An ARC GIS PRO shapefile mapping the turnpike roads in England and Wales for the 18th and early 19th century. The data includes details of the Turnpike Acts, years of operation, the quality of the road and the routes used by Mail coaches. The data forms the basis of the paper "Government, trusts, and the making of better roads in early nineteenth century England & Wales by Rosevear, Bogart & Shaw-Taylor.

The Access Network Map of England is a national composite dataset of Access layers, showing analysis of extent of Access provision for each Lower Super Output Area (LSOA), as a percentage or area coverage of access in England. The ‘Access Network Map’ was developed by Natural England to inform its work to improve opportunities for people to enjoy the natural environment. This map shows, across England, the relative abundance of accessible land in relation to where people live. Due to issues explained below, the map does not, and cannot, provide a definitive statement of where intervention is necessary. Rather, it should be used to identify areas of interest which require further exploration. Natural England believes that places where people can enjoy the natural environment should be improved and created where they are most wanted. Access Network Maps help support this work by providing means to assess the amount of accessible land available in relation to where people live. They combine all the available good quality data on access provision into a single dataset and relate this to population. This provides a common foundation for regional and national teams to use when targeting resources to improve public access to greenspace, or projects that rely on this resource. The Access Network Maps are compiled from the datasets available to Natural England which contain robust, nationally consistent data on land and routes that are normally available to the public and are free of charge. Datasets contained in the aggregated data:•
Agri-environment scheme permissive access (routes and open access)•
CROW access land (including registered common land and Section 16)•
Country Parks•
Cycleways (Sustrans Routes) including Local/Regional/National and Link Routes•
Doorstep Greens•
Local Nature Reserves•
Millennium Greens•
National Nature Reserves (accessible sites only)•
National Trails•
Public Rights of Way•
Forestry Commission ‘Woods for People’ data•
Village Greens – point data only Due to the quantity and complexity of data used, it is not possible to display clearly on a single map the precise boundary of accessible land for all areas. We therefore selected a unit which would be clearly visible at a variety of scales and calculated the total area (in hectares) of accessible land in each. The units we selected are ‘Lower Super Output Areas’ (LSOAs), which represent where approximately 1,500 people live based on postcode. To calculate the total area of accessible land for each we gave the linear routes a notional width of 3 metres so they could be measured in hectares. We then combined together all the datasets and calculated the total hectares of accessible land in each LSOA. For further information about this data see the following links:Access Network Mapping GuidanceAccess Network Mapping Metadata Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.

http://www.openstreetmap.org/images/osm_logo.png" alt=""> OpenStreetMap (openstreetmap.org) is a global collaborative mapping project, which offers maps and map data released with an open license, encouraging free re-use and re-distribution. The data is created by a large community of volunteers who use a variety of simple on-the-ground surveying techniques, and wiki-syle editing tools to collaborate as they create the maps, in a process which is open to everyone. The project originated in London, and an active community of mappers and developers are based here. Mapping work in London is ongoing (and you can help!) but the coverage is already good enough for many uses.

Browse the map of London on OpenStreetMap.org

Downloads:

The whole of England updated daily:

• england.osm.bz2 ~185M - .osm formatted raw XML data (compressed)
• england.shp.zip ~156M - ESRI shapefiles

For more details of downloads available from OpenStreetMap, including downloading the whole planet, see 'planet.osm' on the wiki.

Data access APIs:

Download small areas of the map by bounding-box. For example this URL requests the data around Trafalgar Square:
http://api.openstreetmap.org/api/0.6/map?bbox=-0.13062,51.5065,-0.12557,51.50969

Data filtered by "tag". For example this URL returns all elements in London tagged shop=supermarket:
http://www.informationfreeway.org/api/0.6/*[shop=supermarket][bbox=-0.48,51.30,0.21,51.70]

The .osm format

The format of the data is a raw XML represention of all the elements making up the map. OpenStreetMap is composed of interconnected "nodes" and "ways" (and sometimes "relations") each with a set of name=value pairs called "tags". These classify and describe properties of the elements, and ultimately influence how they get drawn on the map. To understand more about tags, and different ways of working with this data format refer to the following pages on the OpenStreetMap wiki.

• .osm - About the raw XML data format of OpenStreetMap
• Downloading data - More details of the API and extract download options
• Xapi - The extended api for filtering by tag
• Map Features - A list of tags, and what map features they represent
• Converting map data between formats - catalogue of tools for converting from .osm to other formats

Simple embedded maps

Rather than working with raw map data, you may prefer to embed maps from OpenStreetMap on your website with a simple bit of javascript. You can also present overlays of other data, in a manner very similar to working with google maps. In fact you can even use the google maps API to do this. See OSM on your own website for details and links to various javascript map libraries.

Help build the map!

The OpenStreetMap project aims to attract large numbers of contributors who all chip in a little bit to help build the map. Although the map editing tools take a little while to learn, they are designed to be as simple as possible, so that everyone can get involved. This project offers an exciting means of allowing local London communities to take ownership of their part of the map.

Read about how to Get Involved and see the London page for details of OpenStreetMap community events.

This dataset provides information on 115 in United Kingdom as of March, 2025. It includes details such as email addresses (where publicly available), phone numbers (where publicly available), and geocoded addresses. Explore market trends, identify potential business partners, and gain valuable insights into the industry. Download a complimentary sample of 10 records to see what's included.

Explore the interactive maps showing the average delay and average speed on the Strategic Road Network and Local ‘A’ Roads in England, in 2020.

Additional http://bit.ly/COVID_Congestion_Analysis" class="govuk-link">Analysis on the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the road journeys is also available. This story map contains charts and interactive maps for road journeys in England.

On the Strategic Road Network (SRN) for 2020, the average delay is estimated to be 6.7 seconds per vehicle per mile compared to speed limits travel times, a 29.5% decrease compared to 2019.

The average speed is estimated to be 61.8mph, 5.1% up on 2019.

In 2020, on average 42.1% of additional time was needed compared to speed limits travel times, on individual road sections of the SRN to ensure on time arrival. This is down 25.2 percentage points compared to 2019, so on average a lower proportion of additional time is required.

On local ‘A’ roads for 2020, the average delay is estimated to be 33.9 seconds per vehicle per mile compared to free flow travel times. This is a decrease of 22.8% on 2019.

The average speed is estimated to be 27.3 mph. This is an increase of 8.2% on 2019.

The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a marked impact on everyday life, including on congestion on the road network. As these data are affected by the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, caution should be taken when interpreting these statistics and comparing them with previous time periods. While values had previously been moving towards their pre-lockdown levels, this trend appears to have reversed in the months following September 2020.

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A PDF map that shows the counties and unitary authorities in the United Kingdom as at 1 April 2023. (File Size - 583 KB)

Data from the British Geological Survey's GeoIndex Map products theme are made available for viewing here. GeoIndex is a website that allows users to search for information about BGS data collections covering the UK and other areas world wide. Access is free, the interface is easy to use, and it has been developed to enable users to check coverage of different types of data and find out some background information about the data. More detailed information can be obtained by further enquiry via the web site: www.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex.

Data identifying landscape areas (shown as polygons) attributed with geological names. The scale of the data is 1:625 000 providing a simplified interpretation of the geology. Onshore coverage is provided for all of England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland. Data are supplied as four themes: bedrock, superficial deposits, dykes and linear features (faults). Bedrock geology describes the main mass of solid rocks forming the earth's crust. Bedrock is present everywhere, whether exposed at surface in outcrops or concealed beneath superficial deposits or water bodies. Geological names are based on the lithostratigraphic or lithodemic hierarchy of the rocks. The lithostratigraphic scheme arranges rock bodies into units based on rock-type and geological time of formation. Where rock-types do not fit into the lithostratigraphic scheme, for example intrusive, deformed rocks subjected to heat and pressure resulting in new or changed rock types; then their classification is based on their rock-type or lithological composition. This assesses visible features such as texture, structure, mineralogy. Superficial deposits are younger geological deposits formed during the most recent geological time; the Quaternary. These deposits rest on older rocks or deposits referred to as bedrock. The superficial deposits theme defines landscape areas (shown as polygons) attributed with a geological name and their deposit-type or lithological composition. The dykes theme defines small, narrow areas (shown as polygons) of a specific type of bedrock geology; that is igneous rocks which have been intruded into the landscape at a later date than the surrounding bedrock. They are presented as an optional, separate theme in order to provide additional clarity of the bedrock theme. The bedrock and dykes themes are designed to be used together. Linear features data (shown as polylines) represents geological faults at the ground or bedrock surface (beneath superficial deposits). Geological faults occur where a body of bedrock has been fractured and displaced by large scale processes affecting the earth's crust (tectonic forces). The faults theme defines geological faults (shown as polylines) at the ground or bedrock surface (beneath superficial deposits). All four data themes are available in vector format (containing the geometry of each feature linked to a database record describing their attributes) as ESRI shapefiles and are delivered free of charge under the terms of the Open Government Licence.

This dataset is wholly owned by Ordnance Survey (OS) and licenced for use by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) via an open data licence issued by OS. OS open data products (OS OpenData) are a set of free digital maps of Great Britain, available for anyone to use, for any purpose. The maps include data on roads, rivers and boundaries. This dataset includes layers derived from those available from OS.

This dataset is refreshed on a weekly basis from the datasets the team works on daily.Last update date: 06 March 2025.National Highways Operational Highway Boundary (RedLine) maps out the land belonging to the highway for the whole Strategic Road Network (SRN). It comprises two layers; one being the an outline and another showing the registration status / category of land of land that makes up the boundary. Due to the process involved in creating junctions with local highway authority (LHA) roads, land in this dataset may represent LHA highway (owned by National Highways but the responsibility of the LHA to maintain). Surplus land or land held for future projects does not form part of this dataset.The highway boundary is derived from:Ordnance Survey Mastermap Topography,HM Land Registry National Polygon Service (National Highway titles only), andplots researched and digitised during the course of the RedLine Boundary Project.The boundary is split into categories describing the decisions made for particular plots of land. These categories are as follows:Auto-RedLine category is for plots created from an automated process using Ordnance Survey MasterMap Topography as a base. Land is not registered under National Highways' name. For example, but not limited to, unregistered ‘ancient’ highway vested in Highways England, or bridge carrying highways over a rail line.NH Title within RedLine category is for plots created from Land Registry Cadastral parcels whose proprietor is National Highways or a predecessor. Land in this category is within the highway boundary (audited) or meets a certain threshold by the algorithm.NH Title outside RedLine category is for plots created in the same way as above but these areas are thought to be outside the highway boundary. Where the Confidence is Low, land in this category is yet to be audited. Where the Confidence is High, land in this category has been reviewed and audited as outside our operational boundary.National Highways (Technician) Data category is for plots created by National Highways, digitised land parcels relating to highway land that is not registered, not yet registered or un-registerable.Road in Tunnel category, created using tunnel outlines from Ordnance Survey MasterMap Topography data. These represent tunnels on Highways England’s network. Land is not registered under National Highways' name, but land above the tunnel may be in National Highways’ title. Please refer to the definitive land ownership records held at HM Land Registry.The process attribute details how the decision was made for the particular plot of land. These are as follows:Automated category denotes data produced by an automated process. These areas are yet to be audited by the company.Audited category denotes data that has been audited by the company.Technician Data (Awaiting Audit) category denotes data that was created by National Highways but is yet to be audited and confirmed as final.The confidence attribute details how confident you can be in the decision. This attribute is derived from both the decisions made during the building of the underlying automated dataset as well as whether the section has been researched and/or audited by National Highways staff. These are as follows:High category denotes land that has a high probability of being within the RedLine boundary. These areas typically are audited or are features that are close to or on the highway.Moderate category denotes land that is likely to be within the highway boundary but is subject to change once the area has been audited.Low category denotes land that is less likely to be within the highway boundary. These plots typically represent Highways England registered land that the automated process has marked as outside the highway boundary.Please note that this dataset is indicative only. For queries about this dataset please contact the GIS and Research Team.

The Land Cover Map of Great Britain is a digital map derived from the classification of cloud-free satellite images from the American Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM).

       Seventeen key land cover classes were identified throughout Britain and,
       of these, eight classes were subdivided into, for example, upland and lowland
       variants, giving a total of 25 cover types.

       The 25 land cover types include built-up areas, arable farmland, pastures
       and forestry, together with a variety of semi-natural vegetation types.

       The classes are mapped on a 25 m raster overlay of the complete land
       surface of Great Britain. The data are held in digital form as a 25 m raster
       overlay of the British National Grid and can be presented in a variety of
       digital exchange formats.

       They can be summarised by 1 km squares (or other resolutions) of the
       National Grid and summary data are also held as Oracle tables.

        There are a wide range of users of the Land Cover Map in organisations
       concerned with environmental impact assessments, pollution control, water
       resources management, policy and planning, and environmental management.

       Its greatest potential can be realised through integration with other
       data, such as geology, soils, climate, biological records, agricultural
       statistics, and population census for use in decision support systems and
       geographical information systems.

Using a range of different data sources Natural England has collated a map showing the extent of peatlands in England. For the purposes of this project, peatlands have been classified into three types based on the source of the information but assumed to have the following general characteristics:■ Deep peaty soils: Areas covered with a majority of peat >40cm deep.■ Shallow peaty soils: Areas with a majority of soils with peat 10–40cm deep.■ Soils with peaty pockets: Areas of mostly non-peat soils, supporting smaller pockets of deep peat (such as flushes or exposures of buried peat) too small to map at a national scale.Reported in Natural England's publication England's Peatland - carbon storage and greenhouse gases (NE257).We have have shared this data with permission from Natural England. You can request a download of the full dataset from enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk. It is available free of charge for non-commercial purposes. If you want to use the data for a Commercial purpose you must obtain a licence from Natural England.

The purpose of this digital dataset is to provide accurate mapping of the distribution of sea-bed sediment types. Sea-bed sediments can only be mapped offshore, where the most recent deposits commonly form a veneer or superficial layer of unconsolidated material on the sea-bed. The dataset is produced for use at 1:250,000 scale. The boundaries between sediment classifications or types are delineated using sample station particle size analyses and descriptions, seafloor topography derived from shallow geophysical data and where available multibeam bathymetry and backscatter and side scan sonar profiles. The sediment types present on the sea-bed are of importance to a range of groups, including marine habitat mappers, marine spatial planners, the offshore construction and development sector, and the dredging and aggregate industries. These groups require detailed information on the nature of the sea-bed, including the sediment types present. The DiGSBS250k dataset has been created as vector polygons and are available in a range of GIS formats, including ArcGIS (.shp), ArcInfo Coverages and MapInfo (.tab). More specialised formats may be available but may incur additional processing costs.

This low-resolution image has been produced from BGS land and marine gravity data. The colour was generated using the BGS COLMAP software package. Colour levels are defined by histogram equalisation. Combining this image with the grey shaded relief image produces a similar image to the colour shaded relief image. The measured gravity values have been corrected in order to show the anomalies attributable to variations in crustal density. In broad terms the blues are attributable to large volumes of low density rocks, the reds to high density rocks. Significant lows occur, for instance, over areas of thick, low density sedimentary rocks(e.g. Cheshire Basin, Wessex Basin), or large granites (eg Cornwall). For marine data, free-air anomalies have been calculated from observed gravity values along marine survey lines. Line intersection errors between crossing lines and overlapping surveys have been used using network adjustment techniques. Free air anomalies have been calculated for sea-bottom stations. For land data, bouguer anomalies have been calculated from gravity observations at points of known height. In order to minimise the effect of topography, Bouguer corrections for the British Mainland have been applied using a density estimated for each station. Elsewhere a correction density of 2.67 Mg/m3 has been used. Corrections for the gravitational effect of terrain have been made where significant, and in a general extent to a radius of 48.6km. The data have been interpolated onto a 1km x 1km grid using a variable tension technique, and smoothed.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) in collaboration with the Environment Agency (EA) has developed a web-based tool that provides an indication of whether suitable conditions exist in a given area for Open-loop Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP). The tool is developed within a GIS and maps the potential for open-loop GSHP installations (heating/cooling output >100kW) in England and Wales at the 1:250,000 scale. Data layers from this tool are available to view in this service. The data in this service is available to access for free on the basis it is only used for your personal, teaching, and research purposes provided all are non-commercial in nature as described on http://www.bgs.ac.uk/about/copyright/non_commercial_use.html. Where commercial use is required, licences are available from the British Geological Survey (BGS). Your use of any information provided by the BGS is at your own risk. BGS gives no warranty, condition or representation as to the quality, accuracy or completeness of the information or its suitability for any use or purpose. All implied conditions relating to the quality or suitability of the information, and all liabilities arising from the supply of the information (including any liability arising in negligence) are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

A collection of 1:250 000 scale geophysical maps in the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection, covering the United Kingdom and continental shelf areas between 1975 – 1990. Mapping is divided into squares which cover 1 degree by 1 degree of latitude / longitude. A geophysical map is a graphical representation of data collected through various geophysical methods to investigate the subsurface characteristics of the Earth. Geophysics is the study of the physical properties and processes of the Earth using measurements of physical quantities such as gravity, magnetic fields, seismic waves, electrical resistivity, and others. The collection includes aeromagnetic anomaly maps (1975 – 1990), Bouguer gravity anomaly maps (1975 – 1989) and a small number of free air anomaly maps (1981 – 1989). These maps are hard-copy paper records stored in the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and are delivered as digital scans through the BGS website.

This layer of the GeoIndex shows the localities for which details of identified fossil specimens in the BGS Biostratigraphy Museum are databased. Only Ordovician and Silurian specimens listed currently. Samples and taxonomic identifications will be listed and will in future be able to be queried using the query-by-attribute tool to the right of the map. See also Fossil Localities. Material is available for inspection on application by e-mail; it is free for academic research but is charged for commercial work. Specimens are sometimes available for loan to bona fide academics.

The Map based index (GeoIndex) provides a map based index to datasets that BGS have collected or have obtained from a wide variety of sources. The site allows users to search for information about BGS data collections covering the UK and other areas worldwide. Access is free, the interface is easy to use, and it has been developed to enable users to check coverage of different types of data and find out some background information about the data. The index shows the extents of available dataset coverage in Great Britain and the surrounding seas, drawn against a topographical map background. The spatial data are grouped into themes holding related data together in manageable-sized units for sensible querying by any end-users. The current onshore themes are Boreholes, Geophysics, Civil Engineering, Geochemistry, Collections, Earthquakes, Landsat, Local Government, Map products and Minerals. Data is also available for the UK offshore. The map themes were created after discussion with customers and specialists in these particular sectors to ensure they encompass data (data layers) required for meaningful querying of the BGS data holdings by that sector. Data is also available for Northern Ireland using the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland GeoIndex.

This layer of the map based index (GeoIndex) shows the locations of the Mineral Reconnaissance Programme Reports within Great Britain. The Mineral Reconnaissance Programme (MRP), funded by the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), carried out mineral exploration reconnaissance in Great Britain between 1972 and 1997. The programme provided geological, geochemical, geophysical, mineralogical and metallogenic information on prospective areas in Britain. Work was carried out at various scales, from regional reconnaissance surveys or appraisal, to the drilling of a geochemical or geophysical anomaly. Projects were multidisciplinary, and used a combination of tried and tested methods, together with innovative techniques arising from research and development programmes. By the end of the Programme in 1997, 146 MRP reports had been issued covering localities across the UK. The programme was very successful in that more than half the projects reported attracted significant commercial follow-up resulting in the discovery of many new prospects. The reports themselves are being made available, for free, to downlaod over the next twelve months.