The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose, which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was also a more general and nationwide need in light of the potential threat of invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. Since 1 April 2015, the Ordnance Survey has operated as Ordnance Survey Ltd, a government-owned company, 100% in public ownership. The Ordnance Survey Board remains accountable to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. It was also a member of the Public Data Group.
Pollokshaws on Roy's Military Survey of Scotland (1747–1755)
The original draftsman's drawings for the area around St Columb Major in Cornwall, made in 1810.
The former headquarters of the Ordnance Survey in London Road, Southampton (2005).
Front cover of a one-inch to the mile New Popular Edition, from 1945
A national mapping agency (NMA) is an organisation, usually publicly owned, that produces topographic maps and geographic information of a country. Some national mapping agencies also deal with cadastral matters.
The original draftsman's drawings for the area around St. Columb Major, Cornwall, made in 1810.
