The Ordnance Survey International or Ordnance Survey Overseas Directorate its predecessors built an archive of air photography, map and survey records for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 1946 to 1999. The Ordnance Survey International Collection (formerly the Ordnance Survey International Library) held mapping records that were acquired outside the UK. Although the international division opened in 1946, the OS had been involved in overseas work for almost a century (notably the 1864-65

Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem The Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem of 1864–65 was the first scientific Cartography of Jerusalem, mapping of Jerusalem, and the first Ordnance Survey to take place outside the United Kingdom. It was undertaken by Charles William Wilson, a 28-year-o ...

). The agency was closed in 2001.

History

The agency

In 1946 the ''Directorate of Colonial Surveys'' (DCS) was established by the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...

to provide a central survey and mapping organisation for British colonies and protectorates. In 1957, with the imminent decolonisation of many British territories, it was renamed the ''Directorate of Overseas Surveys'' (DOS). Government reviews during the 1970s led to it being merging into the

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

(OS) in 1984 whence it was known as the ''Overseas Surveys Directorate'' (OSD). In 1991, following completion of the last significant aid-funded mapping projects, its name was changed one final time to ''Ordnance Survey International'' and its main activity became consultancy, primarily in Eastern Europe. It was closed in 2001.

The archive

The aerial photographs, maps and survey data were originally kept in separate libraries but were amalgamated in 1984 into a single collection called ''Technical Information and Support Services''. In 1991 this was renamed the ''Ordnance Survey International Library''. In 2002 it was decided that it was no longer needed and responsibility for its disposal was passed to The National Archives. During 2003 and 2004 The National Archives, the Ordnance Survey and advisers from specialist bodies jointly appraised the collection to determine which records should be kept and by which custodians. The collection was dispersed during 2004. Since 2012, the archive has been held within the

National Collection of Aerial Photography National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

(NCAP), and includes some 1.7 million aerial photographs alongside cover traces, maps and annual reports. Having rescued the collection from the defunct British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, NCAP are now cataloguing and digitising the collection. In 2014, a 16 minute Scottish Documentary Institute film entitled 'Sightlines' used photography from the collection to explore the legacy of 20th century aerial survey in Mwatate, Kenya. The film was created as part of

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( ; ) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the execut ...

's 'Culture 2014' programme, and premiered at the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

. To date, a small amount of material from the collection has been made available via the NCAP website, primarily relating to the 2014 documentary. Examples of photography from the collection are also displayed, showing the types of terrain and remote communities which were mapped for the first time by DOS.

Mapping

During its lifetime the agency provided mapping to almost all the British colonies and protectorates. In addition, some non-Commonwealth countries were mapped between 1975 and 1991 including

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

and

photogrammetry Photogrammetry is the science and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment through the process of recording, measuring and interpreting photographic images and patterns of electromagnetic radiant ima ...

were used with photography missions being flown primarily by United Kingdom air survey companies. Agency surveyors were sent abroad to establish horizontal and vertical ground control for the photography; this was permanently marked and co-ordinated so that the surveys could be the basis for future work. After a map was compiled from the photography, a plot (draft) was made for checking and annotation by the local survey department of the country concerned. The final map was drawn at agency headquarters and printed by the Ordnance Survey.

Other roles

In addition to its primary map making role the agency was responsible for: *Provision of advice to the Overseas Development Agency and foreign governments and organisations on technical matters concerning all aspects of surveying and mapping. *Dissemination of information about new techniques related to surveying, photogrammetry, and cartography.

Directors General

Reference.

References

External links

National Collection of Aerial Photography
Ordnance Survey website.

Ordnance Survey website.

Ordnance Survey website. {{Authority control National mapping agencies Government agencies established in 1946 Ordnance Survey