The First Ordnance Survey Map

The First Ordnance Survey Map is recognised as the 1 inch map of Kent published in 1801.
Work on the Kent Map started in 1795. It was of military significance due to the proximity of the area to the coast. The survey was started at 6 inches to the mile but work progressed so slowly that it was finished at three inches to the mile and was then 'fairdrawn' in the Drawing Room of the Tower to the scale of 1 inch to 1 mile.

The scale of survey of the Kent map was found to be immensely time consuming, as at 6 inch scale there had to be accurate survey of the boundaries of every field. It was therefore agreed that the next map, that of Essex, should be carried out as 'a proper military map', exactly similar to that of Sussex but surveyed at a scale of 2 inches to the mile and reduced for publication to 1 inch. This less accurate survey allowed a speedier result. Essex was started in 1799 (as Kent was completed), and published in 1805. Kent and Essex together providing a military survey of the Thames Estuary.

Source: Ordnance Survey - Map Makers to Britain since 1791

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