present	Road Map	1:250,000	This is the re-branded Travelmaster series. Now numbered 8 maps. There was a hiatus in printing between 2010 and 2016, as it was electronically released as OpenData.
2002	2010	Route Map	1:625,000	This is the former map 1 of the Travelmaster series, and can trace its lineage back to the Ten-Mile Road Map of Great Britain.
c1996	Present	Touring Map/Tour	1:250,000	This is the replacement of the old one-inch touring maps.
2010	present	Miniscale	N/A	OpenData only mapping, designed to show large areas in simple form, and of a similar idea to the earlier Route Planning Map.
2017	2017	Great Britain	1:550,000	Paper map replacement for the 1:625,000 series that started with the Route Planning Map. Only one edition produced by mid-2020.