OpenHistoricalMap/Projects/London/Bibliography

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Here is a detailed list of resources available for mapping the history of London. The page is intended for the dual purposes of recording the full references to sources which have been used by mappers, and also to help mappers to identify resources they may find useful (expanding on the resources summary on the main project page). Please add any further resources you use or find.

Note that all sources should be used in accordance with copyright law and terms of use on websites etc. Copyrighted maps and other sources must not be copied (including tracing of roads and buildings etc) unless it has been confirmed that the copyright has expired. However under the principle that facts are not copyrightable (generally) it may be possible to use books as sources of basic facts (e.g. start and end dates) just like is used in Wikipedia and in historical writing in general.

Maps

Here are some of the main maps of the streets of London which are out-of-copyright or under open licenses permitting use, see also Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Old_maps_of_London for more.

  • 1550s: 'Copperplate' map. Only part survives [1].
  • 1572: Braun and Hogenberg map (from 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum'). The earliest surviving printed map of London, it is believed to have been copied from an even older map as it shows St Paul's Cathedral's steeple which was destroyed in 1561. Most roads aren't named on this map. Available on Wikimedia Commons [2]
  • 1593: John Norden maps of Westminster [3] and City of London [4]
  • 1633: 'Agas' map
  • 1676: Ogilby and Morgan map of City of London. Available on Layers of London.
  • 1682: William Morgan. Available on Wikimedia Commons, Layers of London and British Library Flickr account [5] (also reprinted by London Topographical Society as 'The A to Z of Charles II's London 1682').
  • 1732: Morden and Lea (revised version printed by Thomas Jeffreys) - this is a revised version of the 1682 William Morgan map, with various additions. Available on British Library Flickr account [6]
  • 1746/7: Rocque
    • London map - available on Wikimedia Commons [7] and Layers of London (also reprinted by London Topographical Society as 'The A to Z of Georgian London').
    • 10 miles around map "An exact survey of the cities of London and Westminster, the Borough of Southwark, with the country near ten miles round" - at a smaller scale than Rocque's London map but extends further out so is useful for mapping areas that are now in outer London but were then rural. Available on Wikimedia Commons [8] - scroll down to the bottom of the page to files titled "Sheet ... from- An exact survey..." and Layers of London.
  • 1781: John Harris map. Available on Wikimedia Commons [9]
  • 1799: Richard Horwood map (also version updated by William Faden, 1813). Available on Layers of London (Faden 1813 version also reprinted by London Topographical Society as 'The A to Z of Regency London'). Highly detailed map.
  • 1822 (corrected to 1823): Darton [10]. Basic street map for London and Westminster.
  • 1829: Cruchley's map of 1829, published 1847. 1851 edition also available [11].
  • 1830: Christopher and John Greenwood map. Available on Wikimedia Commons: NW [12], N [13], NE [14], SW [15], S [16], and SE [17].
  • 1860: Stanford's map. Street map, extends out to the newly developing suburbs.[18]
  • 1889 and 1898: Charles Booth maps of London poverty. Available on Wikimedia Commons [19]. The 1898 version (based on Stanford's Library Map of London and Suburbs) is available on a website by LSE (https://booth.lse.ac.uk/map) (under a public domain license, with downloadable maps available),
  • Goad fire insurance maps - many of their plans from late 19th century and early 20th century are now out-of-copyright and are available on Wikimedia Commons [20]. These are very detailed large scale maps including details of businesses, shops etc. More recent Goad plans are still in copyright so can't be used.

Ordnance Survey maps

These maps become out-of-copyright 50 years after publication.

  • 1848-51 1:5280 maps - available from National Library of Scotland website. Available for tracing in Open Historical Map, with tiles for use in the online editor ID or in JOSM. To use this copy this TMS link into your editor (this link doesn't work in a web browser). If using JOSM press F12, then select the 'Imagery' tab, then click the + TMS icon, then in the appropriate boxes paste in the link tms:https://geo.nls.uk/mapdata3/os/town_england/London-5280/{z}/{x}/{y}.png and enter a suitable name for the layer.
  • 1862-74 1:1250 maps - available from National Library of Scotland website. Available for tracing in Open Historical Map, with tiles for use in the online editor ID or in JOSM. To use this copy this TMS link into your editor tms:https://geo.nls.uk/mapdata3/os/town_england/London-1870s/{z}/{x}/{y}.png (this link doesn't work in a web browser). If using JOSM press F12, then select the 'Imagery' tab, then click the + TMS icon, then in the appropriate boxes paste in the link and enter a suitable name for the layer.
  • 1869-80 1:2500 maps - available on Wikimedia Commons [21].
  • 1893-6 1:2500 maps - available from National Library of Scotland website. Available for tracing in Open Historical Map, with tiles for use in the online editor ID or in JOSM. If using ID press B for background settings, select custom and paste https://mapseries-tilesets.s3.amazonaws.com/london_1890s/{z}/{x}/{y}.png. In JOSM the tiles can now be selected from the default entries in the Imagery menu (under 'Historic or otherwise outdated map').
  • The National Library of Scotland have added many more mid 19th century to early 20th century large scale town plans of England including some featuring London and some of other towns which are now part of the Greater London area (such as Croydon and Woolwich). See https://maps.nls.uk/os/townplans-england/towns.html. These are under a CC-BY licence.
  • 1940s-50s 1:1250/2500 maps - can be found on the National Library of Scotland website and are available for tracing in Open Historical Map. The tiles are now included as a default entry in JOSM or can be added as custom imagery in ID by copy and pasting in this link: https://mapseries-tilesets.s3.amazonaws.com/london_1940s/{z}/{x}/{y}.png.
  • 1949-1970 1:10560 maps - available from National Library of Scotland website. Available for tracing in Open Historical Map, with tiles for use in the online editor ID or in JOSM. This is available as one of the default entries in JOSM.
  • Ordnance Survey OpenData maps - modern maps available under an open licence.

County maps

Most of what is now Greater London was historically part of various counties, and are featured on county maps for those areas.


Essex (included much of East London eg Leyton, Stratford, Barking)

Includes Leyton, Stratford, Barking.


1777 J. Chapman & P. André - available on British Library Flickr page [22]


Kent


Middlesex (originally included much of London but later reduced in area when county of London was formed)


Surrey

Books

General

  • The Buildings of England series (part of the Pevsner Architectural Guides [23] series) - a useful source of start dates for buildings and streets.
    • Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner (2003). The Buildings of England, London 6: Westminster.
  • Survey of London [24] series - a highly detailed series of books on the architectural history of London, including details of when streets and buildings were developed. The volumes are available online on the Institute of Historical Research website, and some volumes are also available on the Internet Archive. The series has been on-going since the first volume was published in 1900, and does not yet cover all areas of London.
  • A Dictionary of London by H.A. Harben (1918). Available online: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/dictionary-of-london. Includes information on the history of streets etc.
  • John Stow's Survey of London (1598). An early publication describing the streets, buildings etc around London which has been a key source for local historians. There are various versions available online (see Wikipedia page [25]) and later reprints are available.
  • History of London Street Improvements 1855-1897 by Percy J. Edwards for London County Council. Useful source of start dates etc for new roads built 1855 to 1897. Available to view on Hathi Trust website.
  • London Town: Past & Present by W.W. Hutchings (2 volumes)
  • Metropolitan Board of Works reports - include dates for when road names were changed in the 19th century. Available on the Internet Archive.
  • Old & New London volumes 1 to 6 - available from the Internet Archive
  • Walter Besant's Survey of London series - available from the Internet Archive
  • London Encyclopedia

Books on specific topics

  • London Brewed. A comprehensive history of London's breweries.

Books on specific areas of London

There are a huge number of histories of specific areas of Greater London. Many of the 19th century and older books which are out-of-copyright are available online, but many of the more recent books are generally only available from libraries or perhaps can be found on sale. Just a very small number of books are listed below so far: please add any more which might possibly be useful.

Journals

  • London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) Transactions - available on their website
  • London Archaeologist
  • London Topographical Record (London Topographical Society) - most are available on the Hathi Trust website

Online resources

  • Layers of London
  • London Picture Archive website. A website with a very large number of photos from the London Metropolitan Archive. Note that the website and images are copyrighted, so this can only be used as a reference and maps/plans etc on the site can't be copied.
  • The Underground Map website https://www.theundergroundmap.com/index.html. A website with histories of various streets and other features in London, and also shows maps and images. The original material on the website (articles etc) is under a Creative Commons CC-BY licence.
  • Wikipedia
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