LibGuides: Open Access and Free Resources: Maps Resources

About the Maps Collection

As Community Members you have access to the maps space. This space is on A floor in the Library, to the left of the Library tree.

The space has 7 cabinets with local and regional maps, along with key world maps and geological maps. Many of the cabinets contain large print historical Ordinance Survey maps, but they also contain reprints of classic maps, and Lancaster urban town planning maps.

You are permitted to take images of maps in the space, using cameras or mobile phones, for personal or planning dispute use, but please be aware that copyright concerning maps can be complex so do not distribute these images without permission. Fortunately many of our most popular maps are available on this Guide, in a high resolution.

Online Maps from the University

Part of Lancaster University Library's map collection has been digitised and is available for any purpose (CC BY-SA 4.0). This collection includes high quality digital versions of historic maps of Lancaster, Morecambe and Lancashire as well as the Lake District, Cumberland, Westmorland and more.

Modern Maps Online - UK

British Geological Survey Maps Portal
This resource provides high resolution scans of almost all small and medium scale maps produced by the British Geological Survey since mapping started in 1832, as scanned paper maps.
Note: the scans of these maps may take a while to load.
MAGIC
The MAGIC website provides authoritative geographic information about the natural environment from across government. The information covers rural, urban, coastal and marine environments across Great Britain. It is presented in an interactive map which can be explored using various mapping tools that are included.
MARIO (Maps & Related Information Online)
Lancashire County Council’s interactive mapping website. Use this service to access information about an area in Lancashire or look at services provided by the county council and its partners. You can use MARIO to find your street, your house, or anywhere else in the county.
NERC Open Research Archive
This archive (NORA) is the Institutional Repository for research publications and outcomes of staff at the British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey, National Oceanography Centre, and UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Ordnance Survey Election Maps
Interactive maps of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Select boundaries to overlay on the base map. Available to view and print.
Ordnance Survey Open Data Viewer
OS OpenData provides free digital maps of Great Britain, available for any purpose.
UK street maps
Search, view and print UK street and OS maps at a variety of scales.

Historic Maps Online - UK

British History Online
Historic maps of London from before 1800 and maps from the 19th-century series of the Ordnance Survey, including the complete 1:10,560 series and selected areas of the 1:2,500 maps. The Ordnance Survey maps can searched by keyword, title or postcode.
Lakes Guides
Historic maps of the Lake District, Cumberland and Westmorland as well as some maps of adjacent counties. Also available on this website are old photos, prints and the Old Cumbria Gazeteer.
Lancashire Heritage Mapping
A variety of interactive street plans, county maps and aerial photography of Lancashire. Scroll on the right hand side of the screen to explore. From Lancashire County Council.
Maps of Scotland and wider UK
High quality zoomable maps, with a particularly large collection of old Ordnance Survey maps at a variety of scales. From the National Library of Scotland.
Old Maps Online
OldMapsOnline.org indexes over 400.000 maps from archives and libraries worldwide that are freely available online. The UK contribution is funded by JISC.

Vision of Britain Through Time This link opens in a new window
This website presents the history of Great Britain through places between 1801 and 2001. It includes maps, statistical trends, a gazetteer of British administrative units, on-line versions of a selection of tables and early printed text from some of the published Census Reports as well as historical descriptions of places and journeys.
The site is free to use and does not require any registration. Please note, it does not identify individual people, buildings or addresses, but it does put historical places into context and gives an indication of how life in England, Scotland and Wales has changed since 1801.

Maps Online - Other Countries

Old Maps Online
OldMapsOnline.org indexes over 400.000 maps from archives and libraries worldwide that are freely available online. The UK contribution is funded by JISC.
The David Rumsey Map Collection
The David Rumsey Map Collection was started over 35 years ago and contains more than 150,000 maps. The collection focuses on rare 16th through 21st century maps of North and South America, as well as maps of the World, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. The collection includes atlases, globes, wall maps, school geographies, pocket maps, books of exploration, maritime charts, and a variety of cartographic materials including pocket, wall, children's, and manuscript maps. Items range in date from around 1550 to the present.
National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland hold a select number of international maps, including Surveys of India and First World War Trench Maps in Belgium and France.
National Geographic Maps