Searches User Guide: Past land use

Former industrial land uses (1:10,560 and 1:10,000 scale)

Potentially contaminative land use features digitised from historical Ordnance Survey (OS) mapping at 1:10,560 and 1:10,000 scale. These features are recorded in terms of the type of specific activities that took place (either given by a map label or inferred from setting, and map symbols) and the date at which the activity took place.

Former tanks

Above ground tank features from historical Ordnance Survey mapping at high-detail 1:2,500 and 1:1,250 scale. The historical tank database was produced by capturing the locations of above ground tanks from high detail mapping dating back to the 1840s.

The tank database includes and is limited to information shown on historical OS maps. As these relate to what can be seen by surveyors when they map the area, underground tanks or tanks within buildings will not be identified. There is no commercially available database of underground tanks / tanks within buildings, as the records are typically held by the Petroleum Licensing Department (which can be within the Local Authority) and this usually requires a consultation in order to obtain.

Former energy features

Energy features digitised from historical Ordnance Survey mapping at high-detail 1:2,500 and 1:1,250 scale. These include features such as gasometers, substations and power stations.

Former petrol stations

Petrol stations digitised from historical Ordnance Survey mapping at high-detail 1:2,500 and 1:1,250 scale. This dataset includes those locations that only provided fuel.

Ordnance Survey (OS) categorises sites that are solely equipped for refuelling as ‘Petrol Filling Stations’. If the site is used for more than refuelling, then they will have applied the label ‘garage’.

Former garages

Garages digitised from historical Ordnance Survey mapping at high-detail 1:2,500 and 1:1,250 scale. This dataset includes features such as vehicle repair sites and MOT garages.

A site being labelled as a ‘garage’ is because processes at the site include more than refuelling alone. If the site is used for more than refuelling, then they apply the label ‘garage’ and not ‘petrol station’.

Former military land

Areas of military land that have been digitised from military records and historical mapping. This database currently holds hundreds of sites covering 16,830ha of land within England, Wales and Scotland. This data was compiled by Groundsure from multiple sources including the National Archives, local records, MOD records and other verified sources. It shows the location and extent of these sites as well as a summary of activities on site and the years of operation.

This dataset only includes sites operated by the Ministry of Supply/Royal Ordnance. This is a limited dataset as sites operated by other military such as the Admiralty or the Ministry of Defence do not appear within the Groundsure reports. The military sites data is not exhaustive, Groundsure is continually adding sites to this database.