Ordnance Survey bench-marks in the north-western Lake District - their significance and historical value

Amongst the various categories of people who use Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, landscape historians probably rank quite high. But it is unlikely to be the modern maps to which they turn; rather, their interests usually relate to the earlier editions, particularly those at a scale of 1:10,560 (6 inches to 1 mile) that were published in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. These maps are an invaluable record of ‘how things were’ in urban and rural areas, and enable historians to evaluate the changes of the last 150-200 years.