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How to guides

About the maps

Table of Contents

How do I know which map I am viewing?

You can check which map you are viewing in Map Information, found at the bottom of the sidebar. The Map Product field tells you the name of the map on display in the map window.

Image of map information panel in the sidebar

Maps of Great Britain

Ordnance Survey maps

High-quality Ordnance Survey (OS) maps are at the heart of Digimap for Schools. Available for the whole of Great Britain, from regional maps to large-scale building outlines, with OS maps you can be confident in the accuracy and detail of your map. As you zoom in and out of your location, the map window automatically displays an OS map that is suitable for your scale.

Which OS maps are available?

Image of OS MasterMap mapping, centred on Sheffield High School.

How often are the OS maps updated?

The OS maps are regularly updated.

Historical maps

What date are the historical maps?

Two different time periods of historical maps are available in Digimap for Schools - 1890s and 1950s.

1890s

The 1890s maps represent Victorian Britain just before the turn of the century. The age of the maps range from 1895 - 1899. It’s not possible to know the exact date of the map you are viewing through Digimap for Schools, it should be viewed as being a map representing the land and features during the 1890s.

1890s map of the Isle of Dogs in London.

1950s

The 1950s maps show post-war Britain in the last “one-inch to the mile” map before the introduction of 1:50,000 mapping. The 1950s maps are particularly useful in showing an overview of landscape features and for comparing change between 1890s and today.

Who provides the historic maps?

The National Library of Scotland provides the maps.

Aerial maps

Who provides the aerial maps?

GetMapping provide the aerial photography.

Aerial image of Hyde Park in London.

Global maps

OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by a community of mappers who collect and maintain map data on buildings, transport and much more.

Image of a map of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, using OpenStreetMap mapping.

Collins Bartholomew World Panorama

World Panorama is a comprehensive world reference map, giving an accurate picture of political geography.

World Panorama map of the Netherlands.

Natural Earth

Natural Earth is a publicly available map of the world, built by volunteers and supported by the North American Cartographic Information Society.

Map of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, using Natural Earth mapping.