The Charles Close Society for the study of Ordnance Survey Maps - Archives.
Please read these details carefully before making any requests to view the collection.
Please also look at the lists of Digital Images that the Society holds.
The Charles Close Society Archives are located in the Map Department of Cambridge University Library, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR (http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/maps/index.html).
The collection is open during normal library hours, 9.30 am to 5.10 pm Monday to Thursdays, 9.30 am to 4.50 pm on Fridays, and 9.30 am to 12.30 pm on Saturdays.
Appointments for access to the Archives should be made in advance by contacting the Head of the Map Department, Anne Taylor, by letter, by telephone (01223 333041) or by email (maps@lib.cam.ac.uk*REMOVETHIS*).
Anyone wishing to use the collection must first acquire a Cambridge University Library readers ticket. An appointment to acquire a ticket should be made in advance with the Admissions Office (telephone 01223 333084, email admissions@lib.cam.ac.uk*REMOVETHIS*). Members of the Charles Close Society wishing to consult the Charles Close Society Archives will not be charged for a ticket on production of their current CCS membership card and providing that they have first contacted Anne Taylor who will support their application.
The archive contains documentary and printed material dealing
with cartographic matters which are relevant in particular to
the Ordnance Survey. The catalogue is now held online by the Access
to Archives [or A2A] project, which is hosted by the British Library
and The National Archives, at http://www.a2a.org.uk
The catalogue may be found by going to the "Search A2A"
page, and selecting the "Cambridge University Library,
Charles Close Society Archives" entry from the "Location
of Archives" list. You may search for a specific keyword
or phrase by entering it in the appropriate box, then click on
"search". To browse the entire catalogue, leave the
"keyword (or phrase)" box blank before proceeding to
"search".
Owing to its length the catalogue is divided into seven sections.
Source materials acquired from the Ordnance Survey [OS]
may be found in the fourth, fifth and sixth sections, those from
the Ordnance Survey of Ireland [OSI] and Ordnance Survey
of Northern Ireland [OSNI] in the seventh. Ordnance Survey
International records [DOS] are in the second section.
The first section comprises materials acquired from six sources
The third section comprises materials acquired from five others
A brief description of the type of material to be found in each
of these collections may be found at the start of each.
Many maps are held throughout the archive; in particular many Ordnance Survey files contain record copies of maps, some in experimental form. Searching on map scales in the form "1:2500" or "1:63,360" (N.B. without comma to 1:9999), or on shortform titles such as "Seventh Series" should lead to maps as well as documents of interest. It is, however, not our policy in general for the archive to hold copies of Ordnance Survey or military maps, though it is hoped that the current owners of rare or even unique printings of maps will view the archive as a safe and permanent place of deposit. Many such maps are at risk or disposal, dispersal or destruction, and the disappearance of such irreplaceable items would be a permanent loss to our Ordnance Survey heritage. It is intended that digital images of such maps on CD-ROM should form an increasingly important element of the collection. For those already held, see the list in CCS/CCS/218A.