England & Wales Old Series 1 inch List

The Geological Survey maps of the Old Series maps were first issued in Devon in 1834-35, the rest of the West Country in 1839-50 and for the rest of England and Wales from 1848-98. The Old Series layout and numbering system for England and Wales derived from the Ordnance Survey’s (OS) first edition topographic map which, beginning in 1805, reflected the priority of preparing for Napoleonic invasion and also a certain London-centricity. The numbering began east of London on the Thames estuary, followed the coast line of Kent and Sussex, then zig-zagged westward until Cornwall and the Bristol Channel were covered. The initial full sheet size of 29 x 41 inches was found to be unwieldy in use and to revise, so that after 1848 maps were issued as quarters of the sheets not yet published and indicated as northwest, northeast, southwest or southeast after the sheet number. Full sheets continued to be issued as revisions where already published as whole sheets. The layout as originally conceived was adjusted to converging meridians by tapering the central sheets from quadrants with a map area of 12 x 18 inches to 12 x 14½ inches. North of sheet 90 a standard 12 x 18 inch sheet was imposed which was later incorporated in the New Series and renumbered. These were issued after 1881 with old series numbering and, in parentheses, new series numbering. From 1900 the Geological Survey of England and Wales adopted the layout and numbering of the Ordnance Survey’s New Series, or second edition, of 1881.

The change from Old to New Series marked a significant change in technology. The Old Series were hand-coloured engravings of the OS topographic map with geological boundaries added. The topographic base map was generally not revised, apart from the insertion of railways, and therefore shows the landscape at a much earlier date than geological mapping. The dates given refer to the date of the geological information. The New Series was colour printed. More information follows at the head of the New Series list. As this list is quite extensive the display is provided across 6 pages.