This dataset contains a sample of 10,000 (3.5%) out of a total of 285,846 text sequences extracted from the 1891–1896 Map of London by the Ordnance Survey (OS).

The methodology used for the automated recognition, linking, and sequencing of the text is detailed in the article Recognizing and Sequencing Multi-word Texts in Maps Using an Attentive Pointer by M. Zou et al., 2025.

Description of the content

The map is drawn at a scale of five-feet to the mile (c.a. 1:1,056). The text on the map is an invaluable source of information about the Greater London in the late Victorian period. It includes the names of streets, squares, parks, watercourses and even some estates ('Poplars', 'The Grange', 'Arbutus Lodge'). In addition, the map contains many details of the function of buildings and economic activity, such as factories ('Sweet Factory', 'Crown Linoleum Works', 'Imperial Flour Mills', 'Lion Brewery'), warehouses or commercial infrastructure ('Warehouse', 'Jamaica Wharf', 'Rag Store'), offices ('Offices'), etc. The map also mentions public buildings such as schools ('School Boys, Girls & Infants', 'Sunday School'), hospitals or clinics ('St. Saviour's Union Infirmary', 'Beulah Spa Hydropathic Establishment', 'South Western Fever Hospital'), railway stations ('Clapham Station'), post offices, banks, police stations, etc. Other social venues are also mentioned, such as public houses, i.e. pubs ('P.H.'), clubs, casinos, and recreational areas (e.g. 'Cricket Ground'). Special attention is given to churches, with a regular count of the number of seats (e.g. 'Baptist Chapel Seats for 600').

In addition, the map provides details that can be of great interest in the study of everyday life in London at the end of the 19th century. For example, there are numerous mentions of 'Stables', 'Drinking Fountain's or 'Urinal'[s]. Fire protection infrastructure is highlighted, e.g. fire plugs ('F.P.') and fire alarms ('F.A.'). The map also includes information on elevation (e.g. '11·6') and flood levels (e.g. 'High Water Mark of Ordinary Tides').

A list of abbreviations used in the Ordnance Survey maps, created by Richard Oliver [1], is made available by the National Library of Scotland (link).

Organization of the data

The data in 10k_text_london_OS_1890s.geojson is organized as a regular geojson file.

Example structure

{ "type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [ { "type": "Feature", "geometry": { "type": "MultiPolygon", "coordinates": [[[ [x1, y1], [x2, y2], ...]]] }, "properties": { "label": "Oxford Circus", } },

... # Further text sequences            

] }

Image documents

The original map document consists of 729 separate sheets, digitized, georeferenced, and served as geographic tiles by the National Library of Scotland [2].

Descriptive statistics

Total Number of text sequences: 285,846Sample size: 10,000Total Area covered: 450 square km

Use and Citation

For any mention of this dataset, please cite :

@misc{text_london_OS_1890s, author = {Zou, Mengjie and Petitpierre, R{\'{e}}mi and di Lenardo, Isabella}, title = {{London 1890s Ordnance Survey Text Layer}}, year = {2025}, publisher = {Zenodo}, url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14982946}}@article{recognizing_sequencing_2025, author = {Zou, Mengjie and Dai, Tianhao and Petitpierre, R{\'{e}}mi and Vaienti, Beatrice and di Lenardo, Isabella}, title = {{Recognizing and Sequencing Multi-word Texts in Maps Using an Attentive Pointer}}, year = {2025}}

Corresponding author

Rémi PETITPIERRE - remi.petitpierre@epfl.ch - ORCID - Github - Scholar - ResearchGate

License

This project is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 License.

Liability

We do not assume any liability for the use of this dataset.

References

Oliver R. (2013). Ordnance Survey maps: A concise guide for historians. The Charles Close Society. London, UK. 3rd Ed. 320 pages

Ordnance Survey, London, five feet to the mile, 1893-1896 (1896), https://maps.nls.uk/os/townplans-england/london-1056-1890s.html, digitized by the National Library of Scotland (NLS)

This map is part of the Map and Data Centre Collections, and is available for physical viewing under the call number C33 D04. Explore the item in our Library Catalogue: Collection Permalink Publication Date: 1893 Publisher Location: Toronto, Ont. Publisher: Toronto Lithographing Co. Geographic Area: London (Ont.) Map Theme: Business enterprises Description: Hand-drawn, colour map of London Ontario with inset drawings of the building fronts of local companies. Physical Size: 94 x 69 cm

With this add in it is possible to create map templates from GIS files in KML format, and create choropleths with them.

Providing you have access to KML format map boundary files, it is possible to create your own quick and easy choropleth maps in Excel. The KML format files can be converted from 'shape' files. Many shape files are available to download for free from the web, including from Ordnance Survey and the London Datastore. Standard mapping packages such as QGIS (free to download) and ArcGIS can convert the files to KML format.

A sample of a KML file (London wards) can be downloaded from this page, so that users can easily test the tool out.

Macros must be enabled for the tool to function.

When creating the map using the Excel tool, the 'unique ID' should normally be the area code, the 'Name' should be the area name and then if required and there is additional data in the KML file, further 'data' fields can be added. These columns will appear below and to the right of the map. If not, data can be added later on next to the codes and names.

In the add-in version of the tool the final control, 'Scale (% window)' should not normally be changed. With the default value 0.5, the height of the map is set to be half the total size of the user's Excel window.

To run a choropleth, select the menu option 'Run Choropleth' to get this form.

To specify the colour ramp for the choropleth, the user needs to enter the number of boxes into which the range is to be divided, and the colours for the high and low ends of the range, which is done by selecting coloured option boxes as appropriate. If wished, hit the 'Swap' button to change which colours are for the different ends of the range. Then hit the 'Choropleth' button.

The default options for the colours of the ends of the choropleth colour range are saved in the add in, but different values can be selected but setting up a column range of up to twelve cells, anywhere in Excel, filled with the option colours wanted. Then use the 'Colour range' control to select this range, and hit apply, having selected high or low values as wished. The button 'Copy' sets up a sheet 'ColourRamp' in the active workbook with the default colours, which can just be extended or deleted with just a few cells, so saving the user time.

The add-in was developed entirely within the Excel VBA IDE by Tim Lund. He is kindly distributing the tool for free on the Datastore but suggests that users who find the tool useful make a donation to the Shelter charity. It is not intended to keep the actively maintained, but if any users or developers would like to add more features, email the author.

Acknowledgments

Calculation of Excel freeform shapes from latitudes and longitudes is done using calculations from the Ordnance Survey.

These data provide an accurate high-resolution shoreline compiled from imagery of PORT OF NEW LONDON/GROTON, CT . This vector shoreline data is based on an office interpretation of imagery that may be suitable as a geographic information system (GIS) data layer. This metadata describes information for both the line and point shapefiles. The NGS attribution scheme 'Coastal Cartographic Object Attribute Source Table (C-COAST)' was developed to conform the attribution of various sources of shoreline data into one attribution catalog. C-COAST is not a recognized standard, but was influenced by the International Hydrographic Organization's S-57 Object-Attribute standard so the data would be more accurately translated into S-57. This resource is a member of https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/39808

This MSOA atlas provides a summary of demographic and related data for each Middle Super Output Area in Greater London. The average population of an MSOA in London in 2010 was 8,346, compared with 1,722 for an LSOA and 13,078 for a ward. The profiles are designed to provide an overview of the population in these small areas by combining a range of data on the population, births, deaths, health, housing, crime, commercial property/floorspace, income, poverty, benefits, land use, environment, deprivation, schools, and employment. If you need to find an MSOA and you know the postcode of the area, the ONS NESS search page has a tool for this. The MSOA Atlas is available as an XLS as well as being presented using InstantAtlas mapping software. This is a useful tool for displaying a large amount of data for numerous geographies, in one place (requires HTML 5). CURRENT MSOA BOUNDARIES (2011) PREVIOUS MSOA BOUNDARIES (2001) NB. It is currently not possible to export the map as a picture due to a software issue with the Google Maps background. We advise you to print screen to copy an image to the clipboard. Tips: - Select a new indicator from the Data box on the left. Select the theme, then indicator and then year to show the data. - To view data just for one borough*, use the filter tool. - The legend settings can be altered by clicking on the pencil icon next to the MSOA tick box within the map legend. - The areas can be ranked in order by clicking at the top of the indicator column of the data table. Themes included here are Census 2011 Population, Mid-year Estimates, Population by Broad Age, Households, Household composition, Ethnic Group, Country of Birth, Language, Religion, Tenure, Dwelling type, Land Area, Population Density, Births, General Fertility Rate, Deaths, Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR), Population Turnover Rates (per 1000), Crime (numbers), Crime (rates), House Prices, Commercial property (number), Rateable Value (£ per m2), Floorspace; ('000s m2), Household Income, Household Poverty, County Court Judgements (2005), Qualifications, Economic Activity, Employees, Employment, Claimant Count, Pupil Absence, Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, GCSE and Equivalent, Health, Air Emissions, Car or Van availability, Income Deprivation, Central Heating, Incidence of Cancer, Life Expectancy, and Road Casualties. The London boroughs are: City of London, Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster. These profiles were created using the most up to date information available at the time of collection (Spring 2014). You may also be interested in LSOA Atlas and Ward Atlas.

Author:Greater London AuthorityCreation date:April 2024Date of source data harvest:April 2024Temporal coverage of source data:2024Spatial Resolution:pan-LondonGeometry:LineSource data URL:London Heat Map and the London DatastoreData terms of use:Dataset can be shared openly for reuse for non-commercial purposes, with appropriate attribution.Data attribution:- London Heat Map, Greater London Authority, 2024.- © Crown copyright and database rights 2024 Ordnance Survey (100032216 GLA).Workflow diagrams:Not available.Comments:- The data and analysis developed for the sub-regional LAEP was undertaken using data available at the time and will need to be refined for a full Phase 2 LAEP. Please check here for more detailed background on the data.- Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the quality and accuracy of the data, the Greater London Authority is not responsible for any inaccuracies and/or mistakes in the information provided.

Film and Television industries tend to cluster in a very small number of places around the world, moreover, they appear to be rooted to these places. These locales tend to be very high cost, and thus, there must be a strong need, and benefit of such location patterns. A classic film and television 'cluster' is located in London, with its core in Soho. One of the first objectives of the research is to confirm these points. Beyond this basic mapping, the research seeks to examine the organisation of the film and television industries in London, and thus to understand how Soho fits into this picture. It uses the notion of the 'production chain' to conceptualise the linkage between different stages of the production process. A central point of this research is to investigate the sensitivity of firms in the Film and Television industry to both proximity and to the specifics of particular places. The notion of relationship between firms is explored in terms of directly traded, economic, relationships, as well as more informal and non-economic relationships. The research methods used in the research are twofold. First, we use commercial and industry directories to map the firms by location and activity. Second, we will carry out detailed face-to-face interviews with a sample of firms, numbering 60 in total, in the five clusters that we expect to find in the London region. These interviews will yield detailed information on the firms and the nature of their core activities and the character and nature of their interaction with other companies.

(:unav)...........................................

These profiles help paint a general picture of an area by presenting a range of headline indicator data in both spreadsheet and map form to help show statistics covering demographic, economic, social and environmental datasets for each borough, alongside relevant comparator areas.

The full datasets and more information for each of the indicators are usually available on the London Datastore. A link to each of the datasets is contained in the spreadsheet and map.

Borough Profiles - Download the Excel spreadsheet below.

On opening the spreadsheet a simple drop down box allows you to choose which borough profile you are interested in. Selecting this will display data for that borough, plus either Inner or Outer London, London and a national comparator (usually England where data is available).

To see the full set of data for all 33 local authorities in London plus the comparator areas in Excel, click the 'Data' worksheet.

A chart and a map are also available to help visualise the data for all boroughs (macros must be enabled for the Excel map to function).

The data is set out across 11 themes covering most of the key indicators relating to demographic, economic, social and environmental data. Sources are provided in the spreadsheet. Notes about the indicator are provided in comment boxes attached to the indicator names.

Profiles using interactive mapping

For a geographical and bar chart representation of the profile data, open this interactive report. Choose indicators from the left hand side. Click on the comparators to make them appear on the chart and map.

Sources, links to data, and notes are all contained in the box in the bottom right hand corner.

These profiles include data relating to: Population, Households (census), Demographics, Migrant population, Ethnicity, Language, Employment, NEET, DWP Benefits (client group), Housing Benefit, Qualifications, Earnings, Volunteering, Jobs density, Business Survival, Crime, Fires, House prices, New homes, Tenure, Greenspace, Recycling, Carbon Emissions, Cars, Public Transport Accessibility (PTAL), Indices of Multiple Deprivation, GCSE results, Children looked after, Children in out-of-work families, Life Expectancy, Teenage conceptions, Happiness levels, Political control, and Election turnout.

Data is correct as of September 2015.

London Borough Atlas

To access even more data at local authority level, use the London Borough Atlas. It contains data about the same topics as the profiles but provides further detailed breakdowns and time-series data for each borough.

The Atlas using interactive mapping

The London boroughs are: City of London, Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster.

You may also find our small area profiles useful - Ward, LSOA, and MSOA.

Author:Buro HappoldCreation date:November 2024Date of source data harvest:March 2024Temporal coverage of source data:Up to March 2024Spatial Resolution:Lower Super Output Area (LSOA)Geometry:PolygonSource data URL:OS MasterMap Topography Layer | Data Products | OS (ordnancesurvey.co.uk)Data terms of use:- Dataset can be shared openly for reuse for non-commercial purposes, with appropriate attribution. Data contains Ordnance Survey mapping and is published under Ordnance Survey's 'presumption to publish'Data attribution:- Dataset created by Buro Happold as part of the CIEN & South London sub-regional LAEPs, 2024. - Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025 (0100032216 GLA).- Office for National Statistics licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0.Workflow Diagram:Available: pngComments:The data and analysis developed for the sub-regional LAEP was undertaken using data available at the time and will need to be refined for a full Phase 2 LAEP. Please check here for more detailed background on the data.Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the quality and accuracy of the data, the Greater London Authority is not responsible for any inaccuracies and/or mistakes in the information provided.

Fibian Lukalo, Catherine Boone, and Sandra Joireman. Mapping Settlement Schemes in Kenya. Nairobi: National Commission, 2019. ISBN 978-9966-1928-5-1. This is an approximately 70 page booklet that presents maps and some descriptive statistics pertaining to all Kenyan settlement schemes since 1962 for which we were able to obtain Survey of Kenya maps. This document is to be used for scholarly purposes only (ie., not for commercial or legal purposes). The citation to the underlying dataset is: This research project is conducted in partnership between Dr. Fibian Lukalo of Kenya’s National Land Commission, Prof. Catherine Boone of the London School of Economics (funded by UK Economic and Social Research Council Grant # ES/R005753/1 'Spatial Dynamics in African Political Economy' and Kenya NACOSTI Research Permits # NACOSTI/P/16/48539/13282 and /24668), and Professors Kimberley Browne and Sandra Joireman at the University of Richmond. The data and maps have been prepared for the purposes of academic and policy research. All boundaries are approximate; they are indicative only and are not intended to have legal standing or be used for official purposes. Users outside the NLC should cite this work as Lukalo, Boone, Browne, and Joireman, "Kenya Settlement Schemes Data Project,” London, Nairobi, and Richmond: NCL, LSE, and UoR, 2019.