The Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps

The Charles Close Society is assembling a collection of digital images of Ordnance Survey maps and related publications which survive in tiny numbers, and which may thus be at risk of extinction. The images are held in the Map Department, Cambridge University Library, at CCS 218A and 218B. Arrangements for access are posted on the Archive page. Second copies of all those from number 16 onwards may also be viewed by arrangement in the Map Library, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh.

1. One-inch (1:63,360) Third Edition map of Scotland, sheet 104, with hills (CCS 218A/1)
2. One-inch (1:63,360) second edition map of Scotland, sheet 83, with hills (CCS 218A/2)
3. One-inch (1:63,360) second edition map of Scotland, sheet 84, with hills (CCS 218A/3/1)
4. One-inch (1:63,360) Third Edition map of Scotland, sheet 99, with hills (CCS 218A/3/2)
5. One-inch (1:63,360) Third Edition map of Scotland, sheet 105, with hills (CCS 218A/3/3)
6. One-inch (1:63,360) Third Edition map of Scotland, sheet 109, with hills (CCS 218A/3/4)
7. One-inch (1:63,360) Third Edition map of Scotland, sheet 118, with hills (CCS 218A/3/5)

The five third edition maps were all probable casualties of the abandoning in 1911-12 of the publication of hachured versions of the one-inch engraved map. They were probably sheets almost ready for publication at the time, and while given a limited circulation to some university libraries, were never sent to the legal deposit collections, and probably were not sold to the public. The second edition sheets were probably similarly cancelled with publication imminent in third edition. The hills edition of sheet 83 progressed no further; in the event sheet 84 would suffer the same fate of cancellation a second time as a third edition sheet.

From copies in the Map Library, Institute of Geography, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh

8. One-inch (1:63,360) Third Edition map of Ireland, sheet 36, lithographed reprint (CCS 218A/4/1)

See also sheets 33, 45, 101 (nos 51, 52, 53). Though listed in the publication report in March 1915, this map was not sent to legal deposit collections, and has still not been located in engraved form. Two lithographic reprints have been recorded, one of which is now lost.

From a copy in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

9. One-inch (1:63,360) second edition map of Ireland, sheet 129, with hills, without contours (CCS 218A/4/2)

Publication of the second edition map of Ireland with hills was delayed until after the addition of contours to the outline plate. A few second edition hills sheets have been recorded without contours, perhaps made for some internal purpose of the Ordnance Survey. Probably none of them were sold to the public.

From a copy in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

10. One-inch (1:63,360) first edition map of Ireland, sheet 129, republished 1890, with hills (CCS 218A/4/3)

Thirty sheets of the first edition map of Ireland, covering the eastern central area, were republished between 1888 and 1895 based on revision for the second edition of the six-inch map. All were published in outline editions. This one sheet was prepared also in a hills version, but was probably not on public sale.

From a copy in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

13. One-inch (1:63,360) Revised New Series map of England and Wales, sheet 1, with hills (CCS 218A/4/6)

The preparation of separate hills plates had yet to be completed for just a handful of sheets in northern England in 1903-4 as the Third Edition of the one-inch map superseded the Revised New Series. Thus sheets 1, 4, 5 were first published in hills editions in the Third Edition of the New Series: these copies printed later on the Revised New Series map are at present the only ones recorded.

From copies in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

14. One-inch (1:63,360) first edition map of Scotland, sheet 99, outline edition, incomplete (CCS 218A/5/1)

This sheet was first issued as one of seven sheets in the separate Isle of Lewis series in 1858. The Harris portion of the sheet was added early in the 1880s, in this version without waterlining, vegetation and very few contours. The imprint was altered again when the sheet was published in 1884.

From a copy in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

15. GSGS 3907 England and Wales one-inch (1:63,360) War Revision sheet 74 (CCS 218A/5/2)

‘ARP’ revision was added to the military one-inch map of England and Wales, and Scotland, which were then published as War Revision, probably beginning June 1940. By December 1940 the more refined Second War Revision was already being printed. Nine sheets were apparently never issued in War Revision form, but directly in Second War Revision. A handful of others were briefly available in War Revision before being cancelled: War Revision sheet 74 is thus recorded in this unique copy.

From a copy in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

16. One-inch (1:63,360) Old Series map of England and Wales, sheet 37 (CCS 218A/6)
This is one of four Old Series sheets (the others are 13, 36 and 41) which are known to have been engraved around 1820-1, but which were rejected and wholly re-engraved before eventual publication in 1830-33. This is the only one of the four unpublished sheets which has been found so far. As compared with the published version, the text is rather more bold, and the hachuring is less refined. The published version also incorporates various topographic and placename revisions, and is probably planimetrically more reliable.

From a copy in a private collection

17. GSGS 4136 Ireland one-inch (1:63,360) sheet 336, first edition (CCS 218A/7)
18. GSGS 4136 Ireland one-inch (1:63,360) sheet 314, first edition (CCS 218A/8/1)

The intention to publish the military one-inch map of Ireland in the standard 205 sheets was cancelled in June 1940 and the large sheet GSGS 4136 in 76 sheets was published instead. The first edition was superseded by the second within weeks, and before the end of 1940 the third edition was already in progress. Thus sheets of the second edition are uncommon, and those of the first edition almost non-existent: six single copies have been recorded so far. These are two of those six.

From copies in a private collection

19. One-inch (1:63,360) New Series map of England and Wales, sheet 271, zincographed (CCS 218A/8/2)
20. One-inch (1:63,360) New Series map of England and Wales, sheet 272, zincographed (CCS 218A/9/1)

See also sheet 273 (no.40). When the New Series was authorised in 1872 it was anticipated that it would follow the now established pattern of being published first in an outline edition, and later in an alternative version with hills, both being produced by engraving. However, it was anticipated that some sheets might be needed for military purposes sooner than the hills could be engraved, and so a provisional zincographed version was also authorised. In the event very few of these seem to have been produced. The hills of these two sheets are in brown and were printed from transfers to zinc. No copies of the first printings are known to survive, these reprints being issued in 1892-3.

From copies in a private collection

21. One-inch (1:63,360) map of England and Wales, sheet 161, temporary advance edition with hills (CCS 218A/9/2)

Hill engraving took so long to accomplish that the Ordnance Survey determined upon the temporary measure of issuing an advance edition of England and Wales sheets with hills printed from transfers to zinc. The programme began with this sheet 161 in 1892. That it seems not to have reached legal deposit collections, nor gone on sale to the public may have been caused by its erroneous appearance in the publication report as sheet 162; thus two copies in private collections are the only ones so far recorded. The advance edition of sheet 161 was published in a second form late in 1894.

From a copy in a private collection

22. GSGS 3036 England 2½-inch (1:25,344) sheet 128E, with British system grid (CCS 218A/10)

See also sheets 85NE (no.79), 128W (no.70). The life of the military map of East Anglia at the real 2½-inch scale was extended after the first world war until the second in two phases: first, in 1925 by adding the British system grid, then, in 1931, adopting instead the Modified British system grid. In 1935 there were instructions to call in and destroy all surviving copies of the 1925 map. None are held by the Military Survey collection now in the British Library: this copy is a rare survivor of this process.

From a copy in a private collection

23. Six-inch (1:10,560) London and its environs, sheet 7, with experimental hachures (CCS 218A/11)

The skeleton map of London surveyed in 1848-50 was published at three scales, at 1:1056 in 487 sheets, at 1:5280 in 44 sheets, and at the six-inch nominally in 16 sheets. It was an outline map showing only building frontages, street names and altitude information. This particular copy has brown hachures, presumably applied for some experimental purpose since they do not conform to the undulations of the land covered.

From a copy in the Map Library, School of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Birmingham

24. One-inch (1:63,360) map of England and Wales, sheet 144 Plymouth, 1914 (CCS 218A/12)

In 1914 the Ordnance Survey published for official use copies of the 'Aldershot North' and 'Aldershot South' district sheets coloured with the delicate array of hachuring, hills shading and contouring in the style made famous for its appearance in 1913 on 'Killarney District'. Copies of these sheets are relatively well known. This 'Plymouth' sheet, also for official use, is on the sheet lines of sheet 144 of the forthcoming Popular Edition, and in the same colouring as the Aldershot sheets, but is previously not recorded.

From a copy in a private collection

25. Half-inch (1:126,720) map of England and Wales, sheet 36 (CCS 218A/13)

The same experimental colouring, with the array of hachuring, hillshading and contouring to represent the hills, as has been applied to several one-inch maps (Killarney, Dorking & Leith Hill, Aldershot North, Aldershot South, Plymouth, Torquay, Glasgow, Ilkley) is seen here at the half-inch scale on a previously unrecorded copy of sheet 36 'Plymouth, Torquay & Exeter', printed in 1919. The sheet lines are also unique. The base-map has been re-compiled and re-engraved, and is the only known example of the re-engraving of this map intended in 1914, but evidently aborted by the first world war.

From a copy in a private collection

26. One-inch (1:63,360) Old Series map of England and Wales, sheet 107NE (CCS 218A/14/1)

The one-inch Old Series map in northern England was much in demand, in many cases before it was available. There are many examples in existence of sheets printed before some features, usually contours, waterlining, wood and rough pasture infill, had been engraved. A few of these have the handwritten “Unfinished copy”, usually on hills copies which lack also the hachures. This is an example. The parish name ARTH[URET] is also handwritten.

From a copy in a private collection

27. GSGS 3907 England and Wales one-inch (1:63,360) Second War Revision 104, with layers (CCS 218A/14/2)
28. GSGS 3907 England and Wales one-inch (1:63,360) Second War Revision 105, with layers (CCS 218A/15)
29. GSGS 3907 England and Wales one-inch (1:63,360) Second War Revision 112, with layers (CCS 218A/16)
30. GSGS 3907 England and Wales one-inch (1:63,360) Second War Revision 113, with layers (CCS 218A/17)
31. GSGS 3907 England and Wales one-inch (1:63,360) Second War Revision 122, with layers (CCS 218A/18)
32. GSGS 3907 England and Wales one-inch (1:63,360) Second War Revision 123, with layers (CCS 218A/19)

In 1947 the Staff College requested copies of one-inch sheets with the addition of layers, for the training of officers. These six Second War Revision sheets were supplied.

From copies in a private collection

33. Six-inch Suffolk sheet 74SW, with experimental hachures (CCS 218A/21/1)

This is a copy of the first edition sheet published in 1889, with horizontal hachures experimentally applied to the western half. It is not known when these were added. The eastern half is in the standard specification.

From a copy now in the Map Department, Cambridge University Library, at Maps.aa.G.014.5

34. One-inch (1:63,360) Aldershot Area (North) (CCS 218A/22)
35. One-inch (1:63,360) Aldershot Area (North) [with list of hunts] (CCS 218A/21/2)
36. One-inch (1:63,360) Aldershot Area (South) (CCS 218A/23/2)
37. One-inch (1:63,360) Aldershot Area (South) [with list of hunts] (CCS 218A/23/1)

In 1923 the first single map covering the Aldershot Command at the one-inch scale was published, but evidently there remained a requirement for a north/south pair of district maps, forming part of a sequence of such maps published in 1905, 1914, 1919 and 1932. The publication date of this version is not given and these reprints dated from 1926, marked up by hand with the meeting points of hunts in the area. There are second copies in which the list of hunts attached to each sheet is revealed.

From copies in a private collection

38. One-inch (1:63,360) New Series map of England and Wales, sheet 255, coloured (CCS 218A/24/1)
39. One-inch (1:63,360) New Series map of England and Wales, sheet 274, coloured (CCS 218A/24/2)

Possibly the earliest attempt of the Ordnance Survey to publish a one-inch map in colour, these two New Series sheets were issued in 1887 with outline in black, water in blue and contours in red. They were probably purely experimental, there being no indication either in publication reports or catalogues that they were intended for public sale. Two copies of each sheet only are recorded.

From copies now in the Map Department, Cambridge University Library, at Maps.aa.G.014.3 and at Maps.aa.G.014.2

40. One-inch (1:63,360) New Series map of England and Wales, sheet 273, with grey horizontal hachures (CCS 218A/24/3)

See also sheets 271 and 272 (nos 19, 20). When the New Series was authorised in 1872 it was anticipated that it would follow the now established pattern of being published first in an outline edition, and later in an alternative version with hills, both being produced by engraving. However, it was anticipated that some sheets might be needed for military purposes sooner than the hills could be engraved, and so a provisional zincographed version was also authorised. In the event very few of these seem to have been produced. The hills of this sheet are in the form of grey ‘horizontal hachures’, or form-lines, and were printed from transfers to zinc. It was printed in 1886.

From a copy now in the Map Department, Cambridge University Library, at Maps.aa.G.014.4

41. One-inch (1:63,360) Isle of Wight (CCS 218A/25/1)

In September 1852 a ‘revision’ of the Isle of Wight was authorised, which seems to have taken the form of a complete resurvey, mostly at the two-inch (1:31,680) scale, but with the Queen’s estate at Osborne remapped at the 24-inch (1:2640) scale. The resurvey was engraved in outline form in the second half of the 1850s, but then work was suspended and was never resumed: this may have been because of a further resurvey of the island at 1:2500 which began in 1859 for defence planning purposes, followed by the development of the ‘New Series’ one-inch on different sheet lines. Three copies of this map are known, an original of circa 1859 in The National Archives (Public Record Office), and two copies printed in 1909, of which this is one. These later copies have been subjected to security treatment: four forts have been deleted.

From a copy now in the Map Department, Cambridge University Library, at Maps.aa.G.014.1

42. One-inch (1:63,360) Glasgow and its environs (CCS 218A/25/2)

This sheet, printed by lithography, was listed in the publication report of August 1885. No copies of the original printing have been recorded, and only one so far of this 1889 reprint.

From a copy in a private collection

43. London two-inch (1:31,680) sheet 1 (CCS 218A/26)
44. London two-inch (1:31,680) sheet 2 (CCS 218A/27)
45. London two-inch (1:31,680) sheet 3 (CCS 218A/28)
46. London two-inch (1:31,680) sheet 4 (CCS 218A/29)
47. London two-inch (1:31,680) sheet 5 (CCS 218A/30)
48. London two-inch (1:31,680) sheet 6 (CCS 218A/31)

In 1923 the Ordnance Survey published their Ministry of Transport maps of England and Wales, and Scotland, at the half-inch (1:126,720) scale. These were outline maps with classified roads overprinted in red and green. As part of this programme a six-sheet map of the London area was published at the two-inch scale. The source map used was evidently this “not for public use” map printed in 1920 in grey outline, with water in blue and contours in brown.

From copies in a private collection

49. One-inch (1:63,360) New Series map of England and Wales, sheet 284, with hills (CCS 218A/32/1)

This is an unused engraving made in about 1883, some five years earlier than the published version. Apparently signed by H Baker, the engraver of the outline and ornament elements.

From a copy in a private collection

50. One-inch (1:63,360) Belfast (Large Sheet) (CCS 218A/32/2)

An 1871 correspondence between Ordnance Survey officers reveals that while it was considered desirable to publish the one-inch map of Ireland in full sheet format, it was impractical either to cancel the quarter sheets or to publish the map in two different sizes. Publication of this Belfast full sheet, being ready, was however permitted. This is the only known copy, unfortunately seriously defective.

From a copy in a private collection

51. One-inch (1:63,360) Third Edition map of Ireland, sheet 33, lithographed reprint (CCS 218A/34/1)
52. One-inch (1:63,360) Third Edition map of Ireland, sheet 45, lithographed reprint (CCS 218A/34/2)
53. One-inch (1:63,360) Third Edition map of Ireland, sheet 101, engraved (CCS 218A/34/3)

See also sheet 36 (no.8). Sheets 33 and 45 were listed in the May 1915 publication report; sheet 101 was printed in 1917, but none of these sheets were sent to legal deposit collections. Sheet 33 (and 36) have still not been located in engraved form, and just a single engraved copy of each of the other two is known (the engraved copy of sheet 45 has recently been discovered in the Map Library, Trinity College, Dublin).

From copies in the University Library, Glasgow

54. One-inch (1:63,360) first edition map of Scotland, sheet 20, outline (CCS 218A/35)

This sheet was first published with coverage of Kintyre and Gigha, but not Islay. This copy was printed in August 1876 with an imprint naming Sir Henry James as Superintendent; two months later the generally available printing was published which named Major General Cameron as Director General.

From a copy in the University Library, Glasgow

55. GSGS 2748 1:20,000 artillery training map Stonehenge (CCS 218A/36)
56. GSGS 2748 1:20,000 artillery training map Tilshead (CCS 218A/37)
57. GSGS 2748 1:20,000 artillery training map Kilmarnock (CCS 218A/38/1)

Nearly two hundred artillery training maps were published during the first world war. With few exceptions they were at a standard scale of 1:20,000, and were district maps photo-reduced from County Series six-inch (1:10,560) maps. Standard sheet coverage was 17,500 by 10,950 yards (effectively 16 by 10 km); most maps were printed in black with contours at 5 metre intervals in brown. They were originally classified GSGS 2742a (the number reserved for the 1:20,000 Western Front maps, the suffix “a” implying the overprinted squaring system), then allocated their own number, GSGS 2748. Most of the known surviving artillery training maps are in the two-volume set in the British Library (Maps 150.d.14). These volumes largely comprise late printings, and earlier ones, such as these three, are very rare indeed.

From copies in the University Library, Glasgow

58. One-inch (1:63,360) first edition map of Scotland, sheet 13, with hills, incomplete (CCS 218A/39/1)

This sheet was first published with the Ayrshire area mapped, but not the Isle of Arran. This copy was printed in June 1870, by which date the island had been added, though the hachures had yet to be engraved

From a copy in the collection of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society

59. One-inch (1:63,360) first edition map of Scotland, sheet 21, outline, incomplete (CCS 218A/39/2)

As first published the Ayrshire area was mapped, but not Argyll and very little of Bute. This is a copy printed in July 1868 on which the Islands of Arran, Bute and Inchmarnock have been added, but still not Kintyre.

From a copy in the collection of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society

60. One-inch (1:63,360) first edition map of Scotland, sheet 29, outline, incomplete (CCS 218A/40/1)

As first published the Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Ayrshire areas of this sheet were mapped, but as yet not Argyll or the Island of Bute. This is a copy printed in September 1868.

From a copy in the collection of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society

61. One-inch (1:63,360) first edition map of Scotland, sheet 67, outline, incomplete (CCS 218A/40/2)

An incomplete printing, lacking contours, vegetation, parish names and waterlining, this copy was issued in about 1869, some two years before the date of publication of the map complete.

From a copy in the collection of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society

62. One-inch (1:63,360) first edition map of Scotland, sheet 32, with zones of altitudes (CCS 218A/41/1)

An alternative to showing hill forms by hachuring is demonstrated in this sheet, where the contours have been ‘illuminated’, or ‘shaded’, as it is sometimes termed, to give the effect of relief built up by steps, rather like a relief model built up by blocks. Scotland sheet 32 was published in this style in June 1858. This is one of three recorded copies showing the sheet still in preparation, with the levels hand-coloured in increasing intensities of brown. Similar experimental work had been undertaken earlier in Ireland, and ten years later one-inch sheets covering the English Lake Districts were prepared to accompany the report of a Royal Commission on Water Supply. A block ten sheets were made to supply the district maps required; of those ten, nine were later sold to the public.

From a copy in the collection of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society

63. One-inch (1:63,360) first edition map of Scotland sheet 98, outline (CCS 218A/41/2)

As first published in 1858 the Lewis area of this sheet was mapped, but not the Harris. This copy printed in July 1883 is the earliest recorded to show Harris in addition. This version was apparently deemed unsatisfactory, and when finally published in September 1884, the sheet had different lettering and a different imprint from those shown here.

From a copy in the collection of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society

64. Quarter-inch (1:253,440) map of (northern) Ireland composite with military grid (CCS 218B/42/1)
65. Quarter-inch (1:253,440) map of (central) Ireland composite with military grid (CCS 218B/42/2)
66. Quarter-inch (1:253,440) map of Ireland sheet 14 with military grid (CCS 218B/44/1)

In about 1930, Captain James Flynn and Lieut Hugh O’Neill, members of the Topographical Section, General Staff of the Irish Republic, prepared a 'Memorandum on the steps involved in the production of a 1:20,000 map of Ireland from the existing large-scale Ordnance Survey plans'. The result was a map laid out in 513 sheets. Of these only six were published, four in 1934-5 and these four again, together with two more, in 1939-40 in a revised specification. The origin of the map was at 53°30' N, 8° W, the same as that in use on Ordnance Survey national maps of Ireland. A new metric grid was adopted, calculated from a false origin 189,000 metres west and 234,000 metres south of the true origin. It was overprinted in red at 1 km intervals. The same grid, at 10 km intervals, was overprinted on the sixteen sheet quarter-inch map of Ireland, for use of Air Corps and artillery training. The one set of these gridded quarter-inch maps known were assembled into three composite sheets covering the north, centre and south of the country, leaving only the original sheet 14 separate. At present the southern composite has not been recorded.

From copies in a private collection

67. GSGS 3775 1:20,000 Grantown-on-Spey (CCS 218B/43/1)

The standard 1:20,000 military map of Great Britain was GSGS 2748, begun in 1918, and was constructed on Cassini’s Projection on the origin of Dunnose. Nearly one hundred series sheets were in print by 1930 when the decision was taken to alter the scale from 1:20,000 to 1:25,000, the grid from the British system to the Modified British system, A new GSGS number was allocated, 3906. The true origin of the grid was the same as the map, at Dunnose on the Isle of Wight. GSGS 3775 'Grantown-on-Spey' was a special 1:20,000 mapped in the style of the GSGS 2748 regular edition. The principal point of distinction between this and the national map is the use of a local grid, overprinted in purple at 1000 yard intervals, parallel and perpendicular to the sheet lines. The reason for the use of this local grid is at present unknown; the map may have been made for a local military exercise in 1925.

From a copy in a private collection

68. One-inch (1:63,360) Forres special sheet (CCS 218B/43/2)

At the time of the publication of the Charles Close Society book 'Military Maps' in 2004, no one-inch third edition map either of England and Wales or Scotland had been located with a military grid. Now this special map of Forres has been recorded, presumably made for a military exercise in 1926, some time before the Popular Edition sheets of this area had been published. This copy is a 1928 reprint; the principal point of distinction between this and the civilian parent is that the hachures have been deleted. Overprinted in purple is the standard War Office Cassini British system grid, its origin at Dunnose, which was in use until 1931.

From a copy in a private collection

69. One-inch (1:63,360) map of Ireland sheet 49 (CCS 218B/44/2)

The '1” provisional edition for military purposes only' of Ireland was apparently initiated in 1915. Special features incorporated as required by the War Office were the division of the border into two-inch alpha-numeric blocks, no doubt for referencing purposes, magnetic variation data, and contours overprinted in red. The number of sheets recorded even now is still in single figures, and there is no record of whether the map had national coverage, or merely of areas of interest to the military. In the preparation of the one-inch map of Northern Ireland, GSGS 3917, in 1932, the Ordnance Survey in Southampton reused the red contour plates made for this edition, insofar as they existed.

From a copy now donated to the Charles Close Society Archive – CCS L24/38

70. GSGS 3036 England 2½-inch (1:25,344) sheet 128W, with British system grid (CCS 218B/42/5)

See also sheets 85NE (no.79), 128E (no.22). The life of the military map of East Anglia at the real 2½-inch scale was extended after the first world war until the second in two phases: first, in 1925 by adding the British system grid, then, in 1931, adopting instead the Modified British system grid. In 1935 there were instructions to call in and destroy all surviving copies of the 1925 map. None are held by the Military Survey collection now in the British Library: this copy is a rare survivor of this process.

From a copy in a private collection

71. Quarter-inch (1:253,440) Great Britain Third Edition sheet 1 (Royal Air Force Special Edition) (CCS 218B/43/3)
72. Quarter-inch (1:253,440) Scotland Third Edition sheet 2 (Royal Air Force Special Edition) (CCS 218B/43/4)
73. Quarter-inch (1:253,440) Scotland Third Edition sheet 4 (Royal Air Force Special Edition) (CCS 218B/43/5)
74. Quarter-inch (1:253,440) Scotland Third Edition sheet 6 (Royal Air Force Special Edition) (CCS 218B/43/6)
75. Quarter-inch (1:253,440) Scotland Third Edition sheet 8 (Royal Air Force Special Edition) (CCS 218B/43/7)
76. Quarter-inch (1:253,440) Scotland Third Edition sheet 9 (Royal Air Force Special Edition) (CCS 218B/43/8)
77. Quarter-inch (1:253,440) Scotland Third Edition sheet 10 (Royal Air Force Special Edition) (CCS 218B/43/9)

The earliest known Ordnance Survey aviation maps were based on the quarter-inch second editions, without hill shading or graticule, and sectioned usually into twelve-inch square sheets, including marginalia at the top. They were issued in the form of Air Packets by the Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division for the use of pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service during the first world war. Following a few experimental sheets, a new national map, covering both England and Wales, and Scotland, was published on the new Third Edition map, beginning in 1925. The specification was revised, enhancing features of particular use to aviators. The earliest version, the 'Royal Air Force Special Edition', was for the use of both service and civilian pilots, and had a two-inch alpha-numeric squaring system in black. This was superseded within three years by maps prepared separately for civilians (with a graticule) and the services (with the War Office Cassini Grid). Very few copies of the 1925 map even of England and Wales seem to survive, and rarer still are the sheets covering Scotland.

From copies in a private collection

78. One-inch (1:63,360) New Forest, 1945 proof, with National Grid (CCS 218B/45)

The one-inch 'New Forest' tourist map was published in 1938, based on Fifth Edition drawings. Although carrying the yard grid which was current at the time, the map was actually laid out on sheet lines conforming with the new metric grid which had been one of the recommendations of the Davidson Committee. But for the war, the National Grid, as it came to be known, might have come into use in 1939; in the event its first appearance at the one-inch scale was delayed until 1945. 'New Forest' was one of several pre-war tourist and district maps that the Ordnance Survey had plans to issue in the years following the war, but as with most of them was to suffer loss of priority and in the event to be cancelled. But not before the map reached proof stage, and a single copy of the map in proof form, carrying the National Grid for which it had been designed, is known to survive.

From a copy now transferred to the Charles Close Society Archive – CCS L101/4.

79. GSGS 3036 England 2½-inch sheet 85NE, with British system grid (CCS 218B/47/1)

See also sheets 128E (no.22), 128W (no.70). The life of the military map of East Anglia at the real 2½-inch scale was extended after the first world war until the second in two phases: first, in 1925 by adding the British system grid, then, in 1931, adopting instead the Modified British system grid. In 1935 there were instructions to call in and destroy all surviving copies of the 1925 map. None are held by the Military Survey collection now in the British Library: this copy is a rare survivor of this process. This is one of the early 1914 sheets issued in the original specification which included a confidential red plate, showing telegraph and telephone lines, identifying steep slopes along roads and giving the width of bridges and culverts, highlighting churches and describing the viewing potential from high ground. This was deleted by 1925, but it is noteworthy that the military information present on the green and blue plates was unaffected. Changes to the black plate included the addition of a GSGS number and new adjoining sheet diagrams. There was some revision within the neatline, including the deletion of the population figure for Cambridge (doubtless out of date). Strangely the renaming of railways caused by grouping was ignored.

From a copy in a private collection

80. Six-inch military and police map of Belfast, 1921 (CCS 218B/47/2)

Compiled from six-inch sheets revised in 1901-2, and set slightly north and east of County Down sheet 4. The map is overprinted in blue with the county borough boundary and a key to police barracks, and in red with police districts and military concentration and blocking points. Catholic areas are shaded green. Also overprinted in red is an alpha-numeric three-inch grid.

From a copy in a private collection

81. GSGS (Air) 112 International aeronautical maps of the world, conventional signs for the basic maps (CCS 218B/47/3)
82. GSGS (Air) 111a International aeronautical maps of the world, conventional signs for aerial information (black) plates, plate I (CCS 218B/47/4)
83. GSGS (Air) 111b International aeronautical maps of the world, conventional signs for aerial information (black) plates, plate II (CCS 218B/47/5)
84. GSGS (Air) 111c International aeronautical maps of the world, conventional signs for aerial information (black) plates, plate III (CCS 218B/47/6)
85. GSGS (Air) 111d International aeronautical maps of the world, amendment sheet (CCS 218B/47/7)
86. GSGS (Air) 111e International aeronautical maps of the world, elaboration sheet (CCS 218B/47/8)

The GSGS (Air) series was established at the end of the First World War, the earliest known publications appearing in 1920. The series was numbered from 100 only as far as 136, totalling between 45 and 50 published items, and comprising maps, indexes, conventional sign charts, wavelength charts, air routes and a few other items. Several of these have yet to be recorded in even a single copy. The new quarter-inch map of Great Britain was to have played its part, overprinted with air information, with proofs of sheets 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 being recorded in 1921. However only sheets 11 and 12 reached publication. The most commonly found survivors of this series are the International General Aeronautical Maps, a collaborative effort with foreign military authorities, including French and South African. Seven sheets extending from Eastern Europe and across the Middle East and into Africa were published by the War Office as part of this series, and in addition a special sheet entitled 'Britain'. Other than a second copy of GSGS (Air) 111b in the British Library, what are presented here are the only known copies of the conventional sign charts for this series; of particular interest are the manuscript annotations incorporated as the specification for the series developed. The GSGS (Air) series seems to have survived only until 1925: later issues of its maps were allocated numbers in the standard GSGS series, and the final item in the list, the 1:1 million 'Aerodrome location map – British Isles', GSGS (Air) 136, was published as GSGS 3787, in 1926.

From copies in a private collection

87. One-inch sheet 120, on Popular Edition sheet lines, 1916 (CCS 218B/47/9)
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“He (i.e. Charles Close as Director General) did a number of experiments, amongst which the Killarney sheet is the best known. To my mind, however, the most useful thing he produced as an experiment was a map of Somersetshire (Bridgwater) which now hangs in the office of O.Maps. A quite beautiful bit of work. These experiments went on for some time, and I remember them vividly….and was privileged to talk a good deal to Close about his ideas.” So wrote H StJ L Winterbotham as he retired as Director General in 1934, in 'Sidelights', the confidential handover notes he wrote for his successor M N MacLeod.
It is probable, though unproven, that these notes refer to this copy of sheet 120. For further information on the historical background and the enhanced colour techniques used, readers are directed to Richard Oliver’s comments in Sheetlines 32 (1992), 6, and to Yolande Hodson, Popular Maps, London: Charles Close Society, 1999, 26-7. There is a copy of 'Sidelights' in Cambridge University Library at CCS 403/5.

From a copy in a private collection

88. Ordnance Survey Characteristic Sheet for the Six Inch and One Inch Plans (CCS 218B/47/10)

This characteristic sheet, for many years untitled, is recorded in printings back at least to 1852, and there is a strong possibility that the earliest versions would have been engraved without the altitude and geological information added by then. It is one of a pair with one showing 'Examples for the Characters of the Writing to the Ordnance Map of the Scale of 6 Inches to a Mile'. It would appear that the title was added to the present sheet by 1881, and there is a copy in the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. with an embossed printing date stamp of July 1882 that appears to be the same as the present example in all aspects except that the symbol for fort is present there, and lacking here. Other points of chronological interest are the presence of the term “main road”, formally introduced in 1878, footpaths represented by double dotted lines, which were superseded by single line pecks by 1886, and the presence of the new single line with crossbars symbol for tramways, replacing the earlier narrowly spaced parallel lines on the one-inch in 1886.

From a copy in a private collection

89. One-inch Old Series map of England and Wales, Isle of Man – unfinished impression (CCS 218B/48)

This, the final Old Series sheet, was published in outline form in December 1873 and with hills in February 1874. Significantly, between the two, in January 1874 falls the publication date of the first New Series sheet, 285, and with it the start of the demise of the Old Series. Thus the Isle of Man sheet, nominally Old Series sheet 100, would never carry this sheet number – indeed no number at all until 1881-2 when New Series numbers were finally added to the Old Series sheets still in use north of the Preston to Hull line. This is the earliest known printing of the map, annotated Unfinished in a contemporary hand. Incomplete elements include the border, the only lines drawn being those parallel to the neatline, with ticks added for the latitude and longitude values. Also missing are the rough ground and wood ornament, spot heights, trig heights and even some trig points. Sand ornament is complete only round the NE quarter. The name Isle of Man has yet to be engraved, also a handful of other names, the New Series cutting lines, and the sheet diagrams in the lower margin.

From a copy in a private collection