Maps

The Map Collection is in closed access and available through prior appointment only.

The collection is wide-ranging in scope, totaling approximately 67,000 sheets. It includes various Ordnance Survey series, most notably 1:10,000 maps covering all of Great Britain , 1:2,500 maps for Greater London and 1:1,250 maps for Central London . It also features early maps and facsimiles, town plans and thematic maps for Great Britain and foreign countries.

See our latest acquisitions

Access and opening times

The Map Collection is available through prior appointment only. We advise you to contact us before your visit to ensure that maps you require are available and can be ready for you when you arrive. If you require information or want to request items from the collection please contact the Information Desk, Main Circulation Hall 4th Floor, South Block or email shl.userservices@london.ac.uk.

The maps, with the exception of wall maps, are for reference only. A photocopying service is available. Photocopying legislation must be observed at all times. Maps may not be photocopied on the self-service machines. Please ask a staff member to arrange for copying on your behalf.

Note on the catalogues

The majority of the post-1850 maps (British and foreign) can be searched on the main catalogue. See the Guide to searching for maps in the library's main catalogue.

Other maps can be located using the card catalogue in the Map Collection.

Apart from details of maps in the collection, the card catalogue also contains details of atlases and gazetteers held in the Geography and Environmental Studies collection and also maps held in other parts of the library. Entries for selected maps contained within books are also included.

Cards are filed by area, then by scale or date. Please, note, that from 2003 onwards, the card catalogue has ceased to be kept up-to-date and the material obtained after that year can only be located on-line.

Special Collections

Of relevance to the Map Collection there are a number of significant collections in the Senate House Library, including the Goldsmiths' Library (early general and thematic maps of Britain and some overseas countries), the Bromhead Library (maps of London), Wyatt Bequest (a collection of early and modern maps of Buckinghamshire), E.G.R. Taylor Collection of Historic Printed Maps (mostly 18th and 19th century maps of European countries) and the Eliot-Phelips Collection (maps of Madrid and Spain).