May 2023

Maps for use in Schools

Side by Side Viewer from Map Images website
Side by Side Viewer comparing St Enoch's, Glasgow, as a railway station in the 1890s and a shopping centre today
Side by Side Viewer from Map Images website
Side by Side Viewer comparing St Enoch's, Glasgow, as a railway station in the 1890s and a shopping centre today

Maps are an important teaching resource, supporting the study of a wide range of subject areas. On our website, you can investigate a range of curriculum and topic ideas through historic maps, test geographical skills with viewers and tools, and explore many different types of historic mapping.

This resource summarises:

  1. Tools to view and interpret historic maps
  2. Topic and Curriculum ideas
  3. Types of Mapping
  4. Other resources

Introduction

Road map of Great Britain, 1940s

The National Library of Scotland's collection contains over 1.5 million maps and related items. Although the Library has a particular interest in maps of Scotland, the collection contains detailed maps of the entire United Kingdom, as well as maps and atlases of the rest of the world. The collection is wide ranging, and includes maps created to present information on diverse subject areas, such as railway networks, rainfall patterns or wartime reconnaissance.

The Library has had a deep commitment to map digitisation over the past two decades, and over 270,000 maps are now available to view online.

Our Map Images website offers a range of search options, viewers, and additional tools to facilitate research.

In addition, the Library has created online learning resources relating to maps and cartography, which can be freely accessed via the Library website.

1. Tools to view and interpret historic maps

We have several help guides on using our website including introductory videos. These provide a detailed guide to the different search options, viewers and how to use them.

With our Georeferenced Maps viewer, you can compare maps to each other and to present day map and satellite image layers, view them Side by side, and view them in 3D.

We also have many tools to test geographical skills, including tools for measurement and annotation, for drawing and tracing features, and for tracing an elevation profile.

Georeferenced Maps Viewer

Our Georeferenced Viewer presents a series of maps “seamed” together and aligned with their real world locations. This allows you to explore an entire series as a seamless layer of mapping. As the historic map layers have been aligned with their real-world locations, this allows us to compare the historic maps to modern mapping layers, satellite imagery or LiDAR data with a transparency slider.

GIF showing transparency slider
Georeferenced Maps viewer, using a Transparency Slider (lower left) to compare an historic map layer with modern satellite imagery
GIF showing transparency slider
Georeferenced Maps viewer, using a Transparency Slider (lower left) to compare an historic map layer with modern satellite imagery

Side by Side Viewer

The Side by Side viewer allows a layer of historic mapping to be viewed in comparison with modern mapping or satellite imagery, or with other historic map layers.

Two maps side by side from different times
Compare 1900s maps of Cambridge with modern satellite imagery in our Side by side viewer
1. Select Side by side viewer
2. Search by a placename
3. Swipe central slider bar
4. Select different layers of mapping from the lower left panel
Two maps side by side from different times
Compare 1900s maps of Cambridge with modern satellite imagery in our Side by side viewer
1. Select Side by side viewer
2. Search by a placename
3. Swipe central slider bar
4. Select different layers of mapping from the lower left panel

Layer suggestions:

3D viewer

Our 3D viewer allows you to visualise the landscape from a bird's-eye perspective. You can alter your altitude or distance, your tilt and orientation to explore any of our georeferenced map layers draped over a 3D landscape. You can also fade the transparency and view different base maps, as well as change the vertical exaggeration of the heights/terrain (to make the hills or mountains appear higher).

Illustration of 3D viewer looking at Snowdon
Snowdon and surrounding mountains in north Wales in our 3D viewer.
Illustration of 3D viewer looking at Snowdon
Snowdown and surrounding mountains in north Wales in our 3D viewer.

A bird's-eye perspective like this can be great fun as well as useful. One subject you can study would be the effects of glaciation on the landscape, visualising deeply eroded U-shaped valleys and glacial troughs, corries or cwms with mountain lakes, moraines and screes left by glaciers, and features such as drumlins left by periglacial floodwaters.

Can you find Cwm-y-Llan slate quarry on Snowdon? Use the 'Show Height' function in our Georeferenced Maps viewer to discover what height this quarry was at. How was the slate transported away from the quarry?

Measurement and Annotation

Measure bearings, distances and areas graphic

When viewing maps in the Georeferenced Maps viewer, the measurement tools, to the upper right, allow you to measure:

  1. Bearing or Azimuth - in degrees from true North
  2. Area - in square kilometres and square miles / square metres and square feet
  3. Distance - in kilometres and miles / metres and feet

Click or tap on the buttons to toggle the measurement functions on or off. Once selected, click or tap to add points on your route - the current bearing, distance or area is given. Single-click with a mouse or tap to stop and finalise the bearing or distance measurement; double-click with a mouse or double-tap to finalise the area measurement.

Measure bearings, distances and areas tools
Measure bearings, distances and areas tools

Drawing and Tracing Features

With the Georeferenced Maps viewer, or Side by side viewer, you can draw points, lines and shapes for annotating features and your traced features can be printed or saved for further editing. Read further details on drawing features.

Add and Edit Features graphic

When tracing features such as lines or polygons, a double-click finishes the drawing, so to add points close together, zoom in (with the mouse wheel or pinch zoom) to do this. If you accidentally finish drawing too soon, you can edit the feature to add or alter points.

The downloaded files can be brought back into the Georeferenced Maps viewer using the Add Layer button Add Layer icon, for further editing. You can also open them in any text editor, or open and edit them in QGIS or ArcGIS Online. Read our guide on Opening map datasets in QGIS.

This can be useful for showing the expansion of settlements over time. The built-up perimeter of Basingstoke in 1900 is traced in blue, compared to the built-up perimeter today in red.

Illustration of Print viewer comparing Basingstoke's urban perimeter over time
Drawing tools: the built-up perimeter of Basingstoke around 1900 is traced in blue, compared to the built-up perimeter today in red.
Illustration of Print viewer comparing Basingstoke's urban perimeter over time
Drawing tools: the built-up perimeter of Basingstoke around 1900 is traced in blue, compared to the built-up perimeter today in red.

Tracing an elevation profile

For any location, you can trace a route on the map to view its elevation profile:

Illustration of drawing an elevation profile
Illustration of drawing an elevation profile
  1. Switch the 'Elevation Profile' button (lower right) to ON.   Elevation Profile button in the Georeferenced Maps viewer
  2. Click or tap a line or route on the map.
  3. Double-click / Double-tap to finish, and an Elevation Profile popup box should appear showing the elevation profile for your line.

TIP: If you need to click points along your route that are close together, zoom in so that single clicks are not treated like a double-click, finishing your profile route too soon.

Tracing an elevation profile is a really useful way of understanding the landscape terrain, revealing details about the shapes of valleys, the steepness of hills and mountains, and the rise and fall of features like paths and roads. This information can be used for many different purposes, including:

Can you suggest why slope and terrain might matter for understanding these different subjects? Are there other subjects which relative elavation can provide an insight to? Elevation profiles are also useful for visualising a river from its source down to its estuary:

Elevation profile for the River Whiteadder
Using the Elevation Profile tool to visualise the elevation profile for the River Whiteadder in the Scottish Borders.
Elevation profile for the River Whiteadder
Using the Elevation Profile tool to visualise the elevation profile for the River Whiteadder in the Scottish Borders.

Would you like to use our georeferenced map layers in a GIS? Check out our Re-using georeferenced maps guide - with step-by-step instructions for bringing any of our georeferenced layers into GIS or other software

2. Topic and Curriculum ideas

Why are historical maps useful, and what kinds of things can you research?

Human Geography

Physical Geography

Map Skills

3. Types of Mapping Available to view online

An overview of a small selection of maps of particular interest to view on the Map Images website:

Large Scale Ordnance Survey Maps

The Ordnance Survey mapped Britain from the 1800s onwards, and published accurate, comprehensive mapping that provides a wealth of information to researchers. Historic Ordnance Survey maps can reveal the layout of towns and cities, road and rail networks, forestry cover, industrial sites amongst other details. Most areas in England, Scotland and Wales were surveyed in detail between the 1840s and the 1880s, and the Ordnance Survey published revised editions at varying intervals until the 1990s.

OS 25 inch map showing Dunkeld
Ordnance Survey 25" Perth and Clackmannanshire LXII.5, surveyed 1863, published 1865. These plans provide excellent detail of towns, villages and rural settlements
OS 25 inch map showing Dunkeld
Ordnance Survey 25" Perth and Clackmannanshire LXII.5, surveyed 1863, published 1865. These plans provide excellent detail of towns, villages and rural settlements

Ordnance Survey 10 mile to the inch Planning Maps

In the 1940s and 1950s the Ordnance Survey used a base map at the scale of Ten miles to the inch (1:633,600) to display an overprint of thematic information. Maps were produced providing information on a wide range of topics, from annual rainfall to population density, iron and steel production to types of farming.

Land Use Survey

The first comprehensive, detailed survey of land use in Great Britain was completed between 1931 and 1938 under the superintendence of L. Dudley Stamp. The recording of land-use was carried out by volunteers, particularly schoolchildren and students, using Ordnance Survey 6-inch to the mile map sheets. Stamp's land utilisation survey focused on land cover rather than functional land use, with six main categories :

As a result of a collaborative project with Historic Environment Scotland, the 1930s Land Use data for Scotland can be contrasted with Land Use information from 2015 on the Scotland - Land Use Viewer

Land Use Viewer
Scotland - Land Use Viewer - compare the 1930s landscape to the present day
Land Use Viewer
Scotland - Land Use Viewer - compare the 1930s landscape to the present day

It is also possible to compare the 1930s landscape to a present-day land-use layer for Great Britain in our Side by Side viewer.

Land Use Viewer
Comparing land use in the 1930s with the present day in our Side by side viewer for Cardiff
Land Use Viewer
Comparing land use in the 1930s with the present day in our Side by side viewer for Cardiff

Modern LiDAR layers

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) uses a scanning laser to very accurately measure the surface of the ground and its properties. It allows very detailed presentations of relief or terrain, often at spatial resolutions of between 25 cm and 2 metres. LiDAR at 1 metre resolution can be viewed for all of England and Wales, and is available for around 40% of Scotland.

LiDAR has the ability to show the underlying land surface with vegetation removed and to show up patterns of small variations in elevation which are often not visible to the human eye at ground level. LiDAR has many uses, and is particularly valuable for showing subtle variations in relief or elevation on the ground. The following are just a few examples:

Viewing cultivation terraces using LiDAR and satellite imagery
Viewing cultivation terraces near Hownam in the Scottish Borders, with satellite imagery and LiDAR in our Side by side viewer
Viewing cultivation terraces using LiDAR and satellite imagery
Viewing cultivation terraces near Hownam in the Scottish Borders, with satellite imagery and LiDAR in our Side by side viewer

View our Using LiDAR layers for landscape research guide for more details.

First World War Trench Maps

We also have a collection of British First World War Trench Maps, published 1915-18. These depict both British and German trenches at scales of 1:10,000 or 1:20,000. Trench maps are a primary source for studying the major battlefields of the Great War. They show in detail the changing Front Line and its associated communication trenches, as well as the location of enemy positions and defences including artillery gun emplacements, machine guns, mines, wire entanglements, and observation posts.

Detail from Ypres trench map
Detail from Ypres from First World War, from Trench Map Sheet 28.NW (1918)
Detail from Ypres trench map
Detail from Ypres from First World War, from Trench Map Sheet 28.NW (1918)

Coastal Charts

The coasts of Scotland can be explored on marine charts dating from the 1580s to the 1900s. During the 19th century, the Hydrographic Office of the Admiralty surveyed all the coasts of Scotland in great detail, often updating charts regularly for busier ports and estuaries.

Sea Chart showing approaches to Dundee
Greenvile Collins, [Approaches to Dundee] (1693)
Sea Chart showing approaches to Dundee
Greenvile Collins, [Approaches to Dundee] (1693)

Historical Maps of Scotland, and of British Counties and Towns

On the Map Images website you can view both maps of Scotland, and of individual county maps and town plans, dating from the 1500s to the 1900s. These are listed chronologically, and provide both an insight into Scottish history, and the development of cartographic styles and techniques. A selection of maps of Scotland on particular themes have been collated.

Moll's map of Berwickshire
Herman Moll, Map of the Shire of Berwick. (1745)
Moll's map of Berwickshire
Herman Moll, Map of the Shire of Berwick (1745)

Boundaries Viewer

The Boundaries viewer shows the boundaries of Counties, Parishes and Unitary Authorities in Scotland, England and Wales. As well as showing the areas connected to local government, former parishes and counties are often used in older reference sources and records, but are often not recorded on modern maps. In Scotland, the map shows the boundaries of counties and parishes in Scotland at three points in time. First, as shown on Ordnance Survey 6-inch to the mile maps published from the 1840s to the 1880s. Second, following the Local Government Act of 1947 and before the Local Government Act of 1973 (when these county and parish jurisdictions were formally abolished).

Look at an area of interest and find out which earlier parishes and counties it used to be in. How can this local knowledge of a specific small area help to understand the place?

Boundaries Viewer
Boundaries Viewer, showing parish boundaries outlined in red and county boundaries in blue
Boundaries Viewer
Boundaries Viewer, showing parish boundaries outlined in red and county boundaries in blue

These are a small selection of the different types of maps available to view on the Map Images website. A full overview of the Map Images Website can be found on our sitemap. As additional maps are digitised, or new viewers or tools are added, these are described in our Recent Additions section.

4. Other resources

You are Here

10 Things you need to know about maps - home page graphic

10 Things you need to know about maps. This concise resource considers some key questions regarding how maps are made, and how we understand them. How far should we trust maps, why are symbols used, is north always at the top of the map, and how is the spherical world flattened for paper or screen? It features interactive quizzes, a glossary of useful map terms, and downloadable learning activities.

Mapping History

Mapping History online resource - home page graphic

Learn more about reading and using historical maps in the Mapping History resource. Use guided case studies to find out about map regression, and how can looking at a sequence of maps over time be useful. A typical map regression workflow can cover:

  1. What questions do you want to answer?
  2. What are the limits of your study area?
  3. What major landscape reference points are there?
  4. What are the most useful maps which will show you what you need to know?
  5. How should you record your map regression and gather your results?

Includes guides for looking at symbols, drawing bird's eye and worm's-eye views, activities, PDFs for downloading, and information for teachers.

Researching Climate Change

Researching climate change online resource - home page graphic

View ideas on how maps can be useful in researching climate change. View different ways of generating power, less polluting lifestyles and means of travel, fossil fuel extraction and consumption, as well as coastal erosion and sea-level rise. Maps offer a key insight into the history of mankind's interactions with the landscape, including the expansion of urban areas over time, the history of coal and oil shale mining, the growth of petroleum as a fuel, along with pipelines and oil refineries, as well as ways of generating energy through power stations and wind farms.

Digimap for Schools Learning Resources

Digimap for Schools online resource - graphic

Digimap for Schools includes modern and historical maps, as well as modern aerial photography for viewing and printing. There are also clear and intuitive measurement and drawing tools for plotting routes or annotating and customising maps. You can also add your own data onto the maps, add overlays, markers and other features. There are also a set of Learning Resources, some of which are directly focused on historical maps and themes. These include guides for teachers, slides, and links to topics in the curriculum.

NLS provides the historical maps in Digimap for Schools, which include Ordnance Survey one-inch to the mile mapping from two dates: around 1900 and around 1950. On the NLS Map Images website, there are far more historical maps at larger scales, but Digimap for Schools has much better modern mapping and air photography, a much easier interface for creating and printing maps, and excellent detailed Learning Resources.

Support for Schools

Talks and Workshops

We can provide online or in person workshops for groups to explore the Map Images website, or our Map Collections. We can also organise Virtual Reading Room sessions, using a visualiser to view items. These group sessions can either provide a general introduction, or could be tailored to a particular topic of interest. Please email maps@nls.uk to if you would be interested in arranging a session for your class.

Copies of Maps

We can supply high resolution images, colour prints or black and white photocopies of the maps on our website. Read further information on copies and How to Order Copies. Please contact us if you would like any assistance in ordering copies.

Re-using content

You are welcome to use any of the images and text on this page. Most of our online maps are re-usable under CC-BY terms - for specific details, please see our Re-use of images on this website information.

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Brendan Conway of Notre Dame School in Surrey, for very helpful advice and assistance on earlier drafts of this page.


We hope you have found some of this information new and useful. If you have further suggestions or comments, please do contact us at maps@nls.uk.

View our other Research guides.