London 1890s Ordnance Survey Text Layer

This dataset contains a sample of 10,000 (3.5%) out of a total of 285,846 text sequences extracted from the 1891–1896 Map of London by the Ordnance Survey (OS).

The methodology used for the automated recognition, linking, and sequencing of the text is detailed in the article Recognizing and Sequencing Multi-word Texts in Maps Using an Attentive Pointer by M. Zou et al., 2025.

Description of the content

The map is drawn at a scale of five-feet to the mile (c.a. 1:1,056). The text on the map is an invaluable source of information about the Greater London in the late Victorian period. It includes the names of streets, squares, parks, watercourses and even some estates ('Poplars', 'The Grange', 'Arbutus Lodge'). In addition, the map contains many details of the function of buildings and economic activity, such as factories ('Sweet Factory', 'Crown Linoleum Works', 'Imperial Flour Mills', 'Lion Brewery'), warehouses or commercial infrastructure ('Warehouse', 'Jamaica Wharf', 'Rag Store'), offices ('Offices'), etc. The map also mentions public buildings such as schools ('School Boys, Girls & Infants', 'Sunday School'), hospitals or clinics ('St. Saviour's Union Infirmary', 'Beulah Spa Hydropathic Establishment', 'South Western Fever Hospital'), railway stations ('Clapham Station'), post offices, banks, police stations, etc. Other social venues are also mentioned, such as public houses, i.e. pubs ('P.H.'), clubs, casinos, and recreational areas (e.g. 'Cricket Ground'). Special attention is given to churches, with a regular count of the number of seats (e.g. 'Baptist Chapel Seats for 600').

In addition, the map provides details that can be of great interest in the study of everyday life in London at the end of the 19th century. For example, there are numerous mentions of 'Stables', 'Drinking Fountain'[s] (or simply 'Fn.') or 'Urinal'[s]. Fire protection infrastructure is highlighted, e.g. fire plugs ('F.P.') and fire alarms ('F.A.'). The map also includes information on elevation (e.g. '11·6') and flood levels (e.g. 'High Water Mark of Ordinary Tides').

A list of abbreviations used in the Ordnance Survey maps, created by Richard Oliver [1], is made available by the National Library of Scotland (link).

Organization of the data

The data in 10k_text_london_OS_1890s.geojson is organized as a regular geojson file.

Example structure

{                                                         "type": "FeatureCollection",                            "features": [                                             {                                                         "type": "Feature",                                      "geometry": {                                             "type": "MultiPolygon",                                 "coordinates": [[[ [x1, y1], [x2, y2], ...]]]         },                                                      "properties": {                                           "label": "Oxford Circus",                             }                                                     },                                                 

    ... # Further text sequences                       

  ]                                                     }                                                      

Image documents

The original map document consists of 729 separate sheets, digitized, georeferenced, and served as geographic tiles by the National Library of Scotland [2].

Descriptive statistics

Total Number of text sequences: 285,846Sample size: 10,000Total Area covered: 450 square km

Use and Citation

For any mention of this dataset, please cite :

@misc{text_london_OS_1890s,  author = {Zou, Mengjie and Petitpierre, R{\'{e}}mi and di Lenardo, Isabella},  title = {{London 1890s Ordnance Survey Text Layer}},  year = {2025},  publisher = {Zenodo},  url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14982946}}@article{recognizing_sequencing_2025,  author = {Zou, Mengjie and Dai, Tianhao and Petitpierre, R{\'{e}}mi and Vaienti, Beatrice and di Lenardo, Isabella},  title = {{Recognizing and Sequencing Multi-word Texts in Maps Using an Attentive Pointer}},  year = {2025}}

Corresponding author

Rémi PETITPIERRE - [e-mail] - ORCID - Github -  Scholar - ResearchGate 

License

This project is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 License. 

Liability

We do not assume any liability for the use of this dataset.

References

Oliver R. (2013). Ordnance Survey maps: A concise guide for historians. The Charles Close Society. London, UK. 3rd Ed. 320 pages

Ordnance Survey, London, five feet to the mile, 1893-1896 (1896), https://maps.nls.uk/os/townplans-england/london-1056-1890s.html, digitized by the National Library of Scotland (NLS)