This is a brief guide to researching maps. Maps are kept in a variety of archives and libraries. The National Archives has more than six million maps and plans ranging from the fourteenth century to the modern day. Look at the map pages on our website to find out even more about maps at The National Archives.
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What records can I see online?
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Census maps (1871)
View digital versions of the original Registration Districtan administrative area in which civil registration and census work takes place maps from the 1871 census (RG 18) on the Cassinimaps (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) website.
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Early Irish maps (c.1558 to c.1610)
Search and download (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) early Irish maps from the State Papers Ireland (MPF 1/35 to 102) in Discovery, our catalogue. The collection comprises over 70 maps depicting plantations, fortifications and townships during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. -
Historic Ordnance Survey maps
View digital versions of old Ordnance Survey maps and other historical maps on commercial websites such as old-maps.co.uk (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.).
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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Foreign Office, Colonial Office and War Office maps and plans (1595-1953)
Search Discovery, our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies, by country or place name for maps and plans from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office and War Office map libraries in FO 925, CO 700 and WO 78.
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Tithe maps and apportionments (1836-1837)
Search our catalogue for Tithe Mapstithe map - a parish map detailing the owner and inhabitants of a piece of land (IR30) and Apportionmentsapportionment - an audit or survey of a piece of land (IR 29) by place name.
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To access these records you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£there will be a charge) or, where you can identify a specific record referencea unique set of letters and numbers identifying a document in The National Archives, order a copy (£there will be a charge).
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What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
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Legal deposit libraries
Visit the British Library map library or other legal deposit libraries to look for specific sheets of known editions and scales of Ordnance Survey maps or Admiralty charts.
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Maps in local archives and libraries
Search the Access to Archives (A2A) and National Register of Archives (NRA) databases to find records held in local archives. Use GOV.UK to find local libraries.
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What other resources will help me find information?
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Websites
Look at the British Cartographic Society's directory of UK map collections.
Read the University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections guide to using historical maps and plans. -
Books
Read Maps for Family and Local History by Geraldine Beech and Rose Mitchell (Public Record Office, 2004).
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Landed estates
Villages and the countryside
Towns and cities