Ordnance Survey maps

The Ordnance Survey is the national mapping agency of Great Britain. There are large scale maps of the Sheffield area from 1853 to the present day.

Contact us on archives@sheffield.gov.uk to find out more, book in advance or order archival materials.

Location of records

Comprehensive coverage of Sheffield and partial coverage of the surrounding areas is available at Sheffield Local Studies Library. Sheffield Archives have incomplete historic coverage of most of South Yorkshire.

Ordering documents

In Local Studies most maps are available immediately but there may be a short wait for some maps of outlying areas. If you think you may want a photocopy from a large map (most pre-1945 OS maps are large) we advise that you contact us to book a microform reader printer in advance of your visit. Maps are available on request at Sheffield Archives.

Copies

We can normally supply copies for private study purposes, subject to the usual copyright regulations. OS maps published in the last 50 years are subject to Crown Copyright and there are restrictions on copying.

Organisations holding an OS licence must produce it at the time of their order. Please contact us for further information.

Background information

Before the Second World War maps were produced as a County Series at a scale of 6 inches to 1 mile (1:10,560) and 1:2,500 (25 inches to 1 mile). As Sheffield lies on the boundary of Yorkshire and Derbyshire and has extended its boundaries at various times, this sometimes leads to confusion:

• Yorkshire – six-inch maps for this area were first published 1853-55. 1:2,500 maps were published in 1890 and revised in about 1905, 1923 and 1935.
• Derbyshire – six-inch and 1:2,500 maps were first published in 1876 and revised in about 1898, 1923 and 1938.

There are also town plans of Sheffield (these do not cover the whole of the present city):

• 1853 at 1:1056 scale
• 1890-93/1903 at 1:500 scale

Copies of the 1:500 maps, 1889-1904,  are available to view and purchase on www.sheffieldarchivemaps.co.uk.

The National Grid survey began in 1949 and continues to the present day. Maps are available at 1:10,000, 1:2,500 and 1:1,250 scales. Coverage at the largest scales is restricted to Sheffield.

Local Studies also has small scale Ordnance Survey maps of the Sheffield area. National coverage at 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 is available in the Reference & Information section (within the Central Library) and the maps may also available in the lending libraries.

There are also collections of pre- and non-Ordnance Survey maps at Local Studies and Sheffield Archives.

Maps for Planning Applications

Local Studies is unable to supply maps for submission with planning applications.

The required copies can be purchased in association with the planning application that is being submitted from our Planning team.