3a2203d6-ce4f-e0f9-e063-3050940a34d6 English dataset British Geological Survey +44 131 667 1000 The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South EDINBURGH LOTHIAN EH14 4AP United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk pointOfContact 2026-05-06 UK GEMINI 2.3 http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13608438 OSGB 1936 / British National Grid (EPSG::27700) WGS 84 / UTM zone 29N (EPSG::32629) WGS 84 (EPSG::4326) BGS Maps Database 2015 creation http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13608438 The BGS database of geological maps is an index into BGS holdings of modern and historical published geological maps, geological standards and field slips, and also contains a range of other map series, including geophysical maps, geochemical maps, hydrogeological maps, thematic maps and other small-scale miscellaneous non-series maps. Historical vertical and horizontal sections, as well as indices to colours, are also included. The database comprises map metadata, including the title, theme, survey and revision years, publication years, mapped geological theme, base material, map function, colouration, approval status and the spatial extent of each map sheet. An accompanying file store contains high-resolution JPEG2000 scans for delivery, as well as various digital master and delivery formats. For a small number of maps, no scan exists. In total, the database contains over 240,000 scans of over 130,000 maps and field slips. The majority of the maps in the database cover Great Britain, but other regions are also represented, including a historical series of 1-inch maps of Ireland, 6-inch maps of the Isle of Man, 1:25 000 scale maps of the Channel Islands, and various overseas maps. The database contains a record of all geological maps produced by the British Geological Survey and its predecessors since the commencement of systematic geological mapping in the 1830s. The BGS Maps Database is mostly an archive of previous BGS maps, and is not the same as the latest BGS digital mapping. The maps within the database may differ significantly from BGS digital vector mapping. Further information about BGS digital vector mapping is available on the BGS website, under 'BGS Datasets'. The database has evolved over time, originally being a series of discrete databases. These databases have now been aggregated into a single dataset. BGS published maps, as well as 1:10 560 and 1:10 000 large-scale geological maps of England and Wales, and Scotland, are available through the BGS Maps Portal. Field slips and some thematic maps are not included on the BGS Maps Portal. The information about a map is normally a transcription from the map itself. Sometimes key information such as the title may not be actually printed on the map. Where this is the case the information is supplied in square brackets, e.g. [Kirk Maiden]. Information in square brackets means the information is supplied by the cataloguer and is not transcribed from the item. Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3142 0115 936 3276 The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South EDINBURGH LOTHIAN EH14 4AP United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk distributor Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3142 0115 936 3276 The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South EDINBURGH LOTHIAN EH14 4AP United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk owner Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3142 0115 936 3276 The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South EDINBURGH LOTHIAN EH14 4AP United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk pointOfContact asNeeded https://resources.bgs.ac.uk/images/geonetworkThumbs/3a2203d6-ce4f-e0f9-e063-3050940a34d6.png Geology GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 publication Field geology Maps Aerial geophysical surveys Historical geology Hydrogeological maps Field maps Geological maps Geochemical maps History of geology BGS Thesaurus of Geosciences 2022 revision UK Location (INSPIRE) dataCentre NERC_DDC otherRestrictions no limitations restricted The dataset has been formally approved by BGS for access by external clients under a BGS Digital Data Licence, issued via BGS's IPR Section. The dataset must not be provided to, or be accessible by, an external client until the IPR Section confirms that signed licence documentation is in place. Refer to the IPR Section (DigitalLE@bgs.ac.) if further advice is required. The dataset is made freely available for access, e.g. via the Internet. Either no third party data / information is contained in the dataset or BGS has secured written permission from the owner(s) of any third party data / information contained in the dataset to make the dataset freely accessible. otherRestrictions The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused. Either: (i) the dataset is made freely available, e.g. via the Internet, for a restricted category of use (e.g. educational use only); or (ii) the dataset has not been formally approved by BGS for access and use by external clients under licence, but its use may be permitted under alternative formal arrangements; or (iii) the dataset contains 3rd party data or information obtained by BGS under terms and conditions that must be consulted in order to determine the permitted usage of the dataset. Refer to the BGS staff member responsible for the creation of the dataset if further advice is required. He / she should be familiar with the composition of the dataset, particularly with regard to 3rd party IPR contained in it, and any resultant use restrictions. This staff member should revert to the IPR Section (ipr@bgs.ac.uk) for advice, should the position not be clear. Available under the Open Government Licence subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced NERC materials "Contains NERC materials ©NERC [year]" vector 10000 10560 25000 50000 63360 250000 500000 625000 1000000 English geoscientificInformation ISO 3166_1 alpha-3 2009 revision GB British Geological Survey Gazetteer: Geographical hierarchy from Geosaurus 1979 creation UK [id=139300] ISO 3166_2 2009 revision UKM British Geological Survey Gazetteer: Geographical hierarchy from Geosaurus 1979 creation WORLD [id=100000] -8.6500 1.7800 49.8500 60.8800 -180.0000 180.0000 -90.0000 90.0000 1830 PDF Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3142 0115 936 3276 The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South EDINBURGH LOTHIAN EH14 4AP United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk distributor https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/data/MapsPortal/ WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link BGS Maps portal The BGS Maps Portal provides access to over 45 000 high-resolution viewing images of almost all the small, medium and large scale maps produced by the BGS since mapping started in 1832 right up to the most recent maps released in 2020. It incorporates all the earlier maps and history pages that were previously made available through the BGS ‘Historical maps of the Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland’ web resource. search dataset dataset INSPIRE Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements for the interoperability and harmonisation of Geology 2011 publication See the referenced specification false Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 publication See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF false The database is an aggregation of a variety of previous databases and map indexes which have been created through the history of the Geological Survey. Paper copies of many maps and field slips are held in the National Geoscience Data Centre at BGS offices in Keyworth and Edinburgh. Almost all paper copies available were scanned from 2004 to 2016 using usual BGS imaging practices (usually to 300 dpi), and the scans have been linked to the metadata contained within the database. Because of the large number of scans, it has not been possible to check every scan individually, but subsample / spot checks have performed, and image processing (cropping and rotation) errors are corrected on an ad-hoc basis. In some cases, especially for BGS published maps, maps may have more than one scan, which is usually a different paper copy of the same map. The database contains different types of maps, created for different purposes, and at different times spanning the 180+ year history of systematic geological survey in the United Kingdom. The geological data shown on the maps themselves were collected and compiled in different ways, and have undergone a variety of different checking and approval processes, depending on the series of map. Refer to the metadata entry for each specific map series for more information.